REG - AfriTin Mining Ltd - Uis Phase 1 Expansion Commissioning Complete

Andrada MiningAnnouncement

07/11/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 4508F  AfriTin Mining Ltd  07 November 2022

7 November 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")

Uis Phase 1 Expansion Commissioning Complete

AfriTin Mining Limited (AIM: ATM), an African technology metals mining company
with a portfolio of mining and exploration assets in Namibia, is pleased to
provide an update of its Phase 1 Expansion Project at the Uis Mine ("Uis").

Highlights:

·      Commissioning of the Uis Phase 1 Expansion Project complete;

·      Production projected to ramp up from 780 to 1200 tpa of tin
concentrate over the next three months; and

·      The potential by-product production of lithium and tantalum is
expected to benefit from the plant throughput expansion due to its
co-occurrence within the ore.

Anthony Viljoen (CEO) commented:

"We are extremely pleased to announce the completion of commissioning for our
Uis Phase 1 Expansion Project. The beneficiation plant is performing well, and
the production ramp-up from pre-expansion levels is going according to plan.
The potential production of lithium and tantalum by-products is also expected
to benefit from the expansion of the throughput capacity of the plant, since
these minerals will be extracted from the existing processing streams.

Our team has once again demonstrated the ability to deliver value accretive
projects. Our development strategy is centred on driving costs down whilst
expanding our mineral resource base, production volumes and product portfolio
of tin, lithium and tantalum with the concomitant increase in revenue streams.
We remain committed to our goal of becoming a tier-one producer of technology
metals."

Project Overview

The Uis Phase 1 Expansion Project ("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 Project scope consists of a modular expansion of the
current processing plant, leveraging existing bulk infrastructure services.
Specifically, it involves the expansion of the crushing and screening circuits
("the dry plant") and construction of a fines ore stockpile prior to the
concentrator. The expansion of the dry plant will allow the operation to
increase the feed rate of ore to the plant by approximately 50%, while the new
stockpile provides buffer capacity before the concentrator ("the wet plant")
to increase plant utilisation. In addition, the Project addresses potential
throughput constraints in the concentrator due to the increased feed rate, as
well as upgrades to the concentrate cleaning circuit to enhance tin recovery,
and upgrades to the process control and instrumentation to improve plant
operability and utilisation.

Plant Commissioning

The Project commenced in September 2021 with the ordering of long lead items.
Project construction was completed in mid-September 2022 and commissioned one
month later. A C4 commissioning certificate has been received from Consulmet,
an independent mineral processing consultancy that acted as commissioning
manager. C4 commissioning refers to the hot commissioning of processing
circuits and involves stages including feeding ore material into the process
plant, validating process flows and instrumentation readings, and the
achievement of instantaneous design throughput. A C4 certificate indicates
that the entire system is complete and fully operational.

Current daily production has now matched pre-expansion levels, as planned, and
the plant will be ramped up over  the next three months to achieve continuous
design throughput.

Uis Development Strategy

The Company is developing its business aspirations in Namibia through
expansion of its mineral resource base, expansion of both production volume
and product portfolio, and a strategic focus on supplying metals to the
technology and renewable energy sectors.

The Uis Mine is AfriTin's flagship project and underpins its development
strategy. The ore mined at Uis contains additional commodities in addition to
tin, including lithium and tantalum. An infill exploration programme is
currently in progress, aiming to improve the geological confidence of the
present lithium and tantalum mineral resource estimate.

The existing plant processing circuits extract a high-quality tin concentrate.
The Company has initiated a further expansion of the current plant to produce
a saleable tantalum concentrate. In addition, successful bench scale tests for
the production of a lithium concentrate will be followed by the construction
of a lithium pilot plant at the mine site.

The increased plant throughput resulting from the Project is also expected to
benefit the ultimate production of lithium and tantalum by-products, since
these minerals are present in the same ore stream as tin. AfriTin is
investigating the suitability of sensor-based ore sorting which has the
potential to further expand the throughput of ore at Uis by a factor of two to
three times.

The Company will provide an update on its Uis development programme in due
course.

 

* 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
 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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