Jubilee’s Roan facilities hit by unplanned Zambia power outages

Jubilee says it is uncertain whether guidance production volumes will be met for the second quarter

Jubilee Metals says unplanned power outages in Zambia have caused a noticeable increase in the number of production hours lost at its Roan facilities.

The diversified metals processor said there have been unplanned power outages across the national grid including blackouts and there is no way of knowing at this point how long these outages will continue for.

“The Roan operations are more severely affected by these interruptions than the Sable refinery due to the supply of its private electricity across the national power grid. Munkoyo and Project G mining operations remain on target and unaffected by the power interruptions,” the group said in a statement on Monday.

The group is liaising closely with Zambian officials to try to manage, as far as possible, the timings of outages and recommencements of power. This allows for some costs to be avoided.

Given the uncertainty of power supply there is uncertainty whether guidance production volumes will be met for the second quarter of the 2025 financial year, Jubilee said. Further information would be provided in due course.

Jubilee produced its first copper concentrate from the front-end module at the Roan facility in Zambia, after the start of production on August 8. The copper concentrate produced from Roan’s front-end module, targeting previously mined material, will be refined to produce copper cathode at the company’s Sable refinery.

In October, the group increased the allocation of power under the recent private power purchase agreement (LHPC agreement) to secure an additional 2MW of power to ensure that all of the Zambian operations were fully supplied under the LHPC deal. The increased power allocation allowed the Roan concentrator to operate at full capacity in respect of its newly commissioned front-end module and its existing milling and flotation plant.

The group’s Zambian copper strategy centres on an initial processing capacity target of 25,000 tonnes of copper a year, supported by two operational sites — the integrated Sable Refinery and the upgraded Roan Concentrator.

The company aims to use this capacity by bringing its secured copper resources into production through open-pit mining operations and the reprocessing of surface waste.

Jubilee also provided an update to its Large Waste Project containing in excess of 260-million tonnes of copper-containing rock on surface.

Jubilee had successfully extended the due diligence period for the project to the end of January.

It had also been successful in securing significantly enhanced commercial terms for the outright acquisition of the Large Waste Rock Project. The total acquisition value of a 100% interest in the project had been reduced to $18m payable over 12 months to December 2025 (originally announced a target acquisition value of $30m) of which about $11.5m remains payable.

Jubilee said it was on track to complete its final due diligence by the end of January.

MackenzieJ@arena.africa