Aim-listed Premier African Minerals announces that its subsidiary Zulu Lithium has concluded the procurement, installation and commissioning contract with Xinhai Technology Processing’s wholly-owned subsidiary Thriving Engineering Private for the provision of a spodumene flotation plant at the Zulu lithium and tantalum project, in Zimbabwe.

“As we have previously communicated, our focus at Zulu is firmly on improving the stability and consistency of overall processing performance. Whilst the concluding of this agreement with the contractor has taken a little longer than planned the intervening period has provided opportunity for a combination of detailed technical discussions and the need to ensure that the appropriate contractual protections, including performance-related provisions, were properly aligned with our operational requirements and validation of funding,” MD Graham Hill explains.

“Importantly, the contractual framework now in place provides for commissioning to be undertaken against defined performance criteria, with elements of payment linked to the achievement of those outcomes,” he highlights.

“We believe this structure appropriately aligns contractor incentives with delivery of the processing performance we require and represents a further step in the company’s ongoing focus on stabilising and optimising processing performance at the project. The agreement allows for completion of all works, commissioning and optimisation within the time frame of the long stop date as announced on January 5,” Hill outlines.

The flotation contract provides for the supply of flotation equipment and specialist engineering services to support the installation, commissioning and optimisation of a 15 t/h to 20 t/h spodumene flotation circuit at Zulu.

Key commercial and technical terms of the contract include delivery of flotation equipment within 15 days and onsite engineering support for installation and commissioning.

The concrete foundations have already been completed.

It also entails a process performance guarantee, under which the contractor is required to commission the flotation circuit to achieve targeted spodumene concentrate grade and recoveries at a design throughput of 15 t/h to 20 t/h, subject to feed meeting agreed specification.

There is also a staged payment structure, with a portion of the commissioning fees withheld and only payable upon achievement of agreed performance and throughput criteria, aligning final payment with delivery of operational performance.

All required civil works to accommodate the flotation plant upgrade have been completed, enabling installation and commissioning activities to proceed without delay, Premier points out.

Subject to logistics, site readiness and ramp-up dynamics, the company expects the upgraded flotation circuit to be commissioned and optimised during the second quarter of this year.