Shares in Jubilee Metals surged over 4% in early trading on Monday following an update on its copper projects in Zambia. The company, which operates in both Zambia and South Africa, highlighted that securing a stable power supply is essential for its copper strategy—an ongoing challenge in Zambia.
Recently, Jubilee signed a power purchase agreement with Lunsemfwa Hydro Power Company, resulting in uninterrupted power delivery to its operations. By last week, all processing plants were powered entirely by renewable energy.
Jubilee’s Zambian copper strategy aims for an initial processing capacity of 25,000 tonnes of copper annually, supported by the integrated Sable Refinery and the upgraded Roan Concentrator. The plan involves leveraging secured copper resources through open-pit mining and reprocessing surface waste.
CEO Leon Coetzer emphasized the importance of a stable power supply, stating, “Frequent rolling outages posed an ongoing risk to our operations, so securing a reliable source has been critical for achieving design throughput at our new Roan front-end module.”
The Roan front-end module recently reached its design capacity, and operations have transitioned to the Roan operational team. The facility produced its first copper concentrate after production commenced on August 8.
In addition, Munkoyo open-pit operations are ramping up, targeting 15,000 tonnes of run-of-mine ore monthly. This includes 5,000 tonnes of high-grade copper ore sent directly to the Sable Refinery, while lower-grade ore is being stockpiled for future processing. The Waste Rock project, which contains over 260 million tonnes of surface rock, will begin a commercial trial of 15,000 tonnes processed through Roan’s front-end module in November.
Coetzer noted that with the upgrades at the Roan Concentrator and Sable Refinery, Jubilee is well-positioned to meet its initial processing target. The company is also making strides in due diligence for additional projects, with discussions underway for two more open-pit opportunities.
Jubilee recently announced that businessman Reuel Khoza would join its board, further strengthening its leadership as it expands its copper resource portfolio and operational footprint in Zambia.
