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Premier African Minerals, listed on the AIM market in London, has resumed operations at its Zulu lithium and tantalum project in Zimbabwe after completing upgrades to its flotation plant.
By Ryan Chigoche
The company confirmed that new spodumene cleaner cell inserts were successfully installed and the plant was restarted on 6 July.
The upgrade aims to improve both the grade and recovery of lithium concentrate by reducing retention time in the cleaner section of the flotation circuit.
CEO George Roach expressed appreciation for the strong support received from equipment suppliers, which enabled a smooth restart of the plant.
The processing facility has so far been running on limited feed as part of controlled testing to ensure each component functions as expected.
Roach noted that the new inserts would be integrated into the system once the sealants had cured.
“The plant has run with limited feed to allow for checks on the operation of each of the plant components and process integration up to the spodumene cleaner cell inserts that will be brought into the process today once sealants have hardened,” said Roach. “All being well, ore from the run-of-mine pad will be fed from today, and commissioning and optimisation of the primary spodumene flotation plant will follow.”
Located near Fort Rixon in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North province, the Zulu project is one of the country’s most advanced hard-rock lithium developments. It covers approximately 3.5 square kilometres and is 100% owned by Premier through its local subsidiary, Zulu Lithium (Private) Limited.
The project plays a key role in Zimbabwe’s broader ambition to become a major lithium supplier in the global battery metals market. Premier has focused efforts on optimising processing capacity and product quality to position Zulu as a reliable source of lithium concentrate.
