Name of the Project
Uis tin project.

Location
The Uis project consists of three project areas in the Erongo region of Namibia.

Client
AfriTin Mining.

Project Description
Uis has a non-Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource of 73-million tonnes, grading 0.136% tin, and an additional 2.7-million tonnes at 0.015% tantalum pentoxide. AfriTin has undertaken a detailed mine design for the V1 and V2 pegmatite bodies, previously identified as priority targets, to supply feed to the new intermediary processing plant.

The design of the proposed Uis tin mine includes an initial five-year mine production schedule to start operations on the outcropping pegmatite bodies and existing excavations of the historical V1/V2 pits.

This in-house mine plan supports an overburden stripping ratio of less than one (overburden-to-ore ratio) and a fast ramp-up profile using conventional openpit mining methods.

Material will be liberated through drill-and-blast methods, while excavators and articulated dump trucks will be used to load and haul the ore.

The run-of-mine (RoM) feed to the processing plant, for this phase of development, is planned at 500 000 t/y, with expected production of 800 t/y of saleable tin concentrate. The target for the following phase is 5 000 t/y of tin concentrate.

The processing plant will be located close to the V1 and V2 pegmatite orebodies.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
Not stated.

Duration
Production is scheduled for the second half of 2018.

Latest Developments
AfriTin Mining has completed additional dense-media separation testwork for the upgraded Phase 1 processing plant at its Uis tin mine.

The testwork was on a bulk sample of 2 t, which is a representative sample of the V1 and V2 pegmatite bodies.

These pits were previously identified by AfriTin as priority targets to supply feed to the upgraded processing plant at Uis.

The highlights of the testwork include 85% Stage 1 tin recoveries in 2.66 g/cm3 and 2.62 g/cm3 cut densities; up to 91% recoveries in Stage 2 separation, at a cut density of 2.9 g/cm3; and more than 60% tin dioxide grade in the final concentrate following removal of muscovite – a potential by-product.

These initial results confirm the beneficiation potential of the Uis pegmatites to produce a high-grade tin concentrate from a coarse run-of-mine feed, AfriTin has said.

Further testwork is under way to potentially enhance these results and further prove the beneficiation capability of the fine fraction arising through the crushing of ore.

AfriTin CEO Anthony Viljoen has said that the completion of this testwork has been a key element of the final design for its Phase 1 processing plant at the Uis mine and bodes well for the expansion during Phase 2 of the project, which envisages a full-scale production facility of three-million tonnes a year.

The company remains on target for the production of first tin concentrate during the fourth quarter of this year.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Afritin Mining, tel +27 11 268 6555.