Diversified producer Jubilee Metals has commenced operations at its Roan upgrade project in Zambia.
The commencement of the newly constructed front-end section of the Roan operation adds additional processing capacity and flexibility to the already operating Roan milling and flotation sections, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
Roan’s new front-end capacity has been constructed adjacent to the already operating milling and flotation circuits, increasing the overall capacity of Roan to a maximum design of 13,000 tonnes of copper a year.
The upgrade forms part of Jubilee’s overall operational capacity increase strategy which includes the Sable refinery upgrade project currently under way, targeting to reach a combined processing capacity of 25,000 tonnes per annum of copper over the coming 12 months.
“We are proud to announce that the Roan front-end module upgrade project in Zambia has commenced production ramp-up of previously mined material, which has been upgraded at source, prior to producing a saleable copper concentrate at Roan,” CEO Leon Coetzer said.
“It has taken a concerted effort by the team to reach this critical point in the ramp-up of the Roan Upgrade project. I look forward to the team completing an accelerated ramp-up of operations during the coming month”
The upgraded Roan, together with the Sable refinery, offers Jubilee “tremendous processing flexibility and affords us the unique opportunity to aggressively pursue copper resources that are unlocked by this capability,” he added.
Jubilee is growing its copper resource portfolio as an enabler to drive the expansion of its processing operational footprint in Zambia.
The success in securing these targeted resources has afforded the group the opportunity to transition Sable into a dedicated refiner for the processing of open-pit mining operations such as the recently announced Munkoyo operation, while the upgraded Roan will process predominantly previously mined and processed material.
At completion, an expanded Sable and Roan will operate as independent operations.
Once Sable is at full capacity supplied by open-pit mining operations, Roan can sell excess concentrate in the open market.
The company is reviewing the option of expanding the Roan operation to incorporate downstream refining of its concentrate depending on capital allocation.
The targeted combined processing capacity of about 25,000 tonnes per annum of copper is achieved by an expanded Sable at 16,000 tonnes per annum in addition to Roan's expanded capacity, it said.
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