Premier African Minerals Ltd (AIM:PREM, OTC:PRMMF) said it had received confirmation from its float plant supplier that spodumene concentrate produced at its Zulu plant will be SC6 grade or better.
SC6 is the requirement to produce lithium hydroxide for use in batteries and other modes.
In a statement, Premier African said its supplies have said they had full confidence in the ENPROTEC flotation units' capabilities to effectively produce SC6.
Zulu, in Zimbabwe, has already produced a spodumene concentrate at 6.2% Li2O, effectively better than SC6, noted Premier African.
The suppliers of the plant have also committed to assessing what input changes can and need to be implemented to the plant operation to produce the required grade at the required recovery at target output.
These changes will be tested first at a laboratory scale but include the points at which reagents are dosed, agitation speeds and flow rates between components, slurry densities and cell resident times.
George Roach, Premier’s chief executive, said: "On the one hand Premier is pleased that we are at the back end of the optimisation process, but frustrated that real optimisation of the float circuit could only properly start after the first quarter of 2024 after commissioning of the new mill and subsequent installation of the scrubber.
“The progress made this year on the most complex part of this plant is actually very good."
Roach added that internal forecasts are that all-in-projected cost on a delivered China port basis, inclusive of all administrative and overhead costs, is less than US$750 ton SC6 when plant output reaches 4,000 tons per month. excluding any tantalum byproduct.
That excludes any tantalum credit, a potential double expansion of the float section of the plant and any benefit from high-purity quartz.,added Roach.