Diversified metals producer Jubilee Metals has reported organic growth in its South African operations, which the company says are now well-established and consistently delivering strong results.

Chrome concentrate produced increased by 8% to 455 381 t, exceeding targeted production for the quarter ended September 30.

Platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and gold (6E) platinum group metals (PGMs) produced for the first quarter of the 2025 financial year reached 9 328 oz, which the company says is on guidance.

“Jubilee's chrome operations have delivered outstanding performance, surpassing the quarterly targets with exceptional results,” the company says.

Jubilee says it is reviewing half-year guidance which will inform its guidance for the full-year.

The new chrome processing modules built at Thutse remain on track to contribute significantly to the second-half production output with commissioning under way at both modules.

ZAMBIA

Meanwhile, building on the success of its South African strategy, Jubilee says it has mirrored this approach in Zambia, where its initial focus was on the substantial capitalisation of assets to establish two critical processing hubs – the Sable refinery and Roan concentrator.

The company notes that this was a “pivotal quarter” for its copper operations as ramp-up targets were achieved, establishing a solid foundation for the remainder of the year.

With this capital cycle now nearing completion, Jubilee has effectively integrated and ramped up both its newly commissioned front-end module and the recently completed flotation and milling circuit at Roan, marking a key milestone in delivering on its expanded copper strategy.

Jubilee explains that the Roan Front-End adds significant flexibility to the process, correcting for variability in feed quality ensuring a consistent delivery of high-grade concentrate to the refinery and the market.

Moreover, the company notes that ramp-up targets of the Roan concentrator were achieved post the delivery of stable power supply to the operations, under the new private power purchase agreement, paving the way to exponentially increase production in the coming quarters of financial year 2025.

It adds that Roan targets a stable run rate of 75 000 t a month of feed for the first three quarters of operation before increasing to 90 000 t a month of feed.

Initial copper recovery from feed is targeted at 55% which equates to an equivalent copper production rate of 6200 t/y of copper, or 7 400 t/y of copper at the increased 90 000 t a month from Roan alone.

Jubilee says copper recoveries are expected to increase to more than 70% with the introduction of on-site leaching at Roan in the first half of financial year 2026, which equates to 9 500 t/y to 13 000 t/y of copper from Roan depending on the feed grade.

Further, Jubilee adds that the Munkoyo openpit mine operations successfully ramped up to achieve a targeted 100 000 t of mined run-of-mine (RoM) for October, with 250 000 t mined during the first quarter of the 2025 financial year.

Additionally, newly acquired Project G began operations in October and produced first copper concentrate for refining at Sable on target.

Project Phoenix and Project L also began operations, achieving targets to maintain Roan’s initial feed rate of 75 000 t a month of upgraded previously mined material.

Two further openpit mining operations are being targeted with commercial trials of bulk samples scheduled for refining at Sable during the third quarter of the 2025 financial year.

The company maintained copper production during the quarter despite the severe power interruptions, while commissioning and ramp-up of Roan met expectation for the quarter with the production of 744 t of copper units in final product.

In addition, the in-process stock contained in RoM and partially processed material accelerated to 3 538 t of contained copper – metal units – for further processing.

A production target of 1 800 t of copper units is set for the first half of financial year 2025, ending December 2024, increasing to about 4 200 t for the second half of the 2025 financial year, which totals about 6 000 t of copper for the full year based on current assumptions.

"I am pleased to report significant progress in the first quarter of financial year 2025, where we have successfully achieved key milestones in advancing our copper strategy, while our chrome and PGM operations continue to perform strongly.

“In Zambia, we have made considerable strides to establish a solid foundation for our anticipated growth in copper production. The commissioning and ramp-up of both the Roan and Munkoyo projects have been completed, setting the stage for substantial increases in output.

“Despite facing several hurdles along the way, including the country-wide power crisis, we have navigated these challenges and emerged stronger. Our copper business is now positioned for exceptional growth, with two fully operational processing plants at Roan and Sable, complemented by the successful implementation of the Munkoyo and Project G openpit copper mines,” says Jubilee CEO Leon Coetzer.

Jubilee says guidance remains on track with the successful ramp-up at Roan and Munkoyo as the company expects to deliver significantly increased copper production for the remainder of the financial year, to reach production guidance of between 5 850 t and 7 500 t.

The company adds that it is on track to achieve chrome concentrate production guidance of 1.65-million tonnes and PGM production guidance of 36 000 oz.

Chrome guidance will be reviewed at the half-year mark.

“Looking ahead to the remaining three quarters of financial year 2025, I am confident that we will continue with executing on our copper growth strategy, while maintaining the momentum of our successful South African operations,” says Coetzer.