Premier African Minerals (AIM:PREM) has raised approximately £1.2m before expenses through a subscription for 27.52bn new shares at 0.00436p each, funding to support the restart of operations at its Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project in Zimbabwe.
The AIM-listed mineral explorer will use the proceeds for working capital to remobilise mining activity and restart the processing plant, targeting an initial 15-day operating campaign using roughly 13,000 tonnes of ore already on the run-of-mine pad.
Premier had previously set out plans to rebuild a larger stockpile before recommencing processing, a 30-day continuous campaign it had described as the minimum needed to fully optimise the upgraded flotation circuit; it is now moving to restart with the material already available.
"This represents a change from our original plan, which was to build a larger ROM stockpile before recommencing processing," said Graham Hill, Managing Director, adding that progress during the previous operating period gave the board a basis to proceed with the restart.
The company said the best use of its available resources is to process the material already on hand and demonstrate satisfactory plant performance, with the campaign focused on throughput, recoveries, plant stability and product quality.
Additional blasted ore remains available within the exclusive prospecting order and may be mobilised to the pad after the initial campaign, subject to performance and available working capital.
Personnel, diesel, reagents and other consumables are being mobilised for the restart, with supplier engineers expected on site to support operations and further optimisation of the spodumene flotation plant.