TINASHE MAKICHI
Premier African Minerals Limited is in discussions with various suitors interested in taking up a stake in its Matabeleland based Zulu Lithium project and due diligence is in progress, Business Times can report.
Premier African Minerals is a multi-commodity mining and natural resource development company focused on Southern Africa with its RHA Tungsten and Zulu Lithium projects in Zimbabwe.
“Premier is in discussion with interested parties regarding investment into Zulu. I can confirm that due diligence visits are underway, and indications are that Premier is dealing with strong and growing interest as we progress Zulu,” Premier chief executive George Roach said.
“Together with preliminary results from exploration activities in the wider Exclusive Prospecting Area, this continues to support my view that Zulu is likely to emerge as one of the more substantial hard rock lithium rich regions in Zimbabwe, a country already hosting significant LCT pegmatites, and a deposit with world class potential.”
Premier is looking at exploring gold mining opportunities in the region of the flooded shaft located within its Exclusive Prospecting Order area in Zimbabwe.
There are historic dumps at site which holds potential to be assessed as much as a proper examination of the existing developments when the mining company is able to dewater the mine.
Premier Africa Minerals recently provided an update on the progress at its Zulu Lithium and Tantalum in Zimbabwe and the first preliminary grade estimates using a laser induced breakdown spectroscopy system.
The company has now completed 15 drill holes, equivalent to approximately 2,735m since the start of the definitive feasibility study programme.
The current drilling programme is focussed on expanding as well as upgrading the resources in the Main Zone, and, to delineate further the lithium mineralisation in the step out zones.
“The preliminary results above are the first obtained from use of our LIBS system at site. The results are preliminary and subject to confirmation by independent certified laboratory analysis using industry accepted analytical methods for lithium,” Roach said.
“Use of the LIBS system has only been possible through the fully compliant sample preparation set up at Zulu and is expected to expedite results and provide guidance to our resource development and ongoing drilling programme. The LIBS system in use at Zulu has been calibrated using certified reference material and provides a high level of confidence in the results obtained.
“It is particularly pleasing that this intersection is from an area not previously included in our existing resource statement but was forecast as an exploration target. More encouraging and most pleasing is the apparent consistent average grade across what is a wide intersection.”
He added that the team at Zulu was heavily engaged in core cutting and sample preparation for the wide intersections encountered in the completed holes and the miner is hugely excited to see these results and look forward to consistent reporting and early confirmation from independent laboratories, allowing for potential upgrading of the overall resource tonnage.
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 holds 5,010,333 shares in Circum Minerals Limited, the owners of the Danakil Potash Project in Ethiopia, which has the potential to be a world class asset. In addition, the company holds a 19% interest in MN Holdings Limited, the operator of the Otjozondu Manganese Mining Project in Namibia.
