Jubilee Metals halts cobalt production at Sable Refinery

Jubilee’s 780 000 tonnes per annum Roan copper concentrator forms part of its fully integrated Southern Copper Refining Strategy which integrates the Sable Refinery and the Roan Concentrator with a total capacity of 12 000 tonnes of copper per annum.

At the end of February, with the power and water disruptions across Zambia now resolved, Project Roan re-commenced with ramping up to full production and commercialisation of the Southern Copper Refining project.

The project sold 494 copper tonnes over the period with a further 202 tonnes of equivalent copper contained in copper concentrate and copper cathode. To date, a total capital investment of US$48.2 million has been made for the construction, implementation, commissioning and ramp-up of the integrated Roan project towards reaching commercialisation.

Upon reaching commercial production, the Roan copper concentrator is expected to contribute 550 tonnes of copper per month to the production of the Sable Refinery with a further 130 tonnes per month of copper from third party supplies.

As announced on 20 March 2023, the upgrade of the power and water infrastructure at Project Roan offered the potential for the simplification of the Northern Copper Refining Strategy by utilising Roan’s expanded infrastructure to establish a central copper concentrating hub at Roan which would significantly reduce the required capital investment and project timelines.

The Company will provide further clarity on the expected capital investment and updated timelines for the implementation of the Northern Copper Refining Strategy at the completion of the revised capital program which is expected by the end of the current reporting period.

At Sable, Jubilee successfully completed the first cobalt production runs from waste and looks to increase the capacity to be able to produce 450 tonnes per month of cobalt hydroxide (125 tonnes of contained cobalt) from recycled waste alone by the end of May 2023.

This additional capability offers Jubilee the flexibility to pivot between copper and cobalt production guided by prevailing market conditions.

Cobalt prices have depreciated sharply over the period with cobalt hydroxide prices reducing by 76% from its highs during April 2022. Cobalt production has therefore been halted and will resume once the market displays signs of recovery.