Premier African Minerals Ltd (AIM:PREM) said metallurgical test work carried out on ore from the Zulu lithium mine has confirmed recoveries at more than 80%.
Geolabs Global, which carried out the tests, reported a spodumene concentrate with a chemical grade of 6.56% Li2O (lithium), along with an overall spodumene recovery of approximately 81%.
The lab added that based on the results, testing magnetic separation on the final spodumene concentrate to reduce iron content and meet the desired specifications might be worthwhile.
The plant at Zulu includes magnetic separation, said Premier African.
It added that transportation of the RHA mill to Zulu is underway and under installation at present.
Completion of civils and final assembly is underway, with the installation of other feed and discharge components, pumps, control circuitry and grinding media charge all expected to be complete in the coming month when commissioning is planned to commence.
Contractor Stark estimates that this interim step should result in sufficient correctly sized material feeding to the flotation circuit to achieve close to 50% of design capacity.
On this basis, the company expects that new target production levels should be attainable by November 2023.