Aim-listed 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, in Namibia.
This follows on 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.
Moreover, 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.
“Confirming the historical data at Uis has always been a crucial step in the progression and development of our flagship asset,” AfriTin CEO Anthony Viljoen commented in a statement issued on Monday.
He indicated that the additional down-dip drilling had 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, 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 an excess of 100 pegmatite bodies had been identified, Viljoen said.
“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,” he enthused.
He indicated that assays of the historical resource did not typically capture other elements as there were no markets for these by-products at the time. However, with the advent of new technology and the battery metal boom, AfriTin has extended the inventory of potentially extractable metals at Uis to include tantalum and lithium.
“Importantly, today’s results provide us with the confidence to move our Phase 1 mining operation forward towards a large-scale Phase 2 operation,” said Viljoen.