Photo by: Andrada Mining
Name of the Project
Uis Phase 2 expansion project.
Location
Namibia.
Project Owner/s
Andrada Mining, formerly AfriTin Mining.
Project Description
The historical Uis mine was owned and operated by Iscor from 1958 and to1991 as a tin mine.
The Uis project comprises a total non-Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant mining reserve (provided for guidance purposes only) of 134-million tonnes of ore, which could result in a mine life of 14 years. The mining plan features a production rate of ten-million tonnes a year of run-of-mine (RoM) ore at an average overburden stripping ratio of 2.6.
Andrada, formerly AfriTin, has set out to re-establish the Uis operation in two phases. Phase 1 is a low-capital, cash-generating initial production facility serving as a pilot for Phase 2, which is planned as a scaled-up version of the initial phase. The beneficiation process may involve dry crushing of the RoM ore and sensor-based ore sorting once confirmed through testwork.
The preconcentrates from this process could then be treated through various wet concentration circuits to produce saleable concentrates. The tin and tantalum minerals could be preconcentrated using X-ray transmission ore sorting and concentrated through dense-media separation (DMS), gravity separation and magnetic separation. The lithium mineral petalite could be preconcentrated using near-infrared ore sorting, concentrated using DMS, and cleaned using milling and flotation.
Mining will comprise conventional openpit methods using low-carbon, truck-and-excavator combinations, and is planned to be conducted over multiple pegmatite orebodies from four to five pits concurrently. A zero-effluent plant is planned to include dewatering systems for all concentrate and discard streams to aim for maximum water conservation and eliminate the need for tailings dams.
Potential Job Creation
Not stated.
Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $2.1-billion and an internal rate of return of 75%, with a payback of 1.5 years.
Capital Expenditure
Initial capital expenditure is estimated at $440-million, including a 30% contingency.
Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.
Latest Developments
Andrada Mining has announced an inferred, Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant mineral resource estimate (MRE) for tin over 11 historically mined pegmatite bodies located close to the actively mined V1/V2 pegmatite at the Uis mine.
These 11 pegmatites have been collectively termed the proximal pegmatites and are located within a 3 km radius from the existing processing plant.
The V1/V2 pegmatite, as well as the proximal pegmatites, are located within mining licence ML134 as part of a swarm comprising more than 180 mineralised pegmatites.
“These additional pegmatites, together with the mineral resource at the V1/V2 orebody, provide an entire resource portfolio of approximately 128-million tonnes of ore with a gross combined content of 170 000 t of tin, making Andrada the owner of one of the largest tin assets globally,” CEO Anthony Viljoen has stated.
Viljoen believes that through the company’s demonstrated ability to rapidly and profitably scale up production at the existing operations at the Uis mine, it has the ability to compound the company's economies of scale and position the company as one of the lowest-cost techmetal producers in the next five years.
Andrada is embarking on a confirmatory drilling programme to improve the tin resource classification and to evaluate lithium and tantalum potential of the proximal pegmatites.
Viljoen has said the existing mineral reserve, which is currently being mined, as well as the ongoing infill drilling programme over the entire mining licence, has also shown the potential of lithium mineralisation contained within the same pegmatites.
Andrada will complete the work required to bring the lithium operation into production, as well as expanding the infill drilling programme to explore the opportunity that the lithium presents as a co-product revenue stream with the tin operation in the coming months.
Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.
Contact Details for Project Information
Andrada Mining, tel +27 11 268 6555.