TIDMPREM
RNS Number : 1542A
Premier African Minerals Limited
18 January 2024
Premier African Minerals Limited / Ticker: PREM / Index: AIM /
Sector: Mining
For immediate release
18 January 2024
Premier African Minerals Limited
Zulu Lithium Update
The Board of Premier African Minerals Limited ("Premier" or the
"Company") is pleased to provide an update on Zulu Lithium and
Tantalum ("Zulu").
Resource Development
Mining operations at Zulu are currently focussed on a limited
area of the existing claims blocks and EPO. That area is our North
and South Pit. Premier plans to release a resource statement based
on this area and focussed on the tonnage of contained Spodumene in
Q1 of 2024.
Classification of the economic Mineral of Interest at Zulu in
the Mineral Resource
The new mineral resource estimate for Zulu will primarily
consider the tonnage of Spodumene contained within the area of
interest. With respect to Zulu, Li2O grade alone without an
understanding and estimation of the mineral assemblage in the
deposit, is a limited guide for mine planning and value assessment
purposes.
As background, Pegmatites as a source of Spodumene can be
classified into subtypes and contained Li2O associated with the
minerals of economic interest. In the case of Zulu, the main
mineral of economic interest is Spodumene and Zulu is classified as
Petalite-subtype, Spodumene Quartz Intergrowths ("SQI") dominant.
Extensive powder XRD ("X-Ray Diffraction Analysis"), careful visual
logging and supportive elemental analysis show that more than 85%
of the Li2O reported at Zulu is attributable to Spodumene and that
the only other lithium bearing mineral of any significance is
Lepidolite. At Zulu within the North and South Pit Premier is able
to estimate with reasonable confidence the Spodumene tonnage
contained in the deposit based on reported Li2O grade. Work
undertaken in both the Zulu laboratory and from independent
historic test work has indicated that the minimum economically
viable and recoverable percentage of Spodumene contained in Zulu
ore body, is 4%. When Spodumene is the only lithium bearing mineral
in an ore body, the minimum economically viable Li2O grade would be
0.37%.
SQI forms from the conversion of Petalite during the slow
cooling of the pegmatitic hydrothermal fluids. The Spodumene
contained in the SQI is made up of small crystals and is
recoverable after milling and floatation, the process followed at
Zulu. Typically, a SQI dominant deposit with an overall Li2O grade
of 0.8% with 90% of this grade attributable to Spodumene, will
contain significantly more Spodumene than a Petalite subtype
subordinate SQI deposit made up of dominantly Petalite with a
corresponding lower percentage of Spodumene, even though the Li2O
grade may be considerably higher. Recovery of the Spodumene from a
Petalite subtype subordinate SQI deposit is likely to require a
dense medium separation circuit and then may still need milling and
floatation.
It should be noted that the SQI dominant deposit at Zulu
contains a low Iron content, and this contributes to the
anticipated production of technical grade Spodumene
concentrates.
Plant upgrades and optimisation
Major concerns with the plant over the past year have been well
documented and Premier now can confirm that Stark International
Projects Limited has undertaken to upgrade the UV sorters to
include colour-based detection to complement the use of XRT. The
upgrade is expected to be installed and operational before startup.
A technical team from Germany is expected at Zulu from 23 January
2024 to optimise the sorters and in so doing facilitate the removal
of waste material that has previously led to contamination of
concentrates. At the same time, a new thickener is under
installation, and this is expected to complement the floatation
circuit by improving the density and flow of slurry to the float
plant.
Ball mill and material sizing
The new ball mill that has been custom built for Zulu is
expected to depart from South Africa in in the last week of January
2024 and will represent the last major item to be positioned and
connected for a restart of production that is still anticipated
late February 2024. By this time, an additional hydrosizer, mill
discharge screen, and associated tanks, sumps and pumps are
expected to have been installed.
Production costs, Spodumene pricing and sustaining Capital
Premier's internal budgets (which have not been independently
verified) predict an average production cost on a mine gate basis
of US$800 per ton of SC6. At present SC6 selling prices, and after
an allowance for freight charges of US$152 per ton, production at
this point in time of basic SC6 standard product is marginally
profitable. However, Zulu is expected to produce a low iron higher
grade Spodumene concentrate in the normal course from clean ore as
previously indicated by Anzaplan in original test work, and as
demonstrated in Premier's laboratory at site. This Spodumene
concentrate currently attracts a substantial price premium which is
expected to buffer the effects of the lower SC6 prices at
present.
The significant expansion in mining operations to facilitate
delivery of ore with less country waste and to compensate for any
residual issues with the sorters, together with the minor delay
with the mill delivery has further constrained Premier's cash
resources. It is likely that additional funding will be needed in
the near term. Premier's contractors and suppliers are assisting
and alternatives to equity-based funding are under investigation.
With a project as well advanced as Zulu with a fully developed
mine, and market in place, this remains the only significant
obstacle.
George Roach, CEO, commented " We have set out above a summary
of the status quo. The entire focus of our Company is on our Zulu
project and unless there are unforeseen circumstances that I have
overlooked, and provided our plant suppliers deliver as expected,
we remain on target to produce late in February 2024."
Qualified Person
Bruce Cumming, geologist with Premier, has reviewed and approved
this release to the extent that reference is made to the geology of
the Zulu pegmatites. Mr. Cumming is a SACNASP and GSSA registered
geoscientist with 48 years' experience in exploration and project
management, in multicommodity projects throughout Africa.
Market Abuse Regulations
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of
UK Domestic Law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018 ("UK MAR").
The person who arranged the release of this announcement on
behalf of the Company was George Roach.
A copy of this announcement is available at the Company's
website, www.premierafricanminerals.com
Enquiries:
Premier African Minerals Tel: +27 (0) 100
George Roach Limited 201 281
Michael Cornish / Beaumont Cornish Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20
Roland Cornish (Nominated Adviser) 7628 3396
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Tel: +44 (0) 20
Douglas Crippen CMC Markets UK Plc 3003 8632
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Toby Gibbs/Rachel Shore Capital Stockbrokers Tel: +44 (0) 20
Goldstein Limited 7408 4090
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Nominated Adviser Statement
Beaumont Cornish Limited ("Beaumont Cornish"), which is
authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial
Conduct Authority, is acting as nominated adviser to the Company in
connection with this announcement and will not regard any other
person as its client and will not be responsible to anyone else for
providing the protections afforded to the clients of Beaumont
Cornish or for providing advice in relation to such proposals.
Beaumont Cornish has not authorised the contents of, or any part
of, this document and no liability whatsoever is accepted by
Beaumont Cornish for the accuracy of any information or opinions
contained in this document or for the omission of any information.
Beaumont Cornish as nominated adviser to the Company owes certain
responsibilities to the London Stock Exchange which are not owed to
the Company, the Directors, Shareholders, or any other person.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this announcement are or may be deemed to
be forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are
identi ed by their use of terms and phrases such as "believe"
"could" "should" "envisage" "estimate" "intend" "may" "plan" "will"
or the negative of those variations or comparable expressions
including references to assumptions. These forward-looking
statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the
Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the
Company's future growth results of operations performance future
capital and other expenditures (including the amount. Nature and
sources of funding thereof) competitive advantages business
prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements re ect
the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on
information currently available to the Directors. A number of
factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the
results discussed in the forward-looking statements including risks
associated with vulnerability to general economic and business
conditions competition environmental and other regulatory changes
actions by governmental authorities the availability of capital
markets reliance on key personnel uninsured and underinsured losses
and other factors many of which are beyond the control of the
Company. Although any forward-looking statements contained in this
announcement are based upon what the Directors believe to be
reasonable assumptions. The Company cannot assure investors that
actual results will be
consistent with such forward looking statements.
Notes to Editors:
Premier African Minerals Limited (AIM: PREM) is a
multi-commodity mining and natural resource development company
focused on Southern Africa with its RHA Tungsten and Zulu Lithium
projects in Zimbabwe.
The Company has a diverse portfolio of projects, which include
tungsten, rare earth elements, lithium and tantalum in Zimbabwe and
lithium and gold in Mozambique, encompassing brownfield projects
with near-term production potential to grass-roots exploration. The
Company has accepted a share offer by Vortex Limited ("Vortex") for
the exchange of Premier's entire 4.8% interest in Circum Minerals
Limited ("Circum"), the owners of the Danakil Potash Project in
Ethiopia, for a 13.1% interest in the enlarged share capital of
Vortex. Vortex has an interest of 36.7% in Circum.
Glossary of Technical Terms:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Lepidolite" A pink to lavender coloured lithium bearing
mineral (KLi 2 Al(Si 4 O 10 )(F,OH) 2 ).
----------------------------------------------------
"Li (2) O" Lithium Oxide (Lithia) - an inorganic lithium
compound used to assess lithium minerals.
----------------------------------------------------
"Petalite" A white coloured lithium bearing mineral (LiAl(Si
4 O 10 )).
----------------------------------------------------
"pegmatite" is an exceptionally coarse-grained igneous rock,
with interlocking crystals, usually found as
irregular dikes, lenses, or veins, esp. at the
margins of granitic intrusions.
----------------------------------------------------
"SC6" Is a high-purity Spodumene concentrate with
approximately 6 percent Li (2) O content being
produced as a raw material for the subsequent
production of lithium-ion batteries for electric
vehicles.
----------------------------------------------------
"Spodumene" A white to pink coloured lithium bearing mineral
(LiAlSi 2 O 6 ) containing up to 8.03% Li (2)
O.
----------------------------------------------------
"X-Ray Diffraction" X-ray diffraction (XRD) is a widely used technique
to assess the mineral assemblage, crystallinity
and structure of rocks, cores etc.
----------------------------------------------------
"XRT" X-ray sorting technique where specific mineral
bearing rock can be separated from specific
mineral-poor rock and other impurities. This
upgrades in metal terms the material feed to
the plant and lowers the tonnage of rock requiring
processing which results in substantially improved
economics for mineral processing operations.
----------------------------------------------------
Ends
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