Zulu Lithium Drilling Programme

Premier African Minerals Limited / Ticker: PREM / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining

For immediate release

 

26 February 2019

 

Premier African Minerals Limited

Zulu Lithium Drilling Programme and issue of equity

 

Premier African Minerals Limited ("Premier" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it will recommence drilling at the Company's wholly-owned Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project ("Zulu") in Zimbabwe. Mobilisation will commence immediately, and drilling is expected to commence as soon as mobilisation is complete and seasonal rains permit.

 

The drilling programme will follow the recommendations identified in the Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") work programme and will focus on expanding both the size and confidence of the current SAMREC compliant Resource at Zulu, as well as the generation of geotechnical and hydrological data for the pit shell designs and future mine construction. The Company has appointed KME Plant Hire Proprietary Limited ("KME") as drilling contractor to carry out these drilling works. As previously announced on 14 February 2019, Premier has announced agreed amended conditional terms to acquire 50% of KME. 

 

George Roach, CEO of Premier, stated: "It is gratifying to finally be able to report a return to real value generative operations. With the recently announced term sheet in regard to KME, drilling activities at Zulu are likely to proceed at a much-reduced overall cost. We look forward to further updates on progress at Zulu as we progress into the DFS work programme."

 

About Zulu

The Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project ("Zulu") is an advanced stage lithium development project. The project covers c. 3.5km² and is located 80km north east of Bulawayo. In June 2017, Premier announced a Maiden Mineral Inferred Resource Estimate on Zulu of 20.1 million tonnes grading 1.06% Li2O. In November 2017, the Company announced a Scoping Study demonstrating a robust project with a viable process route. Premier has lodged an application for an Exclusive Prospecting Order for a 20,200-hectare exploration licence adjacent to the current licences which, once granted, could significantly enhance the project.

 

Drilling Programme

The budget for the initial drilling programme (as described above), including mobilisation, is approximately US$400,000 and the Company has today issued 212,413,793 new Ordinary Shares of nil par value at an issue price of 0.145p per share ("New Ordinary Shares") to KME as pre-payment for mobilisation and drilling. The New Ordinary Shares will, when issued, rank pari passu in all respects with the existing ordinary shares. Application will be made for the New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and admission is expected to take place on or around 4 March 2019. The issuance of the New Ordinary Shares has been undertaken within the Company's existing share authorities.

 

Total Voting Rights

Following the issue of the New Ordinary, the Company's issued share capital consists of 7,594,062,285 Ordinary Shares, with voting rights. This figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculation by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

 

Special note concerning the Market Abuse Regulation

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014. The person who arranged the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company was George Roach.

 

Qualified Person

Wolfgang Hampel, Senior Geologist with Premier African Minerals Limited, has reviewed and approved this release to the extent that reference is made to the Zulu Lithium Project. Mr Hampel has 28 years' experience in the African, American, European and Asian exploration and mining industry and holds a Diploma in Economic Geology (Dipl.-Geol.) from the Technical University of Munich. He is a registered European Geologist (EurGeol). n° 1261 with the European Federation of Geologists.

 

Enquiries:

Fuad Sillem	Premier African Minerals Limited	Tel: +44 (0)7734 922074
Michael Cornish / Roland Cornish	Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser)	Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396
Jerry Keen/Edward Mansfield	Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited	Tel: +44 (0) 20 7408 4090

 

Notes to Editors:

Premier African Minerals Limited (AIM: PREM) is a multi-commodity mining and natural resource development company focused on Southern Africa with its RHA and Zulu projects in Zimbabwe.

 

The Company has a diverse portfolio of projects, which include tungsten, rare earth elements, lithium and tantalum in Zimbabwe, encompassing brownfield projects with near-term production potential to grass-roots exploration. In addition, the Company holds 5,010,333 shares in Circum Minerals Limited ("Circum"), the owners of the Danakil Potash Project in Ethiopia, which has the potential to be a world class asset.

 

Forward Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this announcement are or may be deemed to be forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''believe'' ''could'' "should" ''envisage'' ''estimate'' ''intend'' ''may'' ''plan'' ''will'' or the negative of those variations or comparable expressions including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth results of operations performance future capital and other expenditures (including the amount. nature and sources of funding thereof) competitive advantages business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors.  Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements including risks associated with vulnerability to general economic and business conditions competition environmental and other regulatory changes actions by governmental authorities the availability of capital markets reliance on key personnel uninsured and underinsured losses and other factors many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Although any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are based upon what the Directors believe to be reasonable assumptions. The Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such forward looking statements.

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014. 

 

ENDS

 

 

Glossary of Technical Terms:

 

"Li2O"	chemical formula of lithium oxide
"Mineral resource"	concentration or occurrence of diamonds, natural solid inorganic material or natural fossilized organic material including base and precious metals, coal, and industrial minerals in or on the Earth's crust in such form and quantity and of such a grade or quality that it has reasonable prospects for economic extraction. The location, quantity, grade, geological characteristics and continuity of a mineral resource are known, estimated or interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge.
"SAMREC"	is the South African Code for the Reporting of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves