Aim-listed Andrada Mining has reported a strong first quarter, ended May 31, including an increase in quarterly tin production, positive drill results and significant processing development across each of its Uis, Lithium Ridge and Brandberg West projects, in Namibia.

At the Uis mine, Andrada reported a 20% increase in tin production for the first quarter to 286 t, with tin concentrate production having increased by 16% to 473 t.

Drilling at Lithium Ridge has been completed, with 16 500 m drilled across 143 holes. Assay analysis is ongoing and expected to be completed during the third quarter.

At present, the results have returned high-grade lithium intersections of up to 3.46 lithium oxide from across near-surface zones, with significant associated tin and tantalum mineralisation also being identified.

Additionally, an extensive drilling and metallurgical testwork programme has begun at Brandberg West and early studies have, so far, indicated that ore sorting could achieve more than 90% mass reduction, while improving grades by up to seven times for tin, six times for tungsten and four times for copper.

Speaking to Mining Weekly, Andrada Mining CEO Anthony Viljoen has highlighted that the record quarterly tin production at the Uis mine was driven by ongoing plant beneficiation upgrades and improved mining performance, with further gains expected from the completion of the ore sorting programme.

“At Uis, we have been invested quite a lot in terms of upgrading the beneficiation capabilities of our plant. As we went into production, we have better understood how the material operates within the plant, and we have got a lot better in terms of mining. That has allowed us to consistently increase the production.

“Once we’ve got the ore sorters in and finished the ore sorting programme, we should see another jump in production, but we are in year five of a potentially 100-year mine life,” he explains.

Meanwhile, Viljoen notes that Lithium Ridge is currently being advanced through a joint venture with Chilean mining company Sociedad Química y Minera, with additional drilling and metallurgical testwork required to fast-track feasibility and unlock resource potential.

“We are looking at various options in terms of seeing how we can expedite that feasibility programme. We believe the resource potential and hopefully reserve potential in the future is there but there has to be more drilling and metallurgical testwork.

“The metallurgical understanding of Lithium Ridge is still very well documented, and we would hope to see a development path expedited for that project,” he adds.

At Brandberg West, Andrada has observed encouraging ore-sorting results delivering significant mass reduction and grade uplift, positioning the asset as a potential low-capital-expenditure development opportunity, with the ultimate growth sequencing relative to Lithium Ridge still being evaluated.

The company has also received strategic funding for its Uis tin mine through major Namibian lenders. So far, Uis has received conditional approval for the strategic funding of R98-million from financial services companies Bank Windhoek and the Development Bank of Namibia, with both banks having committed to a ten-year loan term, including periods during which capital repayments are deferred.

Andrada also highlights that its successful $11-million equity raise to accelerate the expansion projects at the Uis mine was pivotal to securing this financing.

“Each of these assets have their own balance sheet so to speak. We retain operatorship because we have a solid team that has now executed a number of large-scale projects.

“We are probably in the best position that any junior mining company could be with three assets, cash flows, fully financed development projects and so it’s probably the best time ever for the company right now,” Viljoen concludes.