Premier African Minerals, a company listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), has successfully completed the intricate installation of the RHA ball mill at its Zulu project, a significant lithium and tantalum mining operation situated in Zimbabwe.
The CEO, George Roach, detailed that this pivotal milestone incorporates a full suite of key operational elements required for efficient mining. These elements range from vital feed and discharge components and high-capacity pumps to state-of-the-art control circuitry and specially-designed grinding media.
All these integrated parts aim to support an ambitious production target: the facility intends to produce up to 1,000 tonnes per month of spodumene, a lithium-containing mineral that’s crucial in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries.
The company is poised to commence this level of spodumene production starting as early as this coming November, marking a significant advancement in the project’s overall capabilities and output. With this upgrade, Premier African Minerals aims not only to ramp up production but also to secure a more dominant position in the global lithium and tantalum markets.
The commissioning phase for the newly-installed equipment is slated to kick off this Thursday. The company anticipates that the first batch of raw material will be processed through the mill by the coming Monday.
Open-pit mining activities at the Zulu site are scheduled to recommence next week. Roach emphasized the critical need for the plant to have an adequate supply of ore on hand for immediate processing, noting that there is already a significant amount of material stockpiled on the run-of-mine pad.
The Zulu operations had been put on hold temporarily to facilitate the installation and commissioning of the RHA ball mill, as the company disclosed in an August report. This relocation of the RHA mill to the Zulu site serves as an interim measure to mitigate operational challenges.
Further details and updates regarding the Zulu project will be made public in Premier African Minerals’ unaudited interim financial results for the six-month period ending on June 30. These results are set to be published on September 29.
