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Premier Secures Fresh Funding to Complete Zulu Lithium Project Overhaul

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London Stock Exchange-listed mining and exploration junior Premier African Minerals has once again demonstrated its resilience and determination to deliver Zimbabwe’s most promising lithium project by securing fresh interim funding amounting to £1.575 million, Mining Zimbabwe can report.

By Rudairo Mapuranga

The funds, announced on Wednesday, are earmarked to accelerate the critical final works at the Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project in Insiza, with a view to stabilising operations, improving recovery, and positioning the mine for long-term profitability.

The latest capital injection, raised through the issuance of new ordinary shares at 0.012 pence per share, comes at a crucial time for Premier. The company is racing against time to address underperformance at the original flotation plant, and this funding signals a pivotal step towards completion of the corrective works. In addition to the subscription raise, Premier also settled contractor invoices worth US$1.1 million—equivalent to £0.740 million—through the issuance of over six billion new shares. It’s a clear indication of Premier’s intent to meet its obligations while keeping operations on track.

At the heart of this new funding round is the installation and commissioning of new inserts designed to enhance concentrate retention time in the plant’s cleaner section. The company expects these changes to significantly improve both grade and recovery—two key technical hurdles that have plagued the project since its initial ramp-up. In the event the upgraded primary plant fails to deliver the expected performance, Premier has already begun civil works on an alternative flotation circuit, ensuring the company is not caught flat-footed should contingencies arise.

Premier’s Chief Executive Officer, George Roach, confirmed that the work is proceeding within budget and on schedule. He expressed confidence that the solutions now being implemented—long envisioned and tested since the third quarter of 2024—will finally deliver the product quality the market demands. The extensive test work undertaken in recent months, he noted, supports the company’s belief that satisfactory results are within reach.

“The inserts and the secondary flotation circuit are exactly as proposed in Q3 2024, but now with many more months of test work that all indicate proper recovery and grade should be achieved,” Roach said.

Importantly, the company revealed that its previously announced Letter of Intent with an FTSE100-listed entity remains active, and further negotiations with both that party and Canmax will resume as soon as the plant achieves acceptable grade and recovery. Premier expects this could be as early as July 2025 if the inserts perform as anticipated, or by late August should the secondary plant need to be commissioned.

Beyond the push to stabilise spodumene production, Premier is already looking further into the future. The company has used this interim period to explore alternative ore sorting technologies while also investigating the potential recovery of high-purity quartz and tantalite. As Roach pointed out, Zulu’s pegmatites are not only rich in lithium-bearing minerals but also host other industrial mineral opportunities that could significantly improve the mine’s economics over time.

The announcement of this latest funding round comes after a series of recent efforts by Premier to breathe life into the Zulu project. Earlier this year, the company raised US$1.25 million to accelerate civil works and a further US$2 million to fast-track commissioning. These moves followed on the heels of a broader strategy aimed at solving persistent plant challenges that had threatened to derail production targets.

In terms of market operations, the new capital raise—comprising a total of 19.3 billion shares—was arranged within the company’s existing share authorities and facilitated by CMC Markets UK Plc, trading as CMC CapX. Admission of the shares to AIM trading is expected around 17 June 2025, with a short lock-up period applied to settlement shares.

Following this issue, Premier’s total issued share capital now stands at 70.27 billion shares, a significant increase that reflects both the cost of stabilisation and the scale of ambition the company has for Zulu.

Premier’s long journey toward becoming a key lithium supplier is being watched closely by stakeholders and policymakers alike. With Zimbabwe’s global lithium aspirations gaining momentum and new players continuing to emerge in the space, Premier’s success or failure at Zulu will carry implications far beyond Matabeleland South. For now, however, the company appears to be digging deep—both financially and operationally—to ensure its place in Zimbabwe’s lithium future is not just reserved, but earned.

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