Jubilee Metals secures 'significant' ore supply agreement

The AIM-traded firm said that under the new processing agreement, it has been appointed to recommence the run-of-mine chrome beneficiation plant at its Inyoni operations, which supplements the existing platinum group metals tailings resources with a guaranteed supply of new mined material.

A guaranteed minimum supply of 40,000 tonnes per month of new run-of-mine to the Inyoni operations would be in addition to the 60,000 tonnes per month of run-of-mine announced previously at the company’s Windsor operations, and the 35,000 tonnes per month feed material secured at its new Windsor 8 facility.

The board said the processing agreement significantly extended the existing platinum group metals resources with further guaranteed ore supply, offering the potential to expand the processing capacity of Inyoni.

Jubilee said it was currently reviewing the expansion of Inyoni to reach 3,500 platinum group metal ounces per month, with the board saying the company’s operations there now had the potential to offer near and long-term quality earnings.

“Jubilee has, through the processing agreement, further strengthened the sustainability of its operating capacity and earnings base in South Africa,” said chiefs executive officer Leon Coetzer.

“Our specialist processing solution which recovers chrome and PGMs from feed materials and discard, as well as our access to unique processing solutions and intellectual property, make Jubilee an internationally recognised metals recovery company.

“We continue to strive toward ensuring that our operations are constantly supplied with quality feed sources allowing them to operate at full capacity, whilst at the same time significantly increasing our surface PGM resources from the discard of the chrome operations.”

Coetzer said the processing agreement secured up to 80,000 tonnes of run-of-mine feed for the Inyoni chrome plant for the next eight years, in addition to the already 95,000 tonnes per month of chrome processing capacity secured at the Windsor chrome plant and new Windsor 8 facility, as previously announced.

“Jubilee now has the ability to produce in excess of 90,000 tonnes of saleable chrome concentrate per month under protected operational margins, and adding to its existing platinum group metal resources.

“We will continue to strive to outperform the industry norm on chrome efficiencies, with a team that has proven beyond expectations its capability to achieve consistent and exceptional chrome recovery efficiencies.

“Our proven capability to maximise output through well developed and tested processing solutions sets the pace for Jubilee to secure further third party chrome material supplies.”

At 1518 BST, shares in Jubilee Metals Group were up 3.11% at 5.31p.