Last checked at 12 Apr 2021 07:00
12 April 2021
AfriTin Mining Limited
("AfriTin" or the "Company")
Tantalum and Lithium By-Product Test Work Programme
AfriTin Mining Limited (AIM: ATM), an African tin mining company with its flagship asset, the Uis Tin Mine ("Uis") in Namibia, is pleased to provide an update on its metallurgical test work programme for potential by-products to its current tin concentrate product.
Highlights:
▪ The Uis Tin Mine JORC(2012)-compliant mineral resource estimate includes ancillary metals with an inventory of 6,091 tonnes of contained tantalum (Ta) and 450,265 tonnes of contained lithium oxide (Li2O), grading at 85ppm Ta and 0.63% Li2O respectively.
▪ Major Li2O intersections include 86.51m grading at 1.22% Li2O (drill hole V1V2017) and 109.32m with an average grade of 0.97% (drill hole V1V2010).
▪ The Company is advancing a metallurgical test work programme to investigate the by-product potential of the ancillary metals. Test work for a Ta concentrate is at an advanced stage; Li2O concentrate test work is progressing to a second stage.
Anthony Viljoen, CEO of AfriTin Mining Limited commented:
"Following the achievement of nameplate tin concentrate production in November 2020, the Uis Tin Mine has exceeded production forecasts. This provides the ideal platform for our metallurgical test work programme to investigate the potential of two major by-products, namely lithium oxide and tantalum. Successful implementation of by-product streams may significantly increase our profit margin and allow us to realise the goal of positioning the company in the lowest quartile of the world tin producer cost curve."
As set out in the announcement dated 16 September 2019, Uis has a JORC(2012)-compliant measured, indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate totalling 71.54 million tonnes of ore containing 95,539 tonnes of tin (Sn) metal at a grade of 0.134% tin. In addition, the mineral resource estimate includes Tantalum (Ta) and Lithium Oxide (Li-2O) as presented in Table 1.
Table 1: AfriTin Mining inferred resource estimate (JORC-2012) of ancillary metals within the Uis Tin Mine V1 and V2 pegmatites.
Inferred Resource | Gross | Net Attributable (85%*) | Operator | ||
Ta (ppm) | Li2O (%) | Ta (ppm) | Li2O (%) | ||
Grade | 85 | 0.63 | 85 | 0.63 | AfriTin Mining |
Tonnes (Mt) | 71.54 | 71.54 | 60.81 | 60.81 | AfriTin Mining |
Contained metal (t) | 6,091 | 450,265 | 5,177 | 382,725 | AfriTin Mining |
Source: CSA Global
Note: Tabulated data have been rounded off. Contained metal for lithium refers to lithium oxide (Li2O)
* AfriTin has an attributable ownership of 85% in Uis with the remaining 15% owned by The Small Miners of Uis (SMU)
The presence of significant Tantalum and Lithium Oxide mineralisation creates an opportunity for the development of additional revenue streams. Therefore, the Company is advancing a metallurgical test work programme aimed at developing the process flow to efficiently produce Tantalum and Lithium Oxide by-products.
Tantalum metallurgical investigations
Tantalum at Uis occurs in the form of the columbite group minerals (CGM) which have a similar density to the Tin-bearing mineral, cassiterite, and it is currently being recovered as part of the Tin concentrate. At present, the Company does not receive credits for the Tantalum present within the Tin concentrate. Therefore, the aim is to extract the Tantalum bearing minerals from the Tin concentrate into a separate saleable by-product.
Metallurgical test work for the production of a separate Tantalum concentrate is at an advanced stage. Previous test work focussed entirely on the differences in magnetic susceptibility between CGM and cassiterite, since pure cassiterite is non-magnetic whereas CGM are weakly magnetic. However, this test work found that a portion of the cassiterite had a magnetic response similar to the CGM. Further investigation found that inclusions, trace elements and surface effects are the probable cause of this overlapping magnetic response. Preliminary test work focused on roasting and leaching the Company's concentrate to suppress the magnetic response of cassiterite and this process has delivered encouraging results. Further investigation and process flow development aims to optimise a combination of leaching and roasting techniques to improve the efficiency of magnetic separation and provide a separate high value CGM by-product.
Lithium Metallurgical investigations
The primary Lithium Oxide-bearing mineral present in the orebody at Uis has previously been identified through XRD analysis and thin section investigation as petalite. The 2019 exploration drilling campaign, which resulted in the mineral resource estimate of Table 1, yielded anomalous Lithium Oxide intersections that included 86.51m grading at 1.22% Li-2O (drill hole V1V2017) and 109.32m grading at 0.97% Li-2O (drill hole V1V2010) (see announcement dated 26 June 2019).
Test work for the production of a petalite concentrate by-product has been initiated. Preliminary heavy liquid separation (HLS) tests, utilising drill core samples, provided positive indications that a saleable petalite concentrate can be produced. The petalite is naturally low in deleterious compounds, in particular iron oxide (Fe2O3) and potassium oxide (K2O), and may be suitable feedstock for the production of technical grade lithium concentrate for the glass and ceramics industries. The Company will also investigate the suitability of its petalite concentrate for the production of battery-grade lithium products in this work programme.
Petalite is the lowest density mineral present within the ore mined at Uis, whereas, Tin and Tantalum-bearing minerals represent more dense fractions. Investigations will focus on incorporating technologies and methods currently employed at the processing plant, including dense medium separation (DMS) and magnetic separation. The petalite characterisation will incorporate HLS of bulk samples taken from run-of-mine feed, followed by concentrate cleaning through magnetic separation, and ultimately pilot-scale processing runs.
Ore processing metallurgical investigations
An investigation into the pre-concentration potential of Tin, Tantalum, and Lithium Oxide-bearing minerals using sensor-based ore sorting has commenced. This process involves the use of X-ray, or hyperspectral imaging technologies, to characterise ore particles and manually or pneumatically sort them. The methodology is suitable for ore streams of a relatively high top size (typically 20 to 80 mm) and has the potential to allow mineral concentration or waste rejection early in the process, thereby increasing downstream processing capacity and reducing processing costs. Initial test work will investigate the potential applicability of various X-ray imaging methods and sensors at Uis. Furthermore, successful discrimination of minerals may be followed by bulk material tests.
Further updates will be provided in due course.
Competent Person Statement:
The technical data in this announcement has been reviewed by Laurence Robb, a Non-Executive Director of AfriTin. Laurence Robb (BScHons, MSc, PhD, FGS, FGSSA, FRSSA) has more than 40 years of industry-related mineral project development experience. He is registered as a Professional Natural Scientist with The South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions, Chartered Geologist with the Geological Society of London, and European Geologist with the European Federation of Geologists. He was Professor of Economic Geology and Director of the Economic Geology Research Institute in the University of the Witwatersrand's School of Geosciences. He is currently based at Oxford University as a Visiting Professor, and holds additional distinguished visiting professorships at the University of Johannesburg and the University of Witwatersrand. He consults widely throughout Africa and holds various other corporate directorships. He has reviewed the technical disclosures in this release and consents to the release of the information contained herein.
Glossary of abbreviations
Fe2O3 | Iron oxide |
K2O | Potassium oxide |
Li | Elemental symbol for Lithium |
Li2O | Lithium oxide |
Li → Li2O | Conversion factor of 2.153 |
JORC | The Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves |
Mt | Millions of tonnes |
ppm | Parts Per Million |
Sn | Elemental symbol for Tin |
t | Metric tonne |
Ta | Elemental symbol for Tantalum |
Glossary of Technical Terms
Indicated Mineral Resource | The part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade, quality, etc., can be estimated with a level of confidence sufficient to allow the appropriate application of technical and economic parameters, to support mine planning and evaluation of economic viability |
Inferred Mineral Resource | The part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity and grade or quality can be estimated on the basis of geological evidence and limited sampling and reasonably assumed, but not verified, geological and grade continuity |
Measured Mineral Resource | The part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade or quality, etc., are well enough established that they can be estimated with confidence sufficient to allow the appropriate application of technical parameters to support production planning and evaluation of economic viability |
Mineral Resources | Mineral Resources are sub-divided, in order of increasing geological confidence, into Inferred, Indicated and Measured categories. An Inferred Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource. An Indicated Mineral Resource has a higher level of confidence than an Inferred Mineral Resource but has a lower level of confidence than a Measured Mineral Resource |
Petalite | A lithium aluminium phyllosilicate mineral LiAlSi4O10 |
For further information, please visit www.afritinmining.com or contact:
AfriTin Mining Limited |
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Anthony Viljoen, CEO | +27 (11) 268 6555 |
Nominated Adviser |
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WH Ireland Limited Katy Mitchell James Sinclair-Ford | +44 (0) 207 220 1666 |
Corporate Advisor and Joint Broker | |
Hannam & Partners Andrew Chubb Jay Ashfield Nilesh Patel | +44 (0) 20 7907 8500 |
Joint Broker |
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Turner Pope Investments Andy Thacker Zoe Alexander | +44 (0) 203 657 0050 |
Financial PR (United Kingdom) |
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Tavistock | +44 (0) 207 920 3150 |
Jos Simson Emily Moss Oliver Lamb |
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The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014
About AfriTin Mining Limited
Notes to Editors
AfriTin Mining Limited is the first pure tin company listed in London and its vision is to create a portfolio of globally significant, conflict-free, tin-producing assets. The Company's flagship asset is the Uis Tin Mine in Namibia, formerly the world's largest hard-rock opencast tin mine.
AfriTin is managed by an experienced board of directors and management team with a current two-fold strategy: fast-track Uis Tin Mine in Namibia to commercial production as Phase 1, and ramp up to 5,000 tonnes of concentrate per annum in a Phase 2 expansion. The Company strives to capitalise on the solid supply/demand fundamentals of tin by developing a critical mass of tin resource inventory, achieving production in the near term and further scaling production by consolidating tin assets in Africa.