AfriTin Mining

AfriTin Mining is a tin producer with projects in Namibia. The company was established in 2017 to acquire the tin assets of Bushveld Mineral Limited. It is listed on AIM and is focussed on creating a portfolio of conflict-free, tin producing assets. Its flagship project is Uis, with other projects in and around Namibia early in development.

The Uis Tin Project

The Uis project is a brownfield project, previously operated between 1958-1991. Since acquiring the project, AfriTin have declared a maiden JORC resource of 71.54 Mt of ore at a grade of 0.134% Sn for 95,539 t of contained tin.

The project has been in production since November 2019 and has been running above its nameplate capacity of 720 tpa of tin concentrate since November 2020. The company has plans to ramp up production in two phases.

Phase 1 aims to double production at Uis to a total of 1,300 tpa of tin concentrate. Construction for the processing plant was completed in August in 2022, which has the capacity to process additional by-products of tantalum and lithium oxide.

Phase 2 expansion will follow Phase 1, processing significantly more material. In a Preliminary Economic Assessment released in early 2022, expected increases scale of operations would increase production by over ten-fold. Forecasted output after this phase lies at around 16,000 tpa tin concentrate, amounting to approximately 9,000 tonnes of contained tin. This would place the project among the largest in the world, based on current mine production rates.

AfriTin has signed a long-term take off agreement with Thaisarco for the project in 2019, which has been extended until November 2023.

Regional Exploration Targets 

AfriTin are owners of two other projects, situated around Namibia, and are in the exploration stage of development. Like Uis, these projects are both polymettalic.

The first is the B1C1 project. Both tin and tantalum mineralisation have been confirmed at this project, with positive identification of spodumene in the B1 and C1 pegmatites. A drill program to confirm historical drilling is planned, with the company targeting a JORC Mineral Resource Estimate.

The second is the Brandberg West License – a historic, open-pit tin and tungsten mine, with prospects of copper and gold. Material in the open pit is well suited for pre-concentration via conventional methods. A confirmatory drill programme is being developed, with metallurgical test work underway to identify the fastest path to production.