Premier African Minerals Limited has announced the completion of an on-site technical audit at its Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project in Fort Rixon, Matabeleland South—a key step towards achieving stable and sustained production, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Ryan Chigoche
The comprehensive audit, conducted by an engineering team, assessed pumping and pipeline performance, as well as water and mass balance systems across the processing plant.
The Zulu Lithium operation remains one of the most advanced lithium projects in Zimbabwe and a central component of Premier’s investment strategy.
In a statement, the company said, “An engineering audit team have just completed their work on-site, conducting a comprehensive technical audit focused on pumping and pipeline performance as well as water and mass balance assessments.”
The audit team will deliver a preliminary report in the coming days and a complete engineering audit report within the next week.
According to Premier, this will provide a detailed evaluation of the processing plant, including infrastructure that could be used for the planned secondary flotation facility. The document will also outline findings, observations, and recommendations aimed at optimising plant performance.
The company noted that the results of the audit, combined with ongoing commercial discussions with its prepayment and offtake partner, will be instrumental in determining the flotation plant’s readiness for full operations.
It said the review will help assess whether the plant can meet short-term targets for sustainable commercial production at the required grade and tonnage.
Premier expressed confidence that, given sufficient time and resources, the flotation plant would reach its intended design capacity.
Managing Director Graham Hill said the audit was intended to ensure all systems within the plant are balanced and function efficiently.
“We have recently reported on the engineering audit that is currently ongoing. The intention of the audit is to look into all those parts of the process plant that connect all of the major plant equipment,” he said.
“My conviction has been that in order to achieve stable and consistent operations, all parts of the plant need to be balanced in terms of mass and water flows. This is true for the existing flotation plant as well as for the Secondary Flotation Plant. The audit will also be making suggestions and comments as far as the existing flotation plant is concerned. Current comments discussed show that the audit team are coming up with practical suggestions based on professional engineering assessments.”
Hill expressed optimism that the outcomes of the audit, combined with recent plant adjustments, would position the company for improved performance and near-term production readiness.
“With that in mind, the Secondary Flotation Plant installation and commissioning would be supplementary, but it is felt that being able to quickly bring the Secondary Flotation Plant to pre-production readiness provides the best opportunity for making the existing plant fully production-ready and able to provide production benefits,” he said.
Meanwhile, the company’s General Meeting, which was adjourned last Thursday, will reconvene on 7 November.
The adjournment will allow for further discussions with Premier’s principal shareholder on resolutions, including the proposed disapplication of pre-emption rights in the company’s Articles of Association.
Premier warned that failure to pass the proposed resolutions could have a material effect on shareholders and the company’s assets.
