Premier African Minerals shares edged higher on Friday as investors positioned for the recommencement of lithium production at the flagship Zulu project.
The company has completed the installation of much-needed processing machinery and is set to resume open-pit mining from next week.
Premier African Minerals shares were 1% higher at 0.52p at the time of writing.
Premier is required to ramp lithium production up to 1,000 tonnes per month by 1st November 2023 or face penalty payments contracted with offtake partner Canmax.
The next month will be crucial for meeting these targets and investors will be on the edge of their seats waiting for further updates.
“Subsequent to our update of 23 August 2023, I am pleased to confirm the completion of the installation of the Mill including all necessary feeds and discharge components, pumps, control circuitry and grinding media requirements that is expected to support planned production of up to 1,000 tons per month of spodumene from November 2023 at Zulu,” said George Roach, CEO, in a statement issued yesterday.
“The commissioning phase is now planned to commence from today with first material expected to be fed through the Mill on Monday, 25 September 2023.
“Open pit mining operations at Zulu are expected to resume next week and while there is already substantial material on the run-of-mine pad, it remains critical that the plant has sufficient ore for current processing.
“Further updates will follow in Premier’s unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2023 which will be published on 29 September 2023.”