Premier African Minerals Limited has made a notable advancement in its flagship Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project located in Insiza, Matabeleland South, by settling US$1.1 million in contractor invoices through equity.
This move is part of the company’s focused efforts to enhance output and improve plant performance.
In an interim funding notice released on Wednesday (today), the firm announced a subscription to raise £1.575 million (before expenses) through a share subscription priced at 0.012 pence per new ordinary share.
“The Board of Premier African Minerals Limited is pleased to announce a subscription today to raise £1,575 million before expenses at an issue price of 0.012 pence per new ordinary share for the Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project (‘Zulu’),” the company said.
It added, “In addition, the Company has settled US$1.1 million (equivalent to £0.740 million) worth of contractor’s invoices of Zulu through the issue of 6,174,166,667 new ordinary shares in the Company at the Issue Price.”
The transaction, the company noted, forms a critical part of Premier’s operational and capital strategy, prioritising the completion and optimisation of the existing flotation plant and preparation of a secondary plant as a fallback.
Premier outlined three main objectives for the capital raise, firstly, to complete the installation and commissioning of inserts aimed at increasing concentrate retention time in the cleaner section of the primary flotation plant to boost grade and recovery; secondly, to progress the build-out of an alternative spodumene float plant in the event that the main plant underperforms and thirdly to fund select operating costs and settle outstanding debts.
Early this year, the firm indicated that it requires about US$1,6 million for various activities including part payment to the Government on deferred Value Added Tax and other statutory requirements of US$250 000.
It went on the market seeking to raise £2,3 million (equivalent to US$2,8 million) before expenses through a retail offer and £1,2 million (equivalent to US$1,46 million) through a placement of ordinary shares.
Commenting on progress at Zulu, Premier CEO Mr George Roach said the company remained on track in both budget and timeline.
“The work associated with this is progressing on time and budget. It is worth noting that the inserts and the secondary flotation circuit are exactly as proposed in Q3 2024 but now, with many more months of test work completed that all indicates proper recovery and grade should be achieved,” said Mr Roach.
He also revealed that Premier had used the time since late 2024 to investigate additional value streams at the Zulu site. These include the assessment of ore sorting alternatives, the feasibility of high-purity quartz extraction, and the recovery of tantalite – the chief tantalum-bearing mineral found at the project.
“Pegmatites such as that being mined at Zulu are a source of a variety of industrial minerals and not only spodumene. Other products will make an important contribution to the overall life of mine profitability of this project in time,” he added.