Aim- and AltX-listed Jubilee Metals Group has reported a strong operational performance from its South African platinum group metals (PGMs) and chrome operations for the financial year ended June 30, saying this reflects the company's ability to successfully navigate power and infrastructure challenges in the country.

"I am pleased to report record production figures for the year across our entire PGM, chrome and copper operations despite numerous external power and water challenges. These numbers reflect a continued investment strategy in expansion opportunities across our business, which we believe will continue to bear fruit in the short and medium term," comments CEO Leon Coetzer.

Jubilee's PGMs output increased by 2% year-on-year to 42 474 oz, exceeding guidance of 38 000 oz, while chrome production increased by 7% year-on-year to 1.29-million tonnes, also exceeding guidance of 1.2-million tonnes.

"In South Africa, Inyoni continues to go from strength-to-strength. Our expansion strategy will see production increase further in the year ahead, as evidenced by our guidance for full-year 2024 of 42 000 oz of PGMs and chrome production stepping up to 1.45-million tonnes.

"The production of chrome forms a vital part of the South African business' profitability and cost competitiveness, and I am pleased we were able to secure more feed at more attractive, market-linked terms in the period than our existing toll treatment contracts.

"In that regard, we are looking to take full advantage of this opportunity by growing production, while also looking at other opportunities similar to this one," Coetzer says.

Jubilee continues to pursue further chrome expansion opportunities and is advancing discussions to achieve an annualised chrome concentrate production rate of two-million tonnes by the end of the 2024 calendar year.

Meanwhile, Jubilee's Zambian copper operations produced 2 923 t – a 29% year-on-year increase but slightly below guidance of 3 000 t, mainly as a result of power and water disruptions in that country in the first half of the financial year, which negatively impacted on the ramp-up of the Roan concentrator.

The company has set the copper production guidance for the 2024 financial year at 5 850 t and remains confident of expanding capacity to 25 000 t/y by 2025.

"Having expanded into Zambia in 2018, our technical research and process development work has allowed us to fully understand the extent of the waste and non-traditional ore opportunities. Jubilee's technical process development team has completed its ongoing test work to both increase Jubilee's ability to process a wider range of these vast copper materials, as well as address key operational lessons learned to date at the Roan concentrator. 

"As a result, and to better capture this opportunity, Jubilee has taken the decision to significantly upgrade its Roan concentrator facility to offer a unique capability to target a broader range of materials and produce three concentrate products for both refining at Sable and direct on-sale to the market," Coetzer notes.

"Our Northern Strategy continues to progress on several fronts, including advanced talks to secure a significant operational refining footprint, from where we are able to establish a central refining footprint in the area.

"The Jubilee team is working to complete the ongoing pilot trials to optimise the targeted process solution for the treatment of the range of northern copper and cobalt wastes. These results will be used to inform the capital requirements for the project, which has been delayed to August. Final test programmes include scaling up further the pilot work to a newly constructed large-scale piloting facility expected to commence during September," he adds.