Premier African Minerals Limited announced a new SAMREC-compliant Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its fully-owned Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project (“Zulu”). The Company hereby retracts the previous Mineral Resource Estimate published on June 6, 2017.
Key Points:
- The current MRE focuses on the sections of the Zulu tenements planned for mining and processing using the existing plant, excluding the larger EPO area.
- The MRE calculates the Li2O content in spodumene, specifically attributing 107,366 tonnes of Li2O to spodumene, with a direct conversion to spodumene concentrate 6 (SC6) amounting to 1,789,433 tonnes.
- The MRE also estimates the presence of 1,045,908 kg of Ta2O5 in the ore body.
- Continuous Mineral Resource development drilling aims to expand the current MRE and potentially increase the Mineral Resources.
George Roach, CEO, stated: “This MRE reinforces our commitment to rapidly developing the Zulu mine. It boosts our confidence in the mine’s future and supports our plan to establish a Lithium Sulphate plant independently. We continue our exploration in the broader EPO area, securing new mineral claims for future potential mineralization sites.
It’s important to note that this MRE assumes 80% of the total Li2O grade in the ore body is due to the SQI dominant mineralization style, a conservative estimate. Further analysis may increase this percentage, potentially raising the spodumene content. We anticipate producing high-grade, low-iron spodumene concentrates at Zulu, likely commanding a premium in the market. While we currently can’t recover tantalite, we are considering plant upgrades to produce Ta2O5 concentrate in the future.
We’re also excited about the recent arrival and installation of the new ball mill and other plant components at the site. We expect to complete assembly in the coming weeks and foresee the plant resuming production by February 2024.”
Mineral Resource Estimate Details:
The MRE is based on 163 drill holes, totaling 33,258 meters, drilled from September 2016 to August 2023. Conducted by Charles Muller of Shango Solutions (Shango), the MRE involved thorough data verification before developing the 3D geological model using Datamine Studio RM.
The geological model, derived from extensive drilling and surface trenching on a nominal 50 m x 50 m grid, supports an Indicated Mineral Resource classification due to the sufficient spacing of borehole pierce points.
As outlined in Table 1, the MRE complies with SAMREC and the AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies Appendix 3. It’s noteworthy that not all Li2O identified is in spodumene, with ongoing tests showing spodumene represents over 80% of the Li2O grade. Therefore, the total Mineral Resource tonnage reflects only the Li2O associated with spodumene. As the sole operator and owner of Zulu, Premier’s gross and net attributable MRE are identical.
