Name of the Project
Uis tin project.

Location
The Uis project consists of three project areas in the Erongo region of Namibia.

Project Owner/s
AfriTin Mining.

Project Description
AfriTin has undertaken a detailed mine design for the V1 and V2 pegmatite bodies, previously identified as priority targets, to supply feed to the new intermediary processing plant.

The design of the proposed tin mine includes an initial five-year mine production schedule to start operations on the outcropping pegmatite bodies and existing excavations of the historical V1 and V2 pits.

This in-house mine plan supports an overburden stripping ratio (overburden-to-ore) of less than one and a fast ramp-up profile using conventional openpit mining methods.

Material will be liberated using drill-and-blast methods, while excavators and articulated dump trucks will be used to load and haul the ore.

The run-of-mine feed to the processing plant for this phase of development (Phase 1) is planned at 500 000 t/y, with expected production of 800 t/y of saleable tin concentrate. The target for the following phase is 5 000 t/y of tin concentrate.

The processing plant will be located close to the V1 and V2 pegmatite orebodies.

Other potentially viable metals include tantalum, niobium, lithium, beryllium and muscovite.

Potential Job Creation
AfriTin is recruiting operational personnel, with about one-third of the total planned complement of 90 people having been appointed, including the entire management team.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Not stated.

Planned Start /End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
AfriTin Mining has announced a maiden Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (Jorc-) compliant measured, indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate of 71.54-million tonnes of ore at a grade of 0.134% tin, for 95 539 t of contained tin, for the Uis tin mine.

This follows a drilling programme designed to support the historical mineral resource estimate of the V1 and V2 pegmatites at the mine.

The estimate includes an inferred mineral resource of 71.54-million tonnes of ore at 85 parts per million tantalum for 6 091 t contained tantalum.

There is an inferred mineral resource estimate of 71.54-million tonnes of ore at 0.63% lithium oxide for 450 265 t contained lithium oxide.

The additional down-dip drilling has confirmed the extension and thickening of the orebody at depth, affirming AfriTin’s belief in the scale of the deposit and increasing the resource historically stated by SRK on the V1/V2 orebody.

Moreover, the scale of this resource, from two pegmatites, has placed the tin inventory as one of the biggest of its kind in the world and encouraged further development of the additional outcropping pegmatites identified within AfriTin’s mining licence area, of which more than 100 pegmatite bodies having been identified.

“The addition of tantalum and lithium to the estimate further enhances the attractiveness of this globally significant asset and creates an exciting opportunity for other potential revenue streams,” AfriTin CEO Anthony Viljoen has said.

 “Importantly, today’s results provide us with the confidence to move our Phase 1 mining operation forward towards a large-scale Phase 2 operation.”

Key Contracts and Suppliers
MRI (buying station).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
AfriTin Mining, tel +27 11 268 6555.