REG - AfriTin Mining Ltd - Lithium and Tantalum Product Development Update

Andrada MiningAnnouncement

07/12/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 8296I  AfriTin Mining Ltd  07 December 2022

7 December 2022

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constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations
(EU) No. 596/2014 (MAR) as in force in the United Kingdom pursuant to the
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AfriTin Mining Limited

("AfriTin" or the "Company")

Lithium and Tantalum Product Development Update

AfriTin Mining Limited (AIM: ATM), an African technology metals mining company
with a portfolio of mining and exploration assets in Namibia, provides an
update on its lithium and tantalum product development programme.

The object of the programme is to demonstrate the potential commercial
viability of a lithium petalite concentrate co-product from the Uis Mine
("Uis"), and provide samples for potential offtake partners, whilst
simultaneously de-risking the development of commercial-scale processing plant
for lithium. In addition, the programme also includes the implementation of a
full-scale tantalum separation circuit to produce a tantalum concentrate
by-product from the tantalum contained in the existing tin concentrate
product.

 

Milestones Achieved

 

·      Lithium laboratory test work has produced a high-grade, ultra-low
iron lithium petalite concentrate at 4.34% Li(2)O and low contaminants levels
of 0.03% Fe(2)O(3) and 0.93% alkalis (Na(2)O + K(2)O);

·   Test work to convert lithium petalite concentrate to battery-grade
lithium hydroxide has been initiated with Nagrom, one of Australia's leading
mineral processing companies;

·      Commercial engagements with lithium petalite concentrate
offtakers have been initiated;

·      Infill exploration drilling programme for lithium and tantalum
over V1/V2 orebody complete;

·      Tantalum laboratory test work produced a saleable 24% tantalum
oxide (Ta2O5) concentrate; and

·    Nicholas Rathjen appointed as Head of Business and Commercial
Development to advance the commercial aspects of AfriTin's lithium and
tantalum potential.

 

Anticipated News Flow

 

·   Larger, pilot scale lithium metallurgical testing, which will also
produce samples for potential offtakers, has commenced, with first results
expected in Q1 2023

·     First results from laboratory metallurgical test work with Nagrom
to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide expected in Q3 2023;

·     A lithium pilot plant, intended for processing bulk ore samples at
Uis, is progressing to construction phase, with long lead items ordered.
Construction is scheduled to complete in Q2 2023;

·    Updated lithium and tantalum Mineral Resource Estimate for lithium
and tantalum expected in Q1 2023 following final infill drilling results; and

·    A full-scale, integrated tantalum separation circuit is progressing
to construction phase, with long lead items ordered and construction scheduled
to complete in Q2 2023. First production of tantalum concentrate is expected
by Q3 2023.

Anthony Viljoen (CEO) commented:
"We are excited to see our lithium product development programme progress on three fronts, namely updating the Mineral Resource Estimate, commencement of lithium pilot scale metallurgical testing, and taking the first steps to explore commercial engagements for lithium petalite concentrate offtake.
"The excellent laboratory test result of a high-grade, ultra-low iron petalite gives us the confidence to advance to the pilot phase of our lithium product development programme. We look forward to establishing production of lithium petalite concentrate and initiating testing with potential offtakers in the glassware and ceramics market, for whom petalite is a key raw material, as well as with producers of lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate for the battery market.

"In addition to lithium, the Company is moving ahead with the construction of
a tantalum separation circuit, which will be integrated with the existing tin
concentrator plant. The new circuit will magnetically separate tantalum
minerals from the existing tin concentrate stream into a second saleable
concentrate.

"The Company is fully focussed on unlocking early value for its stakeholders through fast-tracking the development programme towards production. We believe that the addition of lithium and tantalum by-products will confirm the Company as a globally significant, high-margin producer of technology metals.
"Lastly, we welcome Nicholas Rathjen into the role of Head of Business and Commercial Development at AfriTin. Nicholas will focus on advancing the commercial aspects of our lithium strategy as we progress towards becoming a fully-fledged lithium producer."
Lithium Metallurgical Testing

The results of the first phase test work of laboratory metallurgical test work
for the beneficiation of lithium bearing mineral petalite was announced on 24
May 2022. Geolabs Global, an independent test facility in South Africa,
produced a high-grade, ultra-low iron petalite concentrate at 4.34% Li(2)O,
with low contaminants levels of 0.03% Fe(2)O(3) and 0.93% alkalis (Na(2)O +
K(2)O), using a process that pre-concentrates petalite through dense medium
separation ("DMS"), followed by upgrading to a higher-grade petalite
concentrate using milling and flotation. These qualities are typical of
petalite concentrates used as lithium feedstock in the premium glass and
ceramics industry which requires a high lithia to iron ratio. The Company also
expects the concentrate to be suitable for conversion to battery-grade lithium
carbonate or hydroxide. Laboratory flotation test work continues at ANZAPLAN
(Germany) with aim the of optimising flotation performance and testing
alternative reagent regimes.

 

In addition, laboratory test work for the production of lithium hydroxide from
the Uis petalite concentrate has been initiated at Nagrom one of Australia's
leading mineral processing companies, with results expected in Q3 2023.
Lithium hydroxide serves as a key raw material for the manufacturing of
lithium-ion batteries.

 

Larger, pilot scale metallurgical testing has commenced, which involves the
processing of bulk samples ranging from 1 to 100 tonnes of mineralised
material. By scaling up the test work the Company intends to achieve the
following improvements:

·      Increase the confidence of the lithium beneficiation parameters
and process flow design;

·      Improve variability modelling for the mineralised material and
its beneficiation characteristics;

·      Generate enough concentrate to initiate downstream test work with
potential offtakers.

 

The pilot scale testing programme includes the following work streams in
progress:

·      DMS test work on a large bulk ore sample at Bond Equipment (South
Africa);

·      Pilot scale milling and flotation test work at Nagrom
(Australia);

·     Hyperspectral ore sorting test work with Steinert (Germany) and
Tomra (Germany) to investigate alternative or supplementary methods of
petalite pre-concentration. The hyperspectral ore sorting test work runs in
parallel to x-ray transmission ore sorting test work for tin.

The results of the second phase of metallurgical test work are expected during
Q1 2023 and will inform the process flow design ("PFD") of the full-scale,
integrated lithium beneficiation circuit at the current Uis Mine processing
plant. A preliminary process flow design for an integrated lithium, tin and
tantalum processing facility is presented in Figure 2.

Early-stage metallurgical test work has also been initiated on mineralised
material from ML133 to establish the lithium beneficiation potential of these
pegmatites.

Lithium Pilot Plant

As part of the pilot phase of metallurgical testing the Company has set out to
construct a lithium pilot plant adjacent to the current tin processing plant
of the Uis Mine on the licence ML134. Basic engineering design for a lithium
pilot plant has been completed and long lead items have been ordered. The
project has now entered the construction phase with commissioning projected
for Q2 2023.

The pilot plant comprises a crushing and screening section, followed by a DMS
and gravity separation circuit, and will be built at a total capital cost of
US$5 million. A milling and flotation section for petalite may be added as the
next stage of the pilot plant, although pilot test campaigns for flotation
will first be conducted at off-site testing facilities. The commercial
viability of lithium petalite extraction via DMS technology is sufficiently
well established to warrant its inclusion in this stage of the pilot plant,
with the intention of fast-tracking its production and marketing.

The lithium pilot plant is intended to process bulk sample discard material
from the current tin processing plant and run-of-mine ore from the current
mining pit, as well as mineralised material from ML133 and ML129. The plant
will have a processing capacity of approximately 20 tph. Pilot campaigns will
test various processing configurations, with the aim of refining the process
flow design. It is also intended that the pilot plant will produce lithium
concentrate, both for further offtake testing and development.

Tantalum By-Product Development

The results of the laboratory metallurgical test work for tantalum were
announced on 18 November 2021. Tantalum bearing columbite-group minerals was
separated from the tin bearing cassiterite using dry electromagnetic
separation, producing a concentrate containing 24% Ta(2)O(5). As a result of
this successful test, a tantalum separation will be constructed as an
integrated circuit to the existing tin concentrating plant. Basic engineering
has been completed and long lead items have been ordered. Commissioning of the
circuit is scheduled for Q2 2023, with first tantalum product is expected in
Q3 2023.

The tantalum separation circuit comprises a dryer, vibrating screen, and
over-belt electromagnetic separators. The total estimated capital cost of the
circuit is US$1 million. The circuit will be fed with concentrate exiting the
wet concentration circuits. The moist concentrate will be dried, classified,
and each size fraction treated by a separate magnetic separator, after which
the non-magnetic fractions will be combined into a tin concentrate, whereas
the magnetic fractions (excluding the low-intensity iron-rich fraction) will
be combined into a saleable tantalum concentrate.

Lithium & Tantalum Mineral Resources

The Company owns three mining licences with lithium occurrences: ML134, ML129
and ML133 (Figure 1). The lithium occurs in pegmatites that are also enriched
in tin and tantalum. ML134 holds the Company's flagship asset, the Uis Mine
which includes an inferred JORC (2012) compliant lithium resource of 450,000
tonnes of Li(2)O at the V1/V2 pegmatite. An infill drilling programme of 7,600
m over this pegmatite has been concluded with the aim of increasing the
Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") classification for the lithium resource to
the indicated and measured categories. The final assay results are expected in
December 2022. An updated MRE for lithium and tantalum is expected during Q1
2023.

ML134 contains an additional 14 historically mined pegmatites along a 7 km
strike, where exploration work to date has demonstrated that the mineralogy of
all these pegmatites is similar to the V1/V2 pegmatite. This substantiates
historical mining practices which sourced material from all these pegmatites
and processed the material through a single plant.  These pegmatites occur
within 4 km of the current Uis processing plant. Exploration drilling is
planned to continue over these pegmatite bodies with the goal of expanding the
lithium, tin and tantalum mineral resource estimates on this licence.

Lithium mineralisation has also been reported on the proximal ML129 and ML133
licences (announced on 2 March 2023 and 24 November 2022 respectively) and
geological sampling confirms the presence of lithium mineralisation over more
than 70 pegmatites. The main lithium bearing mineral on ML134 and ML133 has
been identified as petalite. On ML129, however, surface sampling has
identified the presence of spodumene, whose distribution will be further
investigated during future exploration drilling programmes.

Appointment of Head of Business and Commercial Development

The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Nicholas Rathjen as Head
of Business and Commercial Development. He will focus on advancing the
commercial aspects of our lithium and tantalum strategy. Nicholas brings a
strong commercial capability having led early-stage lithium projects through
development, definitive feasibility studies, execution of offtake agreements
with global counter parties through to execution of commercial transactions.
His most recent role was head of corporate development at Prospect Resources
(ASX:PSC), where he led the strategic process to advance the Arcadia Project,
featuring petalite and spodumene, which culminated in the sale of this
significant asset to leading new energy company, Huayou Cobalt, for US$422
million.

 
Figures

 

 

Figure 1: AfriTin's Uis Mine and mineral licence locality map showing the
position of ML134, ML129 and ML133.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 2: Simplified process flow design for an integrated lithium, tin and
tantalum processing plant (subject to further process flow optimisation). The
parts of the process flow design enclosed by the red dashed lines indicate
possible future additions to the processing plant.

 
Glossary of abbreviations
 DMS            Dense medium separation
 ILiA           International Tin Association
 km             Kilometre
 Li             Symbol for lithium
 Li → Li(2)O    Metal to metal-oxide conversion factor of 2.153
 Li(2)O         Lithium oxide
 m              Metre
 MRE            Mineral Resource Estimate
 PPM            Parts per million
 Sn             Symbol for tin
 Ta             Symbol for tantalum
 tpa            Tonnes per annum
 tph            Tonnes per hour

Glossary of Technical Terms
 Dense Medium Separation  An ore beneficiation method in which minerals of relatively high or low
                          specific gravity are separated from gangue using a hydro cyclone and a dense
                          medium.
 Pegmatite                An igneous rock typically of granitic composition, which is distinguished from
                          other igneous rocks by the extremely coarse and systematically variable size
                          of its crystals, or by an abundance of crystals with skeletal, graphic, or
                          other strongly directional growth habits, or by a prominent spatial zonation
                          of mineral assemblages, including monomineralic zones
 Petalite                 A lithium aluminium phyllosilicate mineral LiAlSi(4)O(10), occurring in
                          lithium-bearing pegmatites, often with other lithium minerals such as
                          spodumene and lepidolite.

 

 

 

 AfriTin Mining Limited                   +27 (11) 268 6555
 Anthony Viljoen, CEO

 Nominated Adviser                        +44 (0) 207 220 1666
 WH Ireland Limited

 Katy Mitchell

 Corporate Advisor and Joint Broker
 H&P Advisory Limited                     +44 (0) 20 7907 8500

 Andrew Chubb

 Jay Ashfield

 Nilesh Patel

 Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited           +44 (0) 20 7710 7600

 Ashton Clanfield

 Callum Stewart

 Varun Talwar

 Tavistock Financial PR (United Kingdom)  +44 (0) 207 920 3150
 Emily Moss

 Catherine Drummond

 Adam Baynes

 

 

About AfriTin Mining Limited

Notes to Editors

AfriTin Mining Limited is a London-listed technology metals mining company
with a vision to create a portfolio of globally significant, conflict-free,
producing and exploration assets. The Company's flagship asset is the Uis Tin
Mine in Namibia, formerly the world's largest hard-rock open cast tin mine.

AfriTin is managed by an experienced board of directors and management team
with a current strategy to ramp-up production at the Uis Mine in Namibia to
more than 10,000 tonnes of tin concentrate and 350,000 tonnes of lithium
concentrate in a Phase 2 expansion, having reached Phase 1 commercial
production in 2020. The Company strives to capitalise on the solid
supply/demand fundamentals of tin and lithium by developing a critical mass of
resource inventory, achieving production in the near term and further scaling
production by consolidating assets in Africa.

 

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