Operations at Jubilee’s Roan copper project in Zambia have now been handed over to its operational team after it attained design capacity, following the connection of stable power supply under a power purchase agreement with Lunsemfwa Hydro Power Company (LHPC).

Zambia is facing rolling power cuts of up to 20 hours a day due to the depletion of hydroelectricity production water levels at Kariba.

Jubilee has had to sign up for a power purchase agreement with Lunsemfwa for guaranteed power supply to its operations in the regional country.

“The company is pleased to announce that its recently signed power purchase agreement with Lunsemfwa Hydro Power Company (LHPC) which has been implemented, with uninterrupted power being delivered to Jubilee’s operations as of last week covering all of its processing plants’ power requirements with 100% renewable power,” said Jubilee on Monday.

Following the connection of renewable electricity to its operations, the Roan front-end module had attained design production capacity. Subsequent to this, “operations have been handed over to the Roan operational” team.

“The frequent rolling outages posed an ongoing risk to the stability of our operations, so I am grateful that we have now secured a reliable, continuous power source,” said Leon Coetzer, CEO of Jubilee Metals.

“We are optimistic about the future and remain focused on bringing our secured copper resources into production as we fully utilise our expanded processing capacity.”

Furthermore, Jubilee has begun ramping up at the Munkoyo open-pit operations where it is targeting to reach 15 000 tons of run-of-mine ore per month.

This is comprised of 5 000 tons of 3.0% high-grade copper ore delivered direct to the Sable Refinery while the sub 1.0% lower-grade copper ore is being stockpiled at site for further processing.

Jubilee Metals is strategising for an initial processing capacity target of 25 000 tons of copper per year in Zambia, under two key operational sites that include Sable Refinery and the upgraded Roan Concentrator plant.

The company aims to fully utilise this capacity by bringing its secured copper resources into production through open-pit mining operations and the reprocessing of surface waste.

Last week, prominent South African business executive, Reuel Khoza, joined the board of Jubilee Metals after the resignation of the junior miner’s CFO, Neal Reynolds. Previously, Khoza held high-profile positions for large companies that include the JSE, financial services group Nedbank and the Public Investment Corporation, as well as Eskom Holdings.

Jubilee is involved in copper in Zambia as well as chrome and platinum group metals in South Africa.

It said last month that the upgrade of the Roan project located in Zambia had added more processing capacity and flexibility to the plant’s milling and flotation sections.

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