By:Staff writer
Andrada Mining, formerly AfriTin Mining, on Monday reported record levels of concentrate production at its Uis tin mine in November, according to its latest quarterly update.
The company, which operates the Uis tin mine in Erongo region, reported that it produced a record 88 tonnes of tin concentrate for November 2022, containing 53 tonnes of tin.
The unaudited quarterly production update for the Uis mine is for the third quarter ending 30 November 2022 of the 2022-3 financial year.
After achieving higher than nameplate capacity throughout 2022, AfriTin has been expanding operations at the mine. The Phase 1 Expansion Project has upgraded the crushing, screening, and concentrate cleaning circuits, as well as debottlenecking constraints in the concentrator. Overall, the project targets an increase in concentrate production at the mine to 100 tonnes per month (tpm) from previous levels of 60 tpm.
Commissioning of the Uis Phase 1 Expansion Project, a modular expansion of the current processing plant, was completed in October 2022 and announced on 7 November 2022.
The Project targets an increase in production at Uis from approximately 780 tpa to 1200 tpa tin concentrate (470 tpa and 720 tpa tin contained in concentrate respectively). The production ramp-up period is estimated to last for 3 months, from November 2022 to January 2023.
During November 2022, the first month of production following commissioning, the ramp-up target was exceeded by 20% (88 tonnes of tin concentrate vs a target of 73 tonnes). The production of 88 tonnes of tin concentrate (containing 53 tonnes of tin) achieved during November 2022 also represents a new monthly production record.
Production during Q3 FY2022-3 was impacted by a planned 5-week processing plant shutdown from 7 September 2022 to 13 October 2022, which was required to complete the construction and commissioning of the expanded crushing and tin concentrating circuits.
This resulted in a loss of approximately one third of the available production time during the quarter under review. An average of 90 kt of ore was processed at an average processing rate of 107 tph (excluding the plant shutdown period), resulting in a tin concentrate production of 145 tonnes. The operating unit cost for the quarter also rose concurrently with the lower production volumes.
However, with the production capacity reaching 88% in November, the ramp up is well ahead of schedule.
“We are extremely pleased with the production ramp-up performance of the expanded Uis mine processing plant as evidenced by the November 2022 production which exceeded the target by 20%. We believe the expanded production capacity will significantly increase revenue and reduce unit costs, thereby improving the margin and sustainability of the operation,” said Anthony Viljoen, CEO of AfriTin.
“In addition, the company is fast tracking the development of separate lithium and tantalum products alongside its existing tin production, with both a lithium pilot and a tantalum separation circuit under construction. We look forward to realising the full polymetallic potential of the Uis deposit,” he added.
Comparing plant and ore processing rates with the monthly average between March-August also shows positive signs, increasing by 17% and 22%, respectively.
Despite the five-week plant shutdown hindering overall production for the quarter by 32% QoQ, subsequent increases will outweigh this within the following approximately three or four months.
As results for the following quarter come through, the company can expect new record levels of production in 2023.
Furthermore, speaking at the 11th Investing in Tin seminar in December last year, Viljoen said the company is optimistic in continuing to increase production through to the second quarter of 2023.
At the same annual event, the International Tin Association’s (ITA) presented its vision for the future of tin, saying there is a major investment opportunity for tin mining and recycling as the metal is a vital ingredient in solar energy, electric vehicles and other future technologies.
“Over the next decade we believe demand for tin will surge as the technology supercycle brings unprecedented opportunities for the tin industry,” said Dr Jeremy Pearce, head of market intelligence & communications at ITA. “The sector will need to adapt rapidly to meet this demand as the role of tin in enabling the energy transition and digitisation becomes more obvious”.
During the event, ITA previewed first stage results of its TIN2030 initiative. This industry vision to 2030 looks at the sector through the lens of macroeconomic influences, growing sustainability pressures and opportunities and the role of technology. It concludes with a wakeup call to the crucial role of tin, for example as solder – the glue that holds together all electronic and electrical infrastructures.
As the awareness of tin’s importance grows, so too will the need to secure supply. The organisation highlighted the scale of new investment required to meet the expected surge in demand. It estimates that $1.4 billion is needed to deliver 50,000 tpa more tin by 2030. This represents a huge opportunity for investors, allowing the tin sector to build a better future for all.
Meanwhile, as announced by AfriTin on 7 December 2022, a lithium pilot plant and tantalum separation circuit are currently under construction. The lithium pilot plant is intended to process bulk samples into a lithium concentrate, with the aim of refining the process flow design for lithium, as well as for offtake testing and development. The tantalum separation circuit will be integrated with the existing tin concentrating plant to produce a separate saleable tantalum concentrate. Commissioning of both projects is scheduled for Q2 2023.
AfriTin’s current strategy is to ramp-up production at the Uis mine to more than 10 000 tonnes of tin concentrate and 350 000 tonnes of lithium concentrate in a Phase 2 expansion, having reached Phase 1 commercial production in 2020. The company strives to capitalise on the solid supply/demand fundamentals of tin and lithium by developing a critical mass of resource inventory, achieving production in the near term and further scaling production by consolidating assets in Africa.
