Premier African Minerals Ltd (AIM:PREM) said it has successfully completed a placing which has raised £1,759,500 to optimise its Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project's pilot plant in Zimbabwe.
The placement involved the issue of 190,216,216 new ordinary shares at an issue price of 0.925p each.
The proceeds from the placing will primarily support the ongoing optimisation operations at Zulu and provide working capital for the group.
In addition to the successful placement, Premier announced that the Zulu plant is now producing concentrate from both the spodumene and mica floatation circuits.
In a statement, George Roach, Premier CEO commented: "Work on optimisation of the plant and process control procedures to achieve nameplate throughput will remain the sole focus of Zulu."
He noted that Premier's mining operations are progressing well, meeting expectations in terms of grade and ore body definition. Exploration activities beyond the current mining operations have also yielded positive results, identifying additional spodumene-dominant pegmatites not included in the current resource being mined. This discovery signifies the potential for further resource expansion and growth for Premier.
Roach also shared an update on the Mutare Project, a joint venture partnership announced in April 2022, where early trenching has revealed substantial pegmatites. Premier anticipates sharing detailed results from this activity in the near future, he said.
CMC Markets UK acted as the sole placing agent for Premier in the placement. Application for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on AIM is expected to take place on or around 19 May 2023.