REG - AfriTin Mining Ltd - Quarterly Production Update

Andrada MiningAnnouncement

22/12/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 5940K  AfriTin Mining Ltd  22 December 2022

22 December 2022

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
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
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this
announcement via Regulatory Information Service (RIS), this inside information
is now considered to be in the public domain.

AfriTin Mining Limited

 ("AfriTin" or the "Company")

Quarterly Production Update

Record Production During November 2022 Following Plant Expansion

AfriTin Mining Limited (AIM: ATM), an African technology metals mining company
with a portfolio of mining and exploration assets in Namibia, provides an
unaudited quarterly production update for the Uis Mine ("Uis") for the third
quarter ("Q3") ending 30 November 2022 of the 2023 Financial Year ("FY2023")*.

Highlights:

·      Commissioning of the expanded crushing and tin concentrating
circuits completed during October 2022;

·    Record tin production of 88 tonnes of concentrate (53 tonnes of tin
contained) achieved during November 2022, equal to 88% of the expanded
nameplate production capacity of 100 tonnes of concentrate per month;

·     Operating unit cost for November 2022 was 14% lower than average
monthly unit cost for H1 FY2023 ending 31 August 2022;

·      Production ramp-up on track for completion by end of January
2023; and

·      Lithium pilot plant and tantalum separation circuit under
construction and on track for commissioning in Q2 2023.

Anthony Viljoen (CEO) commented:

"We are extremely pleased with the production ramp-up performance of the
expanded Uis Mine processing plant as evidenced by the November 2022
production which exceeded the target by 20%. We believe the expanded
production capacity will significantly increase revenue and reduce unit costs,
thereby improving the margin and sustainability of the operation.

In addition, the Company is fast tracking the development of separate lithium
and tantalum products alongside its existing tin production, with both a
lithium pilot and a tantalum separation circuit under construction. We look
forward to realising the full polymetallic potential of the Uis deposit."

Production Ramp-up

Commissioning of the Uis Phase 1 Expansion Project ("the Project"), a modular
expansion of the current processing plant, was completed in October 2022 and
announced on 7 November 2022. The Project targets an increase in production at
Uis from approximately 780 tonnes per annum ("tpa") to 1200 tpa tin
concentrate (470 tpa and 720 tpa tin contained in concentrate respectively).
The production ramp-up period is estimated to last for 3 months, from November
2022 to January 2023.

During November 2022, the first month of production following commissioning,
the ramp-up target was exceeded by 20% (88 tonnes of tin concentrate vs a
target of 73 tonnes). The production of 88 tonnes of tin concentrate
(containing 53 tonnes of tin) achieved during November 2022 also represents a
new monthly production record.

Q3 Production Performance

Production during Q3 FY2023 was impacted by a planned 5-week processing plant
shutdown from 7 September 2022 to 13 October 2022, which was required to
complete the construction and commissioning of the expanded crushing and tin
concentrating circuits. This resulted in a loss of approximately one third of
the available production time during the quarter under review. An average of
90 kt of ore was processed at an average processing rate of 107 tph (excluding
the plant shutdown period), resulting in a tin concentrate production of 145
tonnes (Table 1). The operating unit cost for the quarter also rose
concurrently with the lower production volumes.

Management is, however, encouraged by the record production achieved during
November 2022, after commissioning of the plant expansion (Table 2). Compared
to the monthly average performance during H1 FY2023, the plant processing rate
has increased by 17%, ore processed has increased by 22%, tin concentrate
production has increased by 16%, and the operating unit cost has decreased by
14% (unaudited). It is expected that these trends will continue as the
production ramp-up progresses.

Table 1: QoQ (Q3 FY2023 vs Q2 FY2023) production and cost performance of the
Uis Mine.

 Description                       Units                FY2022 Actual Quarterly Average (Mar 2021 - Feb 2022)  Q1 FY2023 Actual        Q2 FY2023 Actual        Q3 FY2023 Actual        QoQ Performance

                                                                                                               (Mar 2022 - May 2022)   (Jun 2022 - Aug 2022)   (Sep 2022 - Nov 2022)   (% Change)
 Plant Availability                %                    87                                                     89                      89                      73†                     -18%
 Plant Utilisation                 %                    79                                                     78                      69                      63†                     -9%
 Plant Processing Rate             tph                  92                                                     99                      100                     107                     7%
 Ore Processed                     t                    135,900                                                152,243                 134,315                 90,278†                 -33%
 Feed Grade                        % Sn                 0.147                                                  0.149                   0.145                   0.140                   -3%
 Tin Concentrate                   t                    201                                                    239                     214                     145†                    -32%
 Tin Contained in Concentrate      t                    124                                                    152                     133                     87†                     -35%
 Tin Recovery                      %                    62                                                     67                      69                      68†                     -1%
 Operating Cost* for Uis Tin Mine  US$/t contained tin  25,209                                                 20,989                  25,245                  33,207†                 32%
 AISC** for Uis Tin Mine           US$/t contained tin  27,515                                                 23,526                  29,282                  38,570†                 32%
 Tin Price Achieved                US$/t contained tin  38,604                                                 34,367                  22,975                  22,625                  -2%

* Operating Cost (excludes sustaining capital expenditure associated with
developing and maintaining the Uis operation; unaudited)

** AISC = All-In Sustaining Cost (incorporates all costs related to sustaining
production and in particular recognising the capital expenditure associated
with developing and maintaining the Uis operation, including pre-stripping
waste mining costs; unaudited)

† Production period includes a 5-week shutdown of the processing plant from
7 September 2022 to 13 October 2022, which was required to complete the
construction and commissioning of the expanded crushing and tin concentrating
circuits.

Table 2: Production and cost performance for November 2022 compared to the
average monthly performance for the Uis Mine for H1 FY2023 ending 31 August
2022.

 Description                      Units                H1 FY2023 Actual Monthly Average  Nov 2022 Actual   Change in Monthly Performance

                                                       (Mar 2022 - Aug 2022)                              (%)
 Plant Availability               %                    89                                91               2%
 Plant Utilisation                %                    74                                81               9%
 Plant Processing Rate            tph                  100                               117              17%
 Ore Processed                    t                    47,760                            58,333           22%
 Feed Grade                       % Sn                 0.147                             0.140            -5%
 Tin Concentrate                  t                    76                                88               16%
 Tin Contained in Concentrate     t                    48                                53               10%
 Tin Recovery                     %                    68                                67               -1%
 Operating Cost for Uis Tin Mine  US$/t contained tin  23,117                            19,883           -14%
 AISC for Uis Tin Mine            US$/t contained tin  26,404                            22,763           -14%

Lithium Pilot Plant and Tantalum Separation Circuit

As announced on 7 December 2022, a lithium pilot plant and tantalum separation
circuit are currently under construction. The lithium pilot plant is intended
to process bulk samples into a lithium concentrate, with the aim of refining
the process flow design for lithium, as well as for offtake testing and
development. The tantalum separation circuit will be integrated with the
existing tin concentrating plant to produce a separate saleable tantalum
concentrate. Commissioning of both projects is scheduled for Q2 2023.

Glossary of abbreviations
 AISC  All-in sustaining costs
 FY    Financial year
 kt    Kilo tonnes
 Mt    Million tonnes
 QoQ   Quarter-on-quarter
 t     Tonnes
 tph   Tonnes per hour

Glossary of Terms
 Operating Costs                Excludes sustaining capital expenditure associated with developing and
                                maintaining the Uis operation (unaudited)
 AISC = All-In Sustaining Cost  Incorporates all costs related to sustaining production and in particular
                                recognising the sustaining capital expenditure associated with developing and
                                maintaining the Uis operation, including pre-stripping waste mining costs
                                (unaudited)

 

 

* The Company's Financial Year runs from March to February. All reference to
quarters applies to the financial year reporting period, unless stated
otherwise.

 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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