Aim-listed African technology metals miner Andrada Mining has started its initial exploration programme for the Brandberg West exploration licence, in Namibia.

The exploration programme will enable the miner to determine the extent of the mineralisation in and around the Brandberg West mine, says CEO Anthony Viljoen, who adds that the project allows the miner to duplicate the development process it successfully implemented at its Uis mine, also in Namibia, by taking it from an abandoned historical operation, into a fully-fledged producing mine.

“The historical figures show that EPL5445 has the potential to double the current volume of tin concentrate produced at Uis and add tungsten to the expanding list of metals produced by Andrada. The Erongo region continues to prove itself to be an untapped technology metals province, and we are excited to be starting work on what we believe will be another world-class technology metals asset,” he said on October 12.

Brandberg West will solidify Andrada’s tech-metals portfolio by potentially adding critical metals revenue streams of tungsten, and copper as a by-product.

A dual-phased approach is planned for the development of the Brandberg West licence area, where the initial phase will investigate the historical mining area and potential extensions of the mineralisation along strike, with the northern extension identified as a priority owing to the abundance of mineralised veins visible at surface.

This initial phase will also include evaluation of high-grade mineralisation in the historical pit through a detailed drilling programme. The mobilisation of a drilling programme comprising 3 000 m will start during the second half of this year.

The second phase entails investigation of the mineralisation potential of the wider licence area. Essentially, this programme will investigate multiple occurrences of mineralisation through sampling and geological mapping to establish potential enrichment trends, Viljoen says.

Brandberg West is currently the only Namibian exploration licence within Andrada’s portfolio.

The project was acquired for its significant tin and tungsten mineralisation in line with the miner’s vision to become a tier-one multi-tech-metal producer.