Jubilee advances Zambia copper expansion with its integrated production strategy

Jubilee Metals Group Plc (LON:JLP), a diversified metals producer with operations in South Africa and Zambia, has provided an update on its copper portfolio in Zambia and the implementation of its integrated production strategy. The Company continues to establish itself as a comprehensive copper producer, encompassing exploration, mining, concentrating, and cathode refining capabilities.

Jubilee’s copper strategy has leveraged experiences and expertise from its South African processing business. Whilst the Company’s South African operations are reliant on third party feed supply, Jubilee has acquired extensive copper resources in Zambia and developed a three-pillar diversified platform on the back of its growing presence in Zambia, with significant growth potential that includes:

1.   Integrated mine-to-metals business: Jubilee’s Sable refinery (Sable) together with its nearby Munkoyo open-pit copper mine (Munkoyo) and Project G. In addition, Jubilee has secured extensive further exploration rights.

·    Munkoyo and Project G are being developed to be the anchor source of copper material for cathode production at Sable.

·      Further large-scale exploration properties secured to expand Jubilee’s copper resource base.

·     Munkoyo is a series of nine open-pits. Resource drilling is underway to establish the potential of combining these pits into one large open-pit operation offering greater flexibility and scale.

2.   Processing of third-party copper feedstock: Jubilee’s Roan concentrator (Roan).

·     The upgraded Roan is fully operational reaching 384 tonnes of copper units for the month of July 2025 alone, proving the sustainability of the new upgraded processing solution.

·      Roan concentrator produces copper concentrate from non-traditional feedstocks. Copper sulphide concentrates are being sold into the market and copper oxide concentrates are refined at Sable.

·     Dedicated copper leaching circuit targeted to enhance copper margins and recoveries and avoid reliance on the Sable’s leaching and refining capacity.

3.   Processing of Jubilee acquired surface stockpiles and tailings dumps: Jubilee’s rights to the Large Waste Tailings dump which contains in excess of 240Mt is the priority asset.

·     Completed a review of total surface stock portfolio to rank vast surface resource portfolio based on potential returns offered and ease of implementation.

​·  Monetisation programme underway to sell lowest ranking non-core tailings assets with approximately US$18 million deal value already transacted over the past six months.

H2 FY2025 summary

·      The upgraded Roan concentrator is fully operational and capitalised and exceeded its targeted production for the month of July 2025 reaching 384t of copper units for the month of July 2025 and is ahead of the targeted production rate of 350t in August 2025.

·     Munkoyo open pit operation’s drilling program has commenced with the initial 8 drill holes completed in partnership with an established mining and exploration company. Drilling results are being reviewed by a competent person and the results will be released in due course.

·      Early indication from the drilling campaign suggests the potential to combine pits 2 to 4 into a single large open pit to offer increased mining flexibility and increased throughput to sustain the targeted high-grade ROM of between 6 500 to 8 500tpm at 2.5% Cu.

·    The new pit designs factored in the drilling results of the copper sulphide ore body discovery below the near surface copper oxide layer currently being targeted.

·     Discussions are in progress with an established mining and exploration partner to implement the further expanded Munkoyo and develop Project G while undertaking an exploration program of the newly secured exploration properties within the area.

·    Copper production for H1 FY2025 was severely impacted by the power and infrastructure challenges, previously reported. Roan was placed under care and maintenance for an extended period while power security was resolved and process upgrades successfully completed to allow for the simultaneous processing of high-grade copper materials and tailings.

·      On the back of a successful Roan restart, copper units production for H2 FY2025 reached 757 tonnes (H1 FY2025: 1 454 tonnes) (Guidance for H1 FY2026 of 2 300 tonnes) with annual production for FY2025 reaching 2 211 tonnes (Guidance for FY2026 of 5 100 tonnes)

Zambia production guidance for FY2026

·      Copper unit production guidance for H1 FY2026 of 2 300 tonnes and 5 100 for the full year FY2026.

·     Further capital dependent projects which are currently underway and being targeted to commence within FY2026, offer the potential to increase annual copper production by approximately 10 000 tonnes as follows:

o  Onsite Munkoyo processing unit – 1 440 tonnes per annum;

o  Project G processing unit – 1 320 tonnes per annum;

o  Refining at Roan  – 2 544 tonnes per annum; and

o  Two processing modules at the Large Waste Tailings dump – 5 500 tonnes per annum.

Statement from Leon Coetzer, Jubilee Metals Chief Executive Officer:

“I am pleased to report significant progress across our Zambia portfolio which has in place all the assets we need to maintain the momentum on our copper expansion strategy. By dedicating our existing processing capacity at Roan to a combination of third-party sourced higher-grade mined material and process tailings while advancing our Munkoyo and Project G mining operations to feed an expanded Sable, we are building a robust and stable copper production profile. In addition, we are expanding our copper exploration footprint and advancing our Large Waste project.

The energy related challenges we faced earlier this year, though difficult, have helped us emerge with a clearer, more focused strategy backed by secure power supply and higher value material supply agreements. This operational focus, prioritising run-of-mine and previously mined materials, closely resembles the successful evolution of our South African chrome and PGM operations albeit with an integrated portfolio of our own feedstock supply.

We are excited to leverage our unique capabilities in processing transitional copper reefs, available in vast quantities, and look forward to delivering clear guidance on our production under new supply agreements in the coming months. This also fits into our thinking of seeking a mining joint venture partner at our mineral assets to ensure management’s focus can remain on processing. Our commitment remains to scale operations in a non-dilutive, capital-efficient, and sustainable manner as we advance toward our medium-term targets.”

Production performance Q4 FY2025

The table below presents the unaudited operational production performance of copper for the half year ending 30 June 2025 and includes guidance for 2026.

Zambia projects update

Integrated mine-to-metals business: Sable Refinery together with nearby Munkoyo and Project G

Sable is undergoing an expansion to, at completion, offer an annual processing capacity of approximately 14 000 tonnes of copper units. This expansion is targeted for completion in Q1 CY2026. The expansion will accommodate increased production from the nearby Munkoyo, Project G, and other near-surface third-party opportunities in the area, as well as copper oxide concentrate from Roan. The Company estimates approximately US$5.5 million of capital investment required for the expansion at Sable.

Munkoyo to date was operating a single pit with a mining rate of 80 000tpm. Of this, approximately 3500tpm of high-grade ROM (of approximate 2.5% Cu) is delivered to Sable. A resource drilling program has commenced to upgrade resource confidence and optimise open-pit design. Munkoyo consists of 9 initial test open pits of which only pit 5 was developed to mine and deliver the initial copper ore to Sable. Eight drill holes have been completed of varying depths to test lithology and continuity. Early indication from drilling results has pleasingly delineated the presence of copper sulphide beneath the existing oxide material.

The Company is exploring the potential to merge the satellite pits into one large open pit which will provide increased flexibility and productivity for supplying Sable. The Company has temporarily halted mining at Munkoyo for July and August 2025 while the extended pit design is completed based on the drilling results and will recommence ore delivery to Sable from September 2025 in addition to the current production from Roan.

Production will commence targeting 4 500tpm ramping up to 8 500tpm. At the targeted grade this equates to approximately 200tpm of copper units delivered to Sable in addition to the production from Roan.

An on-site processing plant is being planned at Munkoyo. Discussions are in progress with an established mining and exploration partner to implement the further expansion at Munkoyo. This plant will be designed for the low-grade ROM that incorporates a copper leaching, solid liquid separation, and copper precipitation circuit. The implementation of the first copper processing unit at Munkoyo is targeted for commissioning by the end of Q2 CY2026 and offers an increase in copper units by a further 120tpm to reach 320tpm (3 840 tonnes per annum).

Resource drilling at Project G will commence during Q2 FY2025 to afford the time to complete the Munkoyo pit expansion and drilling. The project benefits from existing infrastructure and potential for collaboration on a central processing unit due to its proximity to other mining operations.

The Company is in advanced discussions to establish a joint venture operating partner to conduct exploration, development and mining of its various mineral assets. Such a partnership agreement will allow Jubilee to focus on its core processing capabilities while its partner accelerates the implementation of the mining solution and expanded exploration program.

Processing of third-party copper feedstock: Roan Concentrator: Cash-generating treatment hub

Roan is an independent, cash-generating processing facility that produces both copper oxide and copper sulphide concentrate from waste, tailings, and previously mined material. The copper sulphide concentrate is sold via off-take agreements and the copper oxide concentrate is delivered to Sable for the production of copper cathode. The Company is underway with a study to install a US$2.5 million copper refining stage at Roan to offer greater flexibility and further enhance margins. The refining step will also seek to recover the copper lost in the super fine fraction.

Following the upgrade of Roan and successful trials earlier in the year, the Company has secured a feedstock supply agreement with a nearby third-party operation, targeting a minimum grade of 1.4% Cu.

The main focus at Roan has been to restart operations following the shut down during Q1 of CY2025 due to the previously announced infrastructure challenges. Trials and tests to reconfigure and upgrade the plant to enable it to treat high grade ore and tailings is fully completed with Roan meeting its operational targets for July 2025 and well on track to exceed its targeted 350 tonnes of copper units for August 2025.

Large Waste Tailings dump portfolio

In recent years, Jubilee has secured rights to vast quantities of surface tailings and low grade mined rock dumps in Zambia. Through its research and testing, Jubilee has characterised these resources and grouped them into immediate and longer-term potential (+5 years from production) and ranked the opportunities. All longer-term and low-ranking resources have been classed as non-core and a sale process has been initiated. In total the Company has concluded transactions of approximately US$18 million worth of non-core surface assets since the start of the year, with discussions underway for further disposals of non-core surface tailings assets.

The Company has prioritised the Large Waste project (in excess of 240 million tonnes). Jubilee is looking to roll out a series of 25 000tpm modular processing units on-site, based on the design implemented at Roan. One unit is capable of producing 2 250tpa of copper units. The Company is seeking a partner to contribute US$25 million towards the funding and implementation of the project to accelerate the roll-out of the processing footprint under a non-dilutive partnership agreement. Jubilee is well advanced in negotiations to replace the initially targeted partnership pursued with an Abu Dhabi based group.

The project will ultimately include a dedicated upgrading, copper recovery and refining solution due the vast resource able to carry the investment requirement over time. The initial modular units will produce a saleable upgraded copper product which offers the potential that the project self-funds the investment requirements over time through early revenues generated from the sale of this material. The Company successfully executed an initial trade of the material earlier in the year demonstrating the inherent value of this exciting project.

Combined these well-defined projects offer the potential to advance Jubilee copper portfolio in Zambia.

Update on the Proposed Disposal

The Company also informs Shareholders that, following announcements on 6 June and 10 July 2025, the Definitive Agreements for the disposal of its Chrome and PGM Operations in South Africa are in near final form. A circular containing full details of the Proposed Disposal, including a notice of general meeting will be posted to Shareholders in the week commencing 11 August 2025.