Name of the Project
Uis Phase 2 expansion project.

Location
Namibia.

Project Owner/s
AfriTin Mining.

Project Description
The historical Uis mine was owned and operated by Iscor from 1958 and to1991 as a tin mine.

The Uis project comprises a total non-Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant mining reserve (provided for guidance purposes only) of 134-million tonnes of ore, which could result in a mine life of 14 years. The mining plan features a production rate of ten-million tonnes a year of run-of-mine (RoM) ore at an average overburden stripping ratio of 2.6.

AfriTin has set out to re-establish the Uis operation in two phases. Phase 1 is a low-capital, cash-generating initial production facility serving as a pilot for Phase 2, which is planned as a scaled-up version of the initial phase. The beneficiation process may involve dry crushing of the RoM ore and using sensor-based ore sorting once confirmed through testwork.

The preconcentrates from this process could then be treated through various wet concentration circuits to produce saleable concentrates. The tin and tantalum minerals could be preconcentrated using X-ray transmission ore sorting and concentrated through dense-media separation (DMS), gravity separation and magnetic separation. The lithium mineral petalite could be preconcentrated using near-infrared ore sorting, concentrated using DMS, and cleaned using milling and flotation.

Mining will comprise conventional openpit methods using low-carbon truck-and-excavator combinations, and is planned to be conducted over multiple pegmatite orebodies from four to five pits concurrently. A zero-effluent plant is planned to include dewatering systems for all concentrate and discard streams to aim for maximum water conservation and eliminate the need for tailings dams.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $2.1-billion and an internal rate of return of 75%, with a payback of 1.5 years.

Capital Expenditure
Initial capital expenditure is estimated at $440-million, including a 30% contingency.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
AfriTin has reported that exploration drill results at the Uis mine are in line with the company’s expectations for the V1/V2 pegmatite orebody.

The drill holes are “distributed over the entire strike of the pegmatite and are indicative of the consistency of lithium, tin and tantalum mineralisation”, AfriTin CEO Anthony Viljoen has said.

“As we near the end of this exploration programme, we look forward to upgrading the mineral resource estimate in support of our by-product development projects for tantalum and lithium,” the company has said.

The 50-hole drilling programme, comprising 29 diamond and 21 reverse-circulation drill holes, aims to increase the confidence of the existing lithium and tantalum mineral resource estimates over the deposit.

A total of 49 drill holes have been completed and are being processed.

The current exploration programme aims to upgrade the existing resource classification for lithium and tantalum over the areas where tin is currently classified within the measured and indicated categories for the 2019 Joint Ore Reserve Committee-compliant mineral resource estimate.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
AfriTin Mining, email info@afritinmining.com.
Tavistock, on behalf of Afritin Mining, tel +44 (0) 207 920 3150 or email afritin@tavistock.co.uk.