PREMIER African Minerals Limited says the construction of its pilot lithium production plant in Insiza District, Matabeleland South province, has hit the home-stretch with officials upbeat on tests results, which further confirm high lithium deposits.
The multi-commodity firm is developing a high-impact Zulu Lithium Project in Fort Rixon where it is targeting production within this quarter.
The lithium project is generally regarded as potentially the largest undeveloped lithium-bearing pegmatite in Zimbabwe, covering a surface of about 3,5 square kilometers, which are prospectively for lithium and tantalum mineralisation.
The mining firm has said civil support construction both at the plant site and the main masonry arch dam was progressing well and remained on target to produce spodumene in the first quarter of this year.
Lithium is a mineral used in the manufacture of batteries and its demand has risen sharply because of the demand for electric cars, especially in developed countries that are forging ahead with plans to phase out fossil fuels such as petrol and diesel in the next coming years.
Group chief executive officer, Mr George Roach, yesterday said:
“We are into the home-stretch with pilot plant construction and site activity is frenetic with multiple work streams all targeting the same near-term completion date,” he said in the latest first update for the year.
“Pre-strip has commenced in the initial pit area to be developed. Activity in the pilot plant assembly areas is now on a 24/7 basis. In the absence of any unforeseen issue, I expect that first shipments of SC6 will commence in Q1 as projected.”
Mr Roach said they still have a significant backlog of assay results and continue to develop a mining model for the pilot plant that is expected to deliver run-of-mine material from pegmatites that are dominated by spodumene.
“The assay results reported on today continue to demonstrate good lithium values over significant widths that are all supportive of the quality of the mineralised pegmatites we intend to mine in the first phases of the pilot plant operations,” he said.
“Whilst I’m not in a position to provide direct guidance yet, it should be noted that the design capacity on the floatation circuit anticipates a mass pull of up to 30 percent at a design feed rate of 40 tons per hour of milled material.”
This represents a potential 12-tonne per hour of spodumene-rich concentrate, he added.
Mr Roach said accurate predictions of the feed grade of spodumene-rich material reaching the floatation circuit, nor to predict the final concentrate grade, or final tonnage production rate will be possible to ascertain when operations have begun.
“That is the nature of a pilot plant. I will provide further updates over the coming weeks,” he said.
Early this year, the chairman of Suzhou TA&A, Mr Pei Zenzhue who injected US$35 million in pre-funding to enable the construction and commissioning of a large-scale pilot plant at the project had his first visit to the site and expressed satisfaction with the progress made so far.
Suzhou TA&A Ultra Clean Technology company, a China-based company principally engaged in the research, development, production, and sale of anti-static ultra-clean products provided the funding.
Zimbabwe is envisioning a US$12 billion mining industry by 2023, which is a key enabler of Vision 2030 of achieving an upper-middle-in-come economy by 2030.
Of the US$12 billion, gold, platinum, and diamonds will contribute US$4 billion, US$3 billion, and US$1 billion respectively.
Other minerals such as chrome, iron ore, and carbon steel will contribute US$1 billion while coal and hydrocarbons will do the same.
Given its strategic role within the global economy, lithium is expected to contribute US$500 000 while other minerals will add US$1,5 billion.
Lithium has already proved its position as a strategic mineral given its role in the storage, use, and transfer of energy, which has touched the globe through the use of smartphones for global communication, laptops, electric grid stability, and storage to power homes, and electric vehicles. – The Chronicle
