Premier Africa first production suffer minor setback
Premier African Minerals chief executive officer, Mr George Roach on Monday said the first live production process at Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project in Fort Rixon was delayed at the weekend due to late delivery of one outstanding key equipment and approval from authorities.
The multi-million dollar lithium plant was expected to commence production at the weekend.
However, in an update on Monday, Mr Roach said they have encountered delays.
He said late delivery of an outstanding reagent which was ordered at short notice and complications related to the airfreight of a chemical substance has caused the delay.
“Two issues have delayed production this past weekend. The first is one final approval from a Zimbabwean authority that is working closely with Zulu to ensure that the approval is provided as soon as possible.
“The second is the late delivery of one outstanding reagent. This was short-ordered due to an error on the part of the plant supplier as announced on 29 March 2023.
“The reagent is freely available but not in Africa and complications related to airfreight of a chemical substance have caused this delay. It must be noted that the delay on this reagent does not necessarily stop the production of spodumene, however, it will affect the grade of spodumene concentrate produced,” reads part of the statement.
He said the challenges will be resolved in the coming days.
“The missing reagent is essential for the recovery and concentration of the mica/lepidolite fraction. Whilst the mica circuit can be completely bypassed, the concentrate grade that would be achieved in the spodumene circuits would be lower than 6% and would contain contaminants. Whilst likely saleable in the present environment, this is not what Zulu intends to produce,”
Last week, the lithium firm said it had completed the plant assembly, construction and final instrumentation connections and was ready to go into lithium production.
Key plant tests such as plant to point mill feed have been run, crusher settling in pre-production runs are underway and the wet section (floatation part of the plant) has water on and is pressurised.
Last year, Premier secured US$35 million pre-funding to enable the construction and commissioning of a large-scale pilot plant at the project.
Upon the signing of the agreement, US$3,450,000 has been availed to Premier to secure the pilot plant, Premier African Minerals said in a latest update.
Suzhou TA&A Ultra Clean Technology company, a China-based company principally engaged in the research, development, production, and sale of anti-static ultra-clean products provided the funding.
The Zulu project is generally regarded as potentially the largest undeveloped lithium bearing pegmatite in Zimbabwe, covering a surface of about 3,5 square kilometres, which are prospectively for lithium and tantalum mineralisation.
It produces a rare high value spodumene, a rock that has very high mineralisation of lithium. Spodumene is a battery grade product, which is key for the future of electric cars.
Due to the emerging electric motor vehicle industry, there is increased international demand for the lithium mineral known as “white oil”, which is used for manufacturing batteries.
Zimbabwe has the largest lithium reserves in Africa and the fifth-largest worldwide.-chronicle
