RYAN CHIGOCHE
Premier African Minerals is set to accelerate production at its Zulu lithium and tantalum project outside Bulawayo after a Chinese firm made a pre-payment of US$18.1m.
Commercial production at Zulu lithium project is set to begin in the first quarter of next year.
Under the offtake deal, Premier is now expected to ship the product to Chinese firm, Suzhou TA&A, within the next 12 months.
Premier group CEO, George Roach, said the company had received the funds and the fabrication, site design and construction are under way.
“The prepayment is expected to be fully offset against future shipments inside of 12 months at the prevailing SC6 pricing,” Roach said, adding that independent project and construction management teams have been appointed to assist in ensuring compliance with timelines and budgets.
“At the same time, there has been an improved turnaround in assays and we expect to release significant results as they come to hand.”
The pilot plant, according to Premier, will utilise sensor-based ore sorting technologies to help separate run-of-mine material into components, improving available capacity in the flotation recovery circuits, where lithium minerals are recovered.
Numerous factors affect final production and recoveries, and the business asserts that the pilot plant is expected to help in addressing these factors due to the inherent flexibility of employing multiple ore sorters.
The business says that inventories of tantalum, petalite, and mica/lepidolite-rich material will make it easier to conduct additional tests and construct flow sheets to make sure that this material is indeed in stock for subsequent lucrative recovery.
The pilot plant has a nameplate throughput of up to 190 tonnes per hour. However, it is planned to run at a more conservative 140 tonnes per hour at inception.
At this rate and based on a three-year life, the company believes this is a robust project and expects to become cash generative from the time of the first shipment.
