Premier African Minerals Limited (AIM: PREM) has reported a key operational milestone at its Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project in Zimbabwe, confirming the production of its first spodumene-bearing concentrate from the newly commissioned flotation plant.
Preliminary analysis conducted by the company’s internal laboratory has confirmed the presence of spodumene within the concentrate produced to date. While current concentrate grades remain below targeted specifications, management reported a steady improvement in product quality as commissioning and optimisation activities continue.
The company noted that lower grades are typical during the early stages of flotation plant commissioning, as operating parameters, reagent additions and circuit performance are progressively refined and stabilised.
Premier said it remains too early to provide guidance on final concentrate grades, recovery rates, throughput levels or overall plant performance, with optimisation work still ongoing. However, management indicated that initial operating results have been encouraging.
Current efforts are focused on fine-tuning flotation conditions, reagent dosing and plant stability to maximise both lithium recovery and concentrate quality.
Managing Director Graham Hill described the production of first spodumene concentrate as a significant operational achievement and an important validation of the modified processing plant and new flotation circuit.
He added that early operating data suggests the plant is demonstrating improved stability compared with previous operations, which management believes is a result of process simplification and modifications implemented throughout the processing facility.
The successful production of spodumene concentrate represents another step forward in the development of the Zulu Project and provides early evidence that the redesigned processing circuit is functioning as intended.
Investors will now be looking for future updates on concentrate grades, recovery rates and commercial production performance as the optimisation programme progresses and additional operating data becomes available.
