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Highlights
The Zulu Primary Flotation Plant has moved from commissioning to optimisation, with saleable spodumene concentrate grades of up to 6.2% Li₂O achieved.
The Secondary Flotation Plant purchase has been postponed pending review by the newly appointed managing director.
A potential offtake partner has reaffirmed its interest, confirming that the minimum requirement for purchase is Saleable Concentrate.
Premier African Minerals Limited (LSE:PREM) has provided a further operational update on its Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project ("Zulu") following the announcement made on 8 August 2025. The update covers plant progress, optimisation activities, and ongoing offtake discussions.
Primary Flotation Plant
The company confirmed that the second phase of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) test run at the Zulu Primary Flotation Plant has now been completed. The plant is now commissioned, with all components integrated and automated to support continuous operations. Premier reported that the plant is capable of running consistently and is undergoing ongoing optimisation to meet and maintain required concentrate standards.
Saleable spodumene concentrate requires a lithium oxide (Li₂O) content above 5%. The Zulu plant has successfully produced saleable concentrate on several occasions, achieving grades of up to 6.2% Li₂O. With continued optimisation, the Company expects this standard to be achieved consistently.
Premier stated that while optimisation activities will continue as expected for a producing facility, the plant has now transitioned from the commissioning phase into the refining and optimisation stage. This shift marks the beginning of the operational development phase for Zulu.
Secondary Flotation Plant
The Company also provided an update on the Secondary Flotation Plant. Following a review of the performance of the test run and noting that some operating parameters have changed since last year’s work, the Board has decided to postpone the purchase of this unit.
Offtake Discussions
On 23 April 2025, Premier announced that it had received a non-binding letter of interest from a major international trading house regarding a potential offtake agreement. Since then, the trading house has conducted a second site visit and has reaffirmed its interest in purchasing spodumene concentrate from Zulu. The trading house confirmed that its minimum requirement for entering into a purchase arrangement is the consistent production of Saleable Concentrate. Premier noted that further updates will be provided in due course.
ENPROTEC’s Role
ENPROTEC, a global multi-disciplinary engineering group that provides solutions in the mining and mineral processing sector, continues to support the Zulu project. Originally engaged through Stark, ENPROTEC now provides technical assistance directly to Zulu’s engineering team as the project transitions into ongoing optimisation. ENPROTEC has reviewed and approved this announcement to the extent of confirming that the Zulu plant has successfully moved beyond commissioning and into the optimisation phase.
PREM share price increased nearly 30% to GBX 0.032 per share at the time of writing on 20 August 2025.
