[SMM News] Frontier Lithium Taps DRA Americas for Updated PAK Feasibility Study, Targets Q1 2027 Release

On September 14th, 2026, London-listed Premier African Minerals agreed with Canmax Technologies to extend the long stop date under their restated offtake and prepayment agreement for the Zulu lithium and tantalum project in Zimbabwe, originally signed in August 2023, to December 31. Premier, Zulu Lithium Private, and Canmax also signed a tripartite priority and subordination agreement, giving Canmax contractual priority over amounts owed by Zulu Lithium to Premier and other Premier group members. Other terms remain unchanged. Amounts owed to Canmax, including outstanding prepayment and accrued interest, rank as senior indebtedness about $48.73-million as at September 10. Amounts owed by Zulu Lithium to Premier, including loans, advances, and intercompany balances, rank as subordinated indebtedness about $55.75-million. Premier MD Graham Hill said the extension provides time and certainty to progress Zulu and reach a long-term resolution with Canmax, while the subordination agreement clarifies creditor positions and preserves Premier's claims against Zulu Lithium.

Australia and Frankfurt-listed Vulcan Energy has secured a second lithium production licence, valid six years, for its Lionheart project in Germany, currently under construction. The new Ilka licence follows an earlier grant covering the LiThermEx area, making it the second such licence issued in the Upper Rhine Valley Brine Field and Rhineland-Palatinate state. Lionheart's first phase targets 24,000 t/y of lithium hydroxide monohydrate, enough for about 500,000 EVs annually, alongside 275GWh of renewable power and 560GWh of heat per year from its integrated geothermal component, over an estimated 30 year project life. The Ilka licence expires September 2032, after which Vulcan will seek to merge its two production licences into one. CEO Cris Moreno said the licence validates progress toward becoming Europe's leading low-cost lithium producer, with construction on track for first production in 2028. Lionheart combines brine based lithium extraction with geothermal power, positioning it to supply EV battery-grade lithium hydroxide into the European market without reliance on imported spodumene or carbonate feedstock.

Lohum Cleantech has dispatched its first lithium ore shipment from Zimbabwe's Matabeleland South Province, starting production at the Indian company's first overseas mine and marking, by its own account, the first such extraction by an Indian producer abroad. Lohum holds 10 spodumene blocks across roughly 1,100 hectares, estimated to contain 30-40 million tonnes of ore and yield about 300,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent over the mine's life. At current prices, the company values the in-situ resource at roughly US$7 billion, though it notes this is not a project valuation or return forecast. Ore will be processed initially in Zimbabwe, then refined into lithium carbonate in India. Lohum plans local processing capacity ahead of Zimbabwe's January 2027 concentrate export ban, and holds preferred rights over up to 90 adjacent blocks. The entry adds new supply to Zimbabwe's spodumene base, already a key feedstock source amid steady global battery-demand growth. Lohum's upstream move mirrors a broader trend of overseas refiners securing African feedstock, while Zimbabwe's 2027 export ban will steer more of this supply toward in-country beneficiation rather than raw concentrate exports. Lohum operates across primary production, battery recycling, refining, and advanced materials. In 2022 it signed a US$200 million deal to supply Glencore with 10,000 tonnes of recycled battery specialty chemicals over five years.