Uis Tin Mine Operational Update

RNS Number : 2749D

AfriTin Mining Ltd

18 February 2020

 

18 February 2020

AfriTin Mining Limited

("AfriTin" or the "Company")

Uis Tin Mine Operational Update

AfriTin Mining Limited (AIM: ATM), a tin mining company with a portfolio of assets in Namibia and South Africa, is pleased to provide an operational update relating to its Phase 1 Pilot Plant project ("Processing Plant") at its flagship asset, the Uis Tin Mine ("Uis") in Namibia.

Highlights

▪     Maiden sale of tin concentrate concluded;

▪     Second shipment of tin concentrate has been dispatched from the Uis mine;

▪     Processing plant throughput increased by an average of 63% month-on-month from November 2019 to January 2020;

▪     Debottlenecking of and enhancements to the Processing Plant underway to increase throughput and achieve nameplate production of 60 tonnes of tin concentrate per month; and,

▪     Appointment of Mr. Nico Smit as Vice President of Operations and Projects.

The first shipment of tin concentrate (6 tonnes grading more than 60% Sn metal contained) has now been delivered to Thailand Smelting and Refining Company ("Thaisarco") according to the terms of the offtake agreement, as announced in August 2019.  The concentrate was produced by the Company's Phase 1 pilot mining and processing facility at Uis during October and November 2019.

A second shipment of 20 tonnes of tin concentrate has been dispatched from the mine. The concentrate is trucked to the port of Walvis Bay in Namibia, then shipped to Thailand. The offtake agreement provides for an 80% prepayment for each shipment upon bill of lading in Walvis Bay.

Following initial production of tin concentrate, processing plant throughput has increased by an average of 63% month-on-month from 4,300 tonnes of ore in November 2019, to 5,800 tonnes in December 2019, and to 11,400 tonnes in January 2020. The Company expects to continue to ramp-up plant production over the next six months to nameplate of 45,000 tonnes of ore to the plant and the production of 60 tonnes of tin concentrate per month.

The ramp-up is supported by a number of operational commissioning initiatives including:

·    Transition from the current six-day plant roster to a continuous 24/7 operation, pending the required government approvals;

·    Debottlenecking of and enhancements to the Processing Plant, in particular the fines tailings dewatering circuits which require additional capacity due to a higher than expected fines ratio in the Run Of Mine feed;

·    Expanding the on-site laboratory to facilitate metal accounting and increased plant recovery; and,

·    Implementation of computerised maintenance management system to support targeted plant availability.

The debottlenecking of the Processing Plant focusses on the dewatering of the grits tailings (less than 630 microns), dewatering of the slimes tailings (less than 45 microns) and expanding the feed capacity to the spiral plant. Modifications that are currently in progress are expected to more than double the throughput capacity of these circuits.

The Company is also pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Nico Smit as Vice President of Operations and Projects. He is a qualified processing engineer and brings a wealth of operational experience to the team which includes process plant commissioning and optimisation, and various executive management roles in the mining sector. He joins the Company from his current position as Regional Director Advisory at Hatch.

Anthony Viljoen, CEO of AfriTin Mining Limited commented:

"The first shipment of tin concentrate and first revenues from the Uis Tin Mine in three decades marks a significant milestone for the Company and the Erongo region of Namibia.

"We will continue to deliver this operation as we ramp up production to nameplate of 60 tonnes of tin concentrate per month. Combined with a JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate of 95,539 tonnes of contained Sn, we are well placed to advance the project to the goal of establishing an enlarged mining and processing facility."

Glossary of abbreviations

JORC	The Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves
Sn	Elemental symbol for Tin

For further information, please visit www.afritinmining.com or contact:

AfriTin Limited
Anthony Viljoen, CEO	[phone]
Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker
WH Ireland Limited Katy Mitchell Adrian Hadden James Sinclair-Ford	[phone]
Corporate Advisor and Joint Broker Hannam & Partners Andrew Chubb Jay Ashfield Nilesh Patel	[phone]
Joint Broker
NOVUM Securities Limited Jon Belliss	[phone]
Financial PR (United Kingdom)
Tavistock	[phone]
Jos Simson Barney Hayward

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014

About AfriTin Mining Limited

Notes to Editors

AfriTin Mining is the first pure tin company listed in London and its vision is to create a portfolio of globally significant, conflict-free, tin-producing assets. The Company's flagship asset is the Uis  Tin Mine in Namibia, formerly the world's largest hard-rock tin mine.

AfriTin is managed by an experienced board of directors and management team with a current two-fold strategy: fast track Uis Tin Mine in Namibia to commercial production in 2020 as Phase 1, ramping up to 5,000 tonnes of concentrate in a Phase 2 expansion. The Company strives to capitalise on the solid supply/demand fundamentals of tin by developing a critical mass of tin resource inventory, achieving production in the near term and further scaling production by consolidating tin assets in Africa.

 

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