By: OrePulse

Premier African Minerals has raised approximately £1.2 million through a direct subscription for more than 27.5 billion new shares, funds it says will support a restart of operations at its Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project in Zimbabwe.

The AIM-listed company said the proceeds would go toward remobilizing mining activity, restarting the processing plant and managing payments owed to creditors. The new shares are expected to begin trading on AIM around October 9.

Premier African Minerals plans to run an initial 15-day processing campaign using about 13,000 tonnes of ore already stockpiled on the run-of-mine pad at Zulu. The trial is designed to test plant stability, recovery rates and the quality of the spodumene concentrate produced, and its results will inform decisions on whether to extend operations and resume full-scale mining.

The company describes itself as a multi-commodity mining and natural resource developer focused on southern Africa. Its portfolio includes the RHA Tungsten project and the Zulu Lithium project in Zimbabwe, spanning tungsten, rare earth elements, lithium, tantalum and gold across operations in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

The restart plan follows a period in which operations at Zulu had been halted, and the size of the fundraising points to the financing constraints facing junior mining developers seeking to bring lithium and tantalum projects back into production.