Premier African Minerals (AIM:PREM) told investors it has pushed substantive on-site progress at Zulu Lithium, installing the tailings tank and advancing labour‑intensive fabrication for the new Xinhai Flotation Plant while simplifying the plant layout to reduce operating overheads.
Work has focused on overflow launders, walkways, interconnecting pipework and large‑diameter air supply piping that must be fabricated on site.
Electrical switchgear is nearing completion and is scheduled for factory testing this week, with delivery and on-site installation to follow. New conveyor chutes are being fabricated to bypass redundant sorters, and pipework modifications will bypass a thickener and problematic sumps and pumps, steps the company says will improve reliability and lower power, manpower and maintenance costs.
The mining contractor has resumed dewatering and a selective mining programme, the processing team is being built and preparations are underway for the arrival of the Xinhai commissioning engineer. The site water dam remains at full capacity.
"We are very pleased with the progress being made on site, particularly given the labour‑intensive nature of the fabrication and modification work currently underway," said Graham Hill, Managing Director.
Premier welcomes the government's pragmatic move to a controlled export framework and says it is engaging with authorities to align operations with the new requirements.
