23
September 2024
Marula Mining
PLC
("Marula
Mining'' or the "Company")
Tomra XRT Ore Sorter
Update
Marula Mining (AQSE: MARU A2X: MARU), an
African-focused mining and development company, is pleased to
provide a further update on the installation and planned
commissioning of the Tomra COM XRT 1200 Ore Sorter ("Ore Sorter")
at the Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum Mine ("Blesberg").
Maintenance and refurbishment work
of the Ore Sorter has now been completed by the Company's
management team and its consultants after transportation of the Ore
Sorter and associated equipment to Springbok in the Northern Cape
Province in August 2024. The Ore Sorter is now to be installed and
commissioned at Blesberg, where Tomra Systems ASA ("Tomra") will
complete a final maintenance and servicing, and with its personnel
on-site, also assist with the installation and commissioning
process.
Further detectability and
sortability test work has been completed by Tomra at its Mining
Test Centre in Johannesburg in August 2024. X-ray transmission was used due to the difference in
attenuation of X-ray radiation amongst the different Blesberg ore
types. This was completed as part of the training of the Ore Sorter
and parameterisation of its image-processing sorting
software. This test work has confirmed the ability to
separate the various Blesberg ores including the spodumene,
feldspars, coltan, mica, lepidolite, quartz, garnet and waste rock.
Additional sortability test work is now due to commence in order to
assist in determining the separation and sorting performance of the
Ore Sorter by size range, recovery, grade and ore concentration
factors.
Highlights:
·
Maintenance and refurbishment work on the Ore
Sorter and all associated equipment has now been
completed
·
Upgrade work on the Ore Sorter and associated
equipment's support structures including the conveyors and
discharge chutes has also now been completed
·
Transportation of the Ore Sorter from Springbok to
Blesberg is to commence, where it will be installed and
commissioned
·
Tomra will be on-site at Blesberg to complete the
final technical work including the final maintenance and servicing
associated and its installation and commissioning
·
Commissioning of the Ore Sorter will expand the
ore processing capacity at Blesberg and production of multiple
by-product minerals
·
The Ore Sorter and its commissioning alongside the
existing Rados SRF100-8 XRF ore
sorter is a key component of the Company's
plans at Blesberg, which will see it increase production and sales
of multiple mineral products and further target exports of a
high-value lithium intermediate product for
battery production
·
Tomra has further completed some initial
detectability and sortability test work on the eight different
styles of mineralisation at Blesberg
·
This test work was completed to
train the Ore Sorter and to provide key parameters
for the Ore Sorters sorting software
·
Approximately 40 kilograms of Blesberg material
comprising feldspar, spodumene, lepidolite, mica, quartz, garnet,
coltan and the waste granodiorite rock, was tested in two size
ranges (+20-40mm and +40-80mm) and underwent high-energy X-ray and
sensor capturing detectability
analyses
·
The sortability testing confirmed the ability to
separate the multiple mineral and ore types at Blesberg and further
algorithms and iterations can be utilised to optimise the process
based on final product choices
·
Further sortability testing is now due to commence
using a larger representative sample amount, and to assist in
determining the separation and sorting performance of the Ore
Sorter by size range, recovery, grade and ore concentration
factors
·
Results from this testing will be utilised in the
commissioning of the Ore Sorter at Blesberg which is to commence
following its installation in the coming weeks
Jason Brewer, CEO of Marula Mining, said:
"The completion of the maintenance and refurbishment of the
Tomra Ore Sorter and the associated support equipment is another
further positive step forward at Blesberg.
The installation and commissioning of its at Blesberg is the
next step and is a critical one for us as we look to both expand
our ore processing capabilities and our plans to produce and sell
multiple mineral products from the mining
operation.
The Tomra Ore Sorter is also a key part of our planned
additional new processing facilities that we have planned to have
operational in 2025 to allow the production of higher value
'intermediary' lithium products, that are needed in the manufacture
of electrical batteries.
More updates from Blesberg are due shortly and I look
forward to providing these as we move ahead and achieve more
technical and development milestones at
Blesberg."
The
Directors of Marula Mining are responsible for the contents of this
announcement. This announcement contains inside information for the
purposes of UK Market Abuse Regulation.
About Marula Mining
Marula Mining (AQSE: MARU A2X: MARU)
is an African focused battery metals investment and exploration
company and has interests in several high value mining operations
and mine development projects in Africa: the Blesberg Lithium and
Tantalum Mine, Northern Cape Lithium and Tungsten Project, Korridor
Lithium Project and Kruisrivier Cobalt Mine, all in South
Africa; the Larisoro Manganese Mine and Kilifi Manganese Processing
Operation both in Kenya; the Kinusi Copper Mine, the Nyorinyori
Graphite Project, the NyoriGreen Graphite Project and the Bagamoyo
Graphite Project all in Tanzania and the Nkombwa Hill Project in
Zambia. As we advance operations at these battery metals focused
projects, Marula will continue to build and expand its interests in
other high-quality projects in Africa.
Marula's strategy is to identify and
invest in advanced and high-value mining projects throughout East,
Central and Southern Africa that the Directors believe would
deliver returns for its shareholders. The Board and management team
aims to establish Marula as a socially and environmentally
responsible, sustainable, and profitable producer of critical
metals and commodities that are of increasingly strategic
importance to modern technologies and the global
economy.
Marula's shares are traded on AQUIS
Stock Exchange (AQSE) in London and A2X Markets in South Africa.
Marula is exploring opportunities to admit its shares to trading on
Kenya's Nairobi Securities Exchange and South Africa's Johannesburg
Stock Exchange.
For
enquiries contact:
Marula Mining PLC
Jason Brewer,
Chief Executive Officer
Faith Kinyanjui Mumbi
Investor Relations
|
Email :
jason@marulamining.com
Email :
info@marulamining.com
|
AQSE Corporate Adviser
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP,
Liam Murray / Ludovico Lazzaretti
|
+44 (0)20
7213 0880
|
Broker
Peterhouse Capital Limited,
Charles Goodfellow / Duncan Vasey
|
+44
(0)20 7469 0930
|
Financial PR and IR
BlytheRay
Tim
Blythe / Megan Ray / Said Izagaren
|
+44 (0)20 7138 3204
|
A2X
Advisor
AcaciaCap Advisors Proprietary Limited
Michelle Krastanov
|
+27 (11)
480 8500
|
Caution:
Certain statements in this
announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking
statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use
of terms and phrases such as ''believe'', ''could'', "should"
''envisage'', ''estimate'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'',
''potentially'', "expect", ''will'' or the negative of those,
variations or comparable expressions, including references to
assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not based on
historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations
and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth, results of
operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures
(including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof),
competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such
forward looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs
and assumptions and are based on information currently available to
the Directors.