Last checked at 6 Jul 2023 07:00
6 July 2023
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 (MAR) as in force in the United Kingdom pursuant to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service (RIS), this inside information will be in the public domain.
Andrada Mining Limited
("Andrada" or the "Company")
Drill programme results for the Spodumene Hill Project on ML129
Drill results provide indication of high-grade spodumene zones within the B1 and C1 pegmatites.
Andrada Mining Limited (AIM: ATM, OTCQB: ATMTF), the African technology metals mining company with a portfolio of mining and exploration assets in Namibia is pleased to provide assay results for the inaugural drill programme undertaken over the B1 and C1 pegmatites, located within the ML129 mining license and referred to as the Spodumene Hill Project.
HIGHLIGHTS
· All drill holes intersected mineralised pegmatites, indicating continuity at depth.
· Significant pegmatite intersections include:
o Drill hole B1_01: 14.52 m at 1.38% Li2O, 285 ppm Ta and 0.131% Sn from a depth of 15.48 m to 30.00 m.
§ Including notable lithium intersections of 5 m at 2.32% Li2O from 18 m to 23 m; and 2.5m at 2.04% Li2O from 25.5m to 28 m.
o Drill hole B1_09: 12.78 m at 0.74% Li2O, 181 ppm Ta and 0.052% Sn from a depth of 65.80 m to 78.58 m.
§ Including a notable lithium intersection of 4.66 m at 1.45% Li2O from 69 m to 73.66 m.
o Drill hole C1_04: 11.06 m at 0.81% Li2O, 1101 ppm Ta and 0.033% Sn from a depth of 13.59 m to 24.65 m.
§ Including a notable lithium intersection of 3.65 m at 2.14% Li2O from 16 m to 19.65 m.
· High grade lithium intersections suggest the presence of significant spodumene mineralisation.
· The pegmatite intersections are positive for tantalum and provide additional upside, in the light of the near completion of the tantalum concentration circuit.
· Metallurgical programme initiated to investigate the optimal beneficiation process.
Anthony Viljoen, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"These drill results provide an initial glimpse into the potential of the Spodumene Hill Project. The identified high-grade lithium intersections within the pegmatite could be separated through ore sorting to provide a potentially high-grade pre-concentrate for the lithium processing plant.
These results have also highlighted the tantalum potential of this area, and the relevance of the recently constructed tantalum recovery circuit. The proximity of the Spodumene Hill Project to the existing operations provides an immediate opportunity for additional revenues from the project area by blending tantalum grades.
The highlighted intersections provide a promising starting point for the next phase of exploration which will aim to define the extent of these zones both laterally and with depth. We have also initiated a metallurgical programme to investigate the optimal beneficiation process for the recovery of both lithium and tantalum, whilst also producing tin as a by-product."
OVERVIEW OF THE RESULTS
An exploration drill programme was undertaken on the Spodumene Hill Project, resulting in 1159 m of Diamond Drilling ("DD") being completed over seventeen drill holes. The pegmatite intersections reported here will form the base of an updated geological model and development of an ongoing exploration initiative. The drill results indicate zones of lithium enrichment within the pegmatite unit with the primary and only lithium ore mineral identified thus far being spodumene. The construction of a lithium pilot plant and tantalum processing circuit will assist with metallurgical investigations and the development of an optimised process flow diagram for material from these pegmatites.
The tabulated results (Table 1) provide the weighted average metal content of the entire pegmatite intersection and show the selected intersections, including those within the pegmatites. The selected intervals highlight areas where lithium values are greater than the average indicated by the entire pegmatite intersection and indicate that these pegmatites may contain zones of elevated lithium mineralisation. Future work programmes will investigate the nature and origin of these higher-grade zones within the pegmatite, with the aim of identifying extensions and additional occurrences. Table 1: Exploration results of diamond drill holes indicating the full pegmatite intersections, grade and selected internal intersections. The drill holes were oriented with an inclination of 60 degrees, intersections are indicative of apparent thickness and not true thickness.
Hole ID | Pegmatite | From - To (m) | Interval (m) | Grade | ||
Li₂O (%) | Ta (ppm) | Sn (%) | ||||
B1 01 | B1 | 15.48 - 30.00 | 14.52 | 1.38 | 285 | 0.131 |
Including | 18.00 - 23.00 | 5.00 | 2.32 | 159 | 0.124 | |
Including | 25.50 - 28.00 | 2.50 | 2.04 | 161 | 0.216 | |
B1 02 | B1 | 17.44 - 51.35 | 33.91 | 0.22 | 187 | 0.093 |
B1 03 | B1 | 13.08 - 39.55 | 26.47 | 0.38 | 169 | 0.080 |
B1 04 | B1 | 6.93 - 32.18 | 25.25 | 0.45 | 147 | 0.072 |
Including | 10.00 - 13.00 | 3.00 | 1.25 | 133 | 0.052 | |
B1 05 | B1 | 20.10 - 37.18 | 17.08 | 0.47 | 110 | 0.070 |
Including | 22.15 - 28.00 | 5.85 | 0.91 | 105 | 0.111 | |
B1 06 | B1 | 53.75 - 71.50 | 17.75 | 0.22 | 147 | 0.119 |
B1 07 | B1 | 74.84 - 85.64 | 10.80 | 0.44 | 119 | 0.049 |
Including | 79.00 - 80.00 | 1.00 | 1.86 | 151 | 0.045 | |
B1 08 | B1 | 52.61 - 61.95 | 9.34 | 0.18 | 166 | 0.083 |
B1 09 | B1 | 4.60 - 62.32 | 57.72 | 0.19 | 352 | 0.076 |
B1 Lower | 65.80 - 78.58 | 12.78 | 0.74 | 181 | 0.052 | |
Including | 69.00 - 73.66 | 4.66 | 1.45 | 116 | 0.088 | |
C1 01 | C1 | 10.00 - 20.65 | 10.65 | 0.26 | 243 | 0.062 |
C1 02 | C1 | 11.15 - 18.1 | 6.95 | 0.48 | 426 | 0.066 |
Including | 15.97 - 17.46 | 1.49 | 0.99 | 803 | 0.052 | |
C1 03 | C1 | 13.50 - 28.26 | 14.76 | 0.20 | 343 | 0.037 |
C1 04 | C1 | 13.59 - 24.65 | 11.06 | 0.81 | 1101 | 0.033 |
Including | 16.00 - 19.65 | 3.65 | 2.14 | 2742 | 0.057 | |
C1 05 | C1 | 45.68 - 52.76 | 7.08 | 0.09 | 233 | 0.026 |
C1 06 | C1 | 53.64 - 59.91 | 6.27 | 0.44 | 163 | 0.049 |
Including | 55.00 - 56.50 | 1.50 | 1.20 | 212 | 0.074 | |
C1 07 | C1 | 43.21 - 46.17 | 2.96 | 0.02 | 304 | 0.020 |
C1 08 | C1 | 14.00 - 37.6 | 23.60 | 0.25 | 463 | 0.045 |
Including | 18.00 - 22.00 | 4.00 | 0.92 | 129 | 0.021 | |
All drill holes were drilled as DD at an inclination of sixty degrees from the horizontal. In all instances, apart from drill holes B1 09 and C1 08, the holes were planned to intersect the pegmatite perpendicular to the surface strike direction. Due to the undulating dip angle of the pegmatite units the intersections are assumed to be an indication of apparent thickness, which is greater than true thickness.
Other minor pegmatites identified in the drill hole, have not been reported on because they are not considered to be of economic significance. Each drill hole was geologically and geotechnically logged before being sampled. The sample analysis was undertaken by UIS Analytical Services, a certified independent laboratory, using a peroxide fusion. ICP-OES analysis was utilised for major and minor elements and ICP-MS utilised for the trace elements. No top cut has been applied when calculating the weighted average grades for anomalously rich intersections.
Figure 1: Maps of the programme indicating: A) The localities of the pegmatites in relation to each other, the holes drilled during this programme and the main road linking Uis and Henties Bay. B) The mapped outcrop areas of the B1 pegmatite and location of the drill holes for this programme and indicating the locality of the section line in Figure 2. C) The mapped pegmatite outcrop area and location of the C1 location of the drill holes.
Figure 2: Cross section through line A-A' as indicated in Figure 1B, showing the average grade of the whole intersection and the two selected intersections within the pegmatite as indicated in Table 1.
COMPETENT PERSON STATEMENT
The technical data relating to the exploration results in this announcement have been reviewed by Professor Laurence Robb (M.Sc.,PhD; FGSSA, FSEG, CGeol., Pr. Sci Nat. (Geological Sciences)), who is Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford and University of Johannesburg. Professor Robb is a non-executive director of Andrada Mining and has over 40 years of experience working in many of the great African mineral districts, including the Witwatersrand Basin, the Bushveld Complex, Barberton, Namaqualand, and the Birimian of West Africa. He also undertook extensive research into the metallogeny of southeast Asia (Malaysia and Myanmar). Professor Robb consents to the inclusion of the information in the form and context in which it appears.Glossary of abbreviations
DD | Diamond Drilling |
ICP-MS | Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry |
ICP-OES | Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry |
Li | Symbol for Lithium |
Li → Li2O | Metal to metal-oxide conversion factor of 2.153 |
Li2O | Lithium oxide |
PPM | Parts Per Million |
QA/QC | Quality Assurance / Quality Control |
Sn | Symbol for Tin |
Ta | Symbol for Tantalum |
Glossary of terminology
Apparent thickness | The relationship between apparent width and true thickness is based on the formula by Addie (1968 Economic Geology, vol 63, pp 188-189). |
Dip angle | The angle of inclination measured downward from horizontal. |
Geological model | The interpretation of mineralisation and geology that controls mineralisation. This is usually generated in a three-dimensional computer environment. |
Pegmatite | An igneous rock typically of granitic composition, which is distinguished from other igneous rocks by the extremely coarse and systematically variable size of its crystals, or by an abundance of crystals with skeletal, graphic, or other strongly directional growth habits, or by a prominent spatial zonation of mineral assemblages, including monomineralic zones. |
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Andrada Mining Limited | +27 (11) 268 6555 |
Anthony Viljoen, CEO Sakhile Ndlovu, Head of Investor Relations | investorrelations@andradamining.com |
Nominated Adviser | +44 (0) 207 220 1666 |
WH Ireland Limited Katy Mitchell | |
Corporate Advisor and Joint Broker | |
H&P Advisory Limited Andrew Chubb Jay Ashfield Matt Hasson | +44 (0) 20 7907 8500 |
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited Ashton Clanfield Callum Stewart Varun Talwar | +44 (0) 20 7710 7600 |
Tavistock Financial PR (United Kingdom) Emily Moss Catherine Drummond Adam Baynes | +44 (0) 207 920 3150 andrada@tavistock.co.uk |
About Andrada Mining Limited
Andrada Mining Limited has a vision to create a portfolio of globally significant, conflict-free, production and exploration assets. The Company's flagship asset is the Uis Mine in Namibia, formerly the world's largest hard-rock open cast tin mine.
Andrada has three mining licences namely;
· ML134 on which Uis Mine is located.
· ML133 (Nai Nais / Lithium Ridge).
· ML129 (B1C1 / Spodumene Hill).
The main minerals in these mining licences are tin, lithium and tantalum. Additionally, the Company has an exploration licence EL5445 (Brandberg West) on which the main minerals are tin, copper and tungsten. The Company has set a mineral resource target of 200 Mt to be delineated within the next 5 years. The substantial mineral resource potential allows the Company to consider economies of scale.
Andrada is managed by a board of directors with extensive industry knowledge and a management team with deep commercial and technical skills. Furthermore, the Company is committed to the sustainable development of its operations and the growth of its business. This is demonstrated by how the leadership team places significant emphasis on creating value for the wider community, investors, and other key stakeholders. Andrada has established an environmental, social and governance system which has been implemented at all levels of the Company and aligns with international standards.
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