Jubilee Metals reports solid second-half operations

Jubilee Metals Group updated the market on its operations in the second half of the 2021 calendar year on Tuesday, reporting that it had successfully recommissioned the upgraded and integrated new Inyoni platinum group metals (PGM) processing facility in South Africa in November, within budget and on schedule.

The AIM-traded firm said the £17.5m investment programme enabled the new facility to produce up to 44,000 PGM ounces, up from 30,000 ounces, and 615,000 tonnes of additional chrome concentrate per annum.

It said the investment included the construction of a new 80,000 tonnes per month chrome processing facility integrated with the new upgraded Inyoni PGM circuit.

Jubilee was able to maintain contractual obligations during the rebuild, with 20,316 PGM ounces sold during the six month period, despite scheduled production downtime during expansion.

The board noted that unit costs and revenues were skewed in the period by a one-off release of stock as a lower-grade PGM material, although it added that January saw monthly production levels up 66% compared with the second half of 2021.

It said the higher production levels reflected the new Inyoni facility reaching full design capacities.

Overall, the investment in capital expenditure over the period totalled £19.3m, with a further £17.7m invested in acquisitions, leaving cash and cash equivalents at period end of £21.7m, compared with £19.6m as at 30 June.

Looking at its chrome operations in South Africa, Jubilee confirmed that it achieved full integration of the new 80,000 tonne per month OBB chrome plant with the expanded Inyoni PGM plant within budget and in record time during November.

Production of chrome concentrate increased by 41% to 609,734 tonnes, while chrome revenue improved 28% to £30m and chrome earnings rose 15% to £2m.

The company said the new chrome beneficiation facility followed the completion of the Windsor 8 chrome plant in October 2020 which, combined, expanded Jubilee's chrome feed capacity to 250,000 tonnes per month of both chrome run-of-mine ore and historical tailings.

Jubilee said the increased chrome processing capacity directly contributed to increased PGM feed supply, as a tailings stream produced from the chrome processing circuit.

Finally, at its Zambia copper operations, Jubilee reported a 70% rise in Sable Refinery copper production to 1,314 tonnes, as part of the process to ensure operational readiness to accept first copper concentrate production from Jubilee's Project Roan.

The commissioning of Jubilee's Project Roan copper concentrator neared completion during the period, with early commissioning activities starting.

It said the project remained on schedule to reach full production levels during the current period, targeting an annual production rate of 10,000 tonnes per annum.

Jubilee's Sable Refinery reported revenue from the sale of copper cathode of £8m - up 57% from the first half of 2021.

The Sable Refinery achieved positive earnings as part of its operational readiness activities, the board added, with attributable operational earnings of £3.2m, up 70%.

“I wish to congratulate the Jubilee team for successfully completing our fully integrated, world-class, Inyoni chrome and PGM facility in South Africa, and for further delivering on our Southern Copper Refining Strategy in Zambia,” said chief executive officer Leon Coetzer.

“The current reporting period is an example of Jubilee's continued commitment to invest into our company to secure further growth and sustainability of our operations.

“Despite this challenging undertaking that lays our foundation for future performance, the team delivered a stellar operational performance.”

At 1009 GMT, shares in Jubilee Metals Group were up 3.74% at 15.87p.