Premier African Minerals PLC said the floatation circuit at its Zulu lithium plant, in Zimbabwe, is running continuously and producing saleable spodumene concentrate.
Work is now focused on rectification and optimisation of the circuit remains ongoing and Premier said it expects continuous and significant improvement in both floatation grade and tonnage.
George Roach, chief executive, added that by using an activator, recoveries in internal laboratory work were approaching 90% and the indications that the ore body in situ grade is higher than was estimated in the resource model.
The current feed rate to spodumene floatation is approximately 50% of the original design capacity, he added, and a further conditioning tank and minor pump upgrades are needed to operate at the full design capacity.
“The required pumps are already at site and the additional civils for the conditioning tank should complete in May 2024," Roach said.
“Target production for the coming week is expected to start at 50 tonnes spodumene concentrate per day with increasing production.
“Full projected capacity remains at 4,000 tonne per month. Grade is consistently improving with continuous running and latest internal chemical analysis of spodumene concentrate produced by the floatation circuit indicates grades have now improved to between 4.5% and 6.3% Li2O."