Aim- and AltX-traded metals processing company Jubilee says the six months ended December 31, 2021 marked a period of significant investment, with £35-million, or about R750-million, having been invested into its South African and Zambian operations.

This lays the foundation for sustained growth at its operations in South Africa, while rapidly nearing the completion of its Southern Copper Refining Strategy in Zambia, which is targeted to deliver more than 10 000 t/y of copper.

During the six months under review, Jubilee completed the construction of the now fully integrated Inyoni chrome and platinum group metals (PGMs) facility in South Africa.

The Inyoni facility further increases the company’s access to chrome processing capacity, to about three-million tonnes a year, making Jubilee one of the world’s largest chrome processors in operation, the company says.

It also increases the Inyoni PGMs production potential capacity to the equivalent of 44 000 oz/y, offsetting any short-term production loss linked to the construction phase during the period, with the potential of sustained long-term growth.

The proportion of PGM ounces now produced that are fully attributable to Jubilee has significantly increased compared with the considerable dilution of earnings caused historically by the Windsor PGMs joint venture (JV), where 40% of earnings was attributable to the JV partner, Jubilee points out.

Also, the group continued to further deliver on its Southern Copper Refining Strategy in Zambia with increased interim copper production and the new Roan copper concentrator entering its commissioning phase post the period under review, expected to fully ramp up its production during May.

From the £35-million invested, £20.5-million (R442-million) was invested in the expansion of Jubilee’s Inyoni chrome and PGMs facility in South Africa and a further £14.5-million (R311-million) was invested in Project Roan in Zambia, which signals the implementation of the fully integrated Southern Copper Refining Strategy.

Group revenue increased by 18% year-on-year to £63-million (R1.3-billion), driven mainly by the sharp growth in chrome processing capacity that is the facilitator for the increased production of the PGMs-rich feed stream for the expanded Inyoni facility.

Despite the considerable investment to sustain growth, the company strengthened its working capital position. Cash and cash equivalents increased to £21.5-million (R462-million) from June 30, 2021, with short-term assets covering 199% of short-term liabilities.

The group’s balance sheet continued to strengthen considerably, with total assets increasing by 30% to £253-million (R5.4-billion) from June 30, 2021.

Total equity increased by 34% to £184-million (R4-billion), maintaining a strong equity ratio of 73% compared with 70% as at June 30, 2021.

The group’s gearing remains low, with the net cash position and current assets covering 154% of total liabilities compared with 147% as at June 30, 2021. Post the period under review, these parameters strengthened even further.

POST PERIOD

Jubilee says that the Southern Copper Refining Strategy continues to deliver, with increased interim copper production and Project Roan entering its commissioning phase targeting to complete the operational ramp-up during May.

The company settled the entire long-term historical debt balance, leaving the balance sheet completely long-term debt-free and paving the way for Jubilee to leverage its balance sheet for structured debt funding on significantly better terms of its Northern Zambian Copper Strategy, which is set to more than double its copper production and introduce and materially expand cobalt production.

The group's safety performance was maintained with the lost-time injury frequency rate equalling 0.323 for the period and zero group fatalities recorded.

The Northern Copper Refining Strategy is currently targeting an additional 15 000 t/y of copper, but also holds the potential to substantially increase this target on the back of Jubilee’s recognised brand of process excellence in the recovery of metals from waste and the vast opportunities offered in waste recovery in Zambia, the company posits.

CEO Leon Coetzer says that, given the company’s successes in the period, in December, it was able to reveal plans for the roll-out of a global expansion strategy going into 2022.

“In developing this global strategy, Jubilee will seek to leverage the unique and proven intellectual capital it has developed over the past ten years and from which it has already created two successful metal recovery businesses, to deploy its metal processing expertise in other jurisdictions and grow internationally.

“With our strong balance sheet, including a healthy cash position, able to facilitate our growth, I firmly believe that our ability to process ore from multiple sources through a single, centralised processing unit, while at the same time cleaning up historical environmental mine tailings liabilities to the benefit of all stakeholders, will both create opportunities and give Jubilee a competitive advantage as it pursues further international opportunities,” he acclaims.