Premier African Minerals confirms restart at RHA Tungsten

Multi-commodity mining and natural resource development company Premier African Minerals announced on Monday that plant upgrades are now installed and operational at the RHA Tungsten Project, of which Premier is the operator and holds 49%.

The AIM-traded firm said the screens, plant modifications and electrical reticulation works have been finished and the plant is undergoing a phased commissioning and optimisation process to achieve the anticipated recoveries and operational throughput.

Wolframite concentrate from ore in the underground mine has been produced, and the throughput of the plant will be steadily increased to the plant’s design capacity of 16 tonnes per hour.

“I am pleased to report the installation of these much anticipated modifications at RHA and the commencement of the recommissioning and optimisation process,” said Premier African Minerals CEO George Roach.

“I will keep the market informed of progress and look forward to being in a position to deal with financial forecasts in the near future.

“At the same time, I am equally pleased to report that XRT test-work recently conducted on bulk sample material from RHA was re-run at the express direction of the equipment provider to confirm the excellent results previously achieved, and the equipment provider now confirms that the sort achieved a near 100% recovery,” Roach explained.

He said Premier is reassessing the pit capacity to meet the minimum tonnage XRT sorting will require, and expects to be in a position to progress that in early August.

“I would like to thank our shareholders for their continued support during this transitional period for the company,” Roach added.