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
London Aim-listed tin mining company 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 Phase 2 is 5 000 t/y of tin concentrate.

Phase 1 of the pilot plant is designed to deliver early positive cash flows while demonstrating the feasibility of a much larger second-phase mine development on Uis’ multicommodity deposit.

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 management team.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Not stated.

Planned Start /End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Progress on the Phase 1 pilot plant project progressed throughout the financial year ended February 2020, with capital expenditure on the project amounting to £7.4-million during the year in terms of the construction of the processing plant, as well as the capitalised ramp-up and project team costs.

CEO Anthony Viljoen has said that while the company’s focus remains on ramping up the pilot plant to its design capacity of 500 000 t/y of ore feed, “it is the lessons learned from Phase 1 that will be invaluable when we progress to Phase 2”.

AfriTin also received a strong vote of confidence in the long-term development plan of the mine when it concluded an offtake agreement with Thaisarco, a fellow tin concentrate market player.

As part of the contract signed on August 1, 2019, concentrate produced during the offtake period will be shipped to Thaisarco, in Thailand, from the Port of Walvis Bay, in Namibia. Thaisarco will pay AfriTin on the basis of actual tin content in the concentrate.

Viljoen has said that the agreement provides the company with a steady revenue stream.

Meanwhile, the company also recorded its first revenue of £47 000 from the sale of tin concentrate.

With Uis becoming a fully fledged operation, CFO Robert Sewell has said that administrative expenses across the group have increased to £1.8-million for the year.

Additionally, the start of a preliminary economic assessment for Phase 2 of the project, and other exploration and evaluation work, have resulted in the expenditure of £522 000 being capitalised to the exploration and evaluation intangible asset.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
MRI (buying station).

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