Diversified metals producer Jubilee Metals has successfully concluded its due diligence of Project G, an openpit copper mining operation in Zambia, and has elected to acquire a majority interest in the project under revised terms, increasing the company’s holding to 65% from 51%, as previously announced in August.

Project G marks the second openpit copper operation acquired in Zambia following the implementation of Project Munkoyo.

Meanwhile, Jubilee has also increased the allocation of power under the recently announced private power purchase agreement (LHPC agreement) to secure an additional 2 MW of power to ensure all of the Zambian operations are fully supplied under the LHPC agreement.

The increased power allocation allows the Roan concentrator to operate at full capacity in respect of its newly commissioned front-end module and its existing milling and flotation plant.

The company’s Zambian operations have now fully transitioned its power requirements to renewable-energy sources.

This progress is part of the company’s copper strategy in Zambia, which is centred around achieving an initial production capacity target of 25 000 t/y of copper, with the increased processing capacity to be achieved through the upgraded Roan plant and the second copper tank house addition to the Sable refinery.

For Project G, the company will settle the acquisition value of $2-million in cash instead of in shares, with a commitment to invest a further $500 000 to upgrade the Project G operations.

Project G is targeted to start operations and delivery of pre-concentrated run-of-mine (RoM) to the Sable refinery by December.

Under the terms of the agreement, Jubilee is appointed manager and operator of the openpit operations with immediate effect.

Project G will ramp up over a six-month period to reach 3 000 t a month of pre-concentrate material through a Jubilee on-site module, and delivery of an additional 350 copper units per month (4 200 per year) to Sable for further refining.

A resource drilling programme is currently under way, targeting a potential increase in production to 20 000 t to 25 000 t of RoM ore a month.

“I am pleased to announce this transaction as our second openpit mining operation in Zambia. As I mentioned, when we first announced these proposed acquisitions, the strategic acquisition of two openpit operations served as an example of our ability to leverage our process capability and early mover advantage to secure significant near-surface copper resources which are already in operation.

“These assets’ predictable, high grades and our ability to owner manage the operations allows us to control the optimal blend of feed ore to achieve the 25 000 t/y copper target we have set for ourselves,” says CEO Leon Coetzer.

“Zambia holds numerous similar near-surface resource opportunities which we are actively pursuing.

“We are equally pleased to have converted our entire power supply requirement to renewable energy in the form of hydro and solar power in future, which is vital for the green energy transition to ensure that the copper we produce has as low a carbon footprint as possible,” he adds.