After bringing its Zambian Roan facility back online with a new power agreement last month, diversified producer Jubilee Metals is accelerating the operation’s copper production by processing new higher-grade feed material.
The move represents Jubilee’s strategy to recoup some the past two months’ losses, as unplanned power outages in Zambia caused a noticeable increase in the number of production hours lost at Roan.
In a statement on Thursday, Jubilee said the copper material would be settled through a part payment by the group’s Zambian operations and a payment of $2.7m (R50.25m), which will be settled through the issue of 51.8-million new Jubilee shares at a price of 4.2p (98c) each.
“While the downtime experienced due to the power outages at Roan had a material negative impact on our production over the past couple of months, the Jubilee team has demonstrated their ability to immediately react to the challenges faced,” said Jubilee CEO Leon Coetzer.
“We have secured a stable power supply, which has allowed us to bring Roan back into operation and have secured higher grade material, which provides an immediate opportunity to recoup part of the lost production and enhance cash flows within a short period of time.”
Jubilee’s investment in Roan’s recovery comes as the group’s SA platinum group metals (PGM) operations have been affected by low commodity prices, causing the miner to double down on copper.
Coetzer said the Zambian copper strategy remained robust given its vast copper resource base in the country, but noted that the group “was reviewing several opportunities to liquidate for value certain of the noncore lower grade assets”.
Copper guidance would be reviewed following a four to six week operational run on the new material, he said.
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