Jubilee Metals shifts focus to Zambian copper after SA asset sale payments

Jubilee Metals Group, the JSE and London-listed company focused on mining copper in Zambia, said it has received $20 million so far from the sale of its South African chrome and platinum interests.

Jubilee's board said in a statement Tuesday that following completion of the sale of its South African Chrome and PGM operations, the company had received a second cash instalment of $10m from Chrome One, the company that bought the operations from Jubilee.

Jubilee's Tjate platinum PGM exploration project in South Africa is not included in the disposal and in time the board plans to consider how to unlock value from this resource.

The payment follows the formal completion of the sale of the South African Chrome and PGM Operations to One Chrome last week. Following the disposal, Jubilee is now focused solely on its Zambian copper business.

The most recent net asset value of the SA operations as at December 31, 2023 was $90.6m of which 23% related to intangible assets, comprising technical know-how and processing capabilities - the overall disposal consideration was based on the NAV.

Proceeds from the disposal of the South African operations, would, together with existing resources and operating cash flows, be used to reduce existing bank facilities of up to $8.3m and to further the development and implementation of the copper strategy.

Jubilee's share price fell by 1.22% to 81 cents on Tuesday afternoon on the JSE, barely changed from the 82 cents price a year ago. The disposal was first announced in the middle of October last year, when the share price was trading at around 67 cents per share.

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