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MINING | AfriTin Mining
AFRITIN MINING Building the African tin champion
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MINING | AfriTin Mining
Tin is an important commodity with multiple uses in modern society that go beyond widely held associations with goods such as tin cans, cups and roofs. These outmoded beliefs are a misnomer when considering the growing importance of tin in contemporary electronics and other high-tech industries, with latest research indicating that tin can dramatically improve the performance of lithiumion batteries, for example. Tin continues to be one of the better performing commodities on the London Metals Exchange and the global tin market is anticipated to be valued at US$8.23 billion by 2023. However, the market has been rooted in a deficit for the last five years with demand rising from industrial markets and production falling as a result of depleting global reserves and tightening regulations in China – a world leading tin producer. This equilibrium pricing scenario in the tin sector is creating a ‘perfect storm’ for a company like AfriTin Mining, according to its CEO Anthony Viljoen. AfriTin is a Londonlisted miner which intends to become the ‘African tin champion’ through the development of its portfolio in Namibia and South Africa.
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MINING | AfriTin Mining
“Demand and supply are moving away from
developing the Uis Tin Project in Namibia,
each other quite rapidly and we saw a similar
which is focused on a pegmatite-hosted tin
scenario developing in the vanadium market
deposit that happens to be one of the largest
recently which resulted in prices going up by
open castable deposits of its kind.
1000%. We are excited by that and believe that what we call minor metals offer good
AfriTin holds three project areas at Uis, all
market fundamentals and strong upward
of which saw historical production from
price movement prospects,� says Viljoen.
the mid-20th century up to 1990, when production ceased as a result of depressed
Tin is not an abundantly occurring mineral
tin prices. Therefore, the project comes with
around the world, and large industrial scale
a non-JORC compliant resource of 73 million
deposits are rare outside of the major tin
tonnes (Mt) at 0.136% tin.
producing countries of China, Indonesia and Peru, Bolivia and Brazil from Latin America.
This historic resource is based on a large amount of drilling data conducted by SRK
Africa used to be the fourth biggest exporter
when it was operated by the South African
of tin in the world, but today there are no
state-run company Iscor, and Viljoen has
active industrial scale tin mines in operation.
no reason to believe that the figure is likely
However, AfriTin is in the process of
to change in the company’s imminent JORC resource announcement.
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A giant tin resource
edition ranking it the fourth best African
In fact, if the non-JORC resource were to be
jurisdiction for mining and investment.
confirmed, it would place Uis in the top 10 tin mines globally and in the top two for Africa,
Returning to the Uis project, AfriTin will
alongside Alphamin’s Bisie project which
publish a JORC-compliant resource before
is being developed deep in the jungle of
the end of H1 2019 ahead of completing a
Democratic Republic of Congo.
scoping study and the commencement of a bankable feasibility study (BFS) by the end of
In comparison, AfriTin stands to benefit from
the year.
a strategically located project within trucking distance to Walvis Bay – a key port town on
While each of these resembles a significant
the coast of Namibia. In addition, AfriTin will
milestone in the near-term development of
be operating in a jurisdiction that encourages
the project, the company is most excited by
foreign investment in the mining sector, and
the extent of the tin mineralisation running
is regulated by a long-established Mining Act.
across the 15 km by 15 km licence area at Uis.
As a result, Namibia consistently ranks highly in the Fraser Institute’s Annual Survey of
“These pegmatite belts where the tin occurs
Mining Companies, with the most recent
run for hundreds of kilometres from the
MINING | AfriTin Mining coast inland, and some of the belts are
Another exciting development was the recent
more mineralised than others. The ones in
discovery of lithium pegmatites at the ML
the Uis project areas are particularly highly
133 licence of the Uis project, located South
mineralised with tin,” says Viljoen.
of the main NR 134 licence. Viljoen explains how the pegmatites at Uis were formed by
During the four decades of historical tin
prehistoric lava flows which were intruded by
production at Uis, Iscor mined over 12
a variety of elements including tin, tantalite,
different open pits at points where they
niobium, beryllium and lithium.
found the pegmatite belts to outcrop. AfriTin has since conducted a geological mapping
While the ML 133 licence is outside of the
exercise and found another 180 outcropping
current development area at the Uis mine,
pegmatites all with visible tin mineralisation.
the discovery of lithium is encouraging and warrants further mineralogical testing at the
“By historic standards this would be one of
site.
the top 10 biggest tin mines in the world, but by modern standards, this is real behemoth
“It’s a non-core asset for us at this stage, but
of a deposit. We are only focusing on one
it does give us an opportunity to realise value
outcropping pegmatite at the moment, but
from the licence, either by partnering up with
there is so much upside from a resource
someone else or looking to maybe spin it off
perspective, it will take us decades to
on its own in the future,” says the CEO.
evaluate it to its fullest extent.”
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Phased production approach AfriTin has taken an unorthodox approach to the development of the Uis project, in the sense that during the last 12 months the company has begun building a phase 1 processing plant while still in the process of proving up the resource. “We decided to do the plant and the resource confirmation concurrently because we had access to all of the historic resource information for Uis. The process flow of the circuit is not complex either, being a gravitybased separation. “So, I’ve been able to get a really crack team of in-house engineers on the job which has given us a lot of confidence to go into phase 1 production while we are concurrently proving up the resource.”
MINING | AfriTin Mining
Resource Global Network The other major benefit derived from building a phase 1 production facility is the opportunity to generate early cash flows while significantly de-risking the full-scale production phase. “A phased development approach gives us cash flow rather than having to go back to market all the time, and it gets our tin out into the market,” explains Viljoen. “When the current demand and supply elements for tin start feeding into the general market we would expect the tin price to tick up and the best way to take advantage of that is to have your tin product circulating in the market. “Having early production really stamps our focus on the tin market and says that we are a player to watch in the future,” he adds. AfriTin has been able to utilise the mining expertise that resides in Namibia throughout the process of confirming the resource and building the phase 1 plant for Uis. In fact, the level of expertise and equipment that is available in-country is such that the company has not had to use international suppliers, aside from a few additional components from China. The company’s main contractors are Windhoek-based Crush Plant, a national subsidiary of South African engineering
Anthony Viljoen, AfriTin Mining CEO
group Osborn, and Metallum Fabrication who provide structural and stainless steel fabrication solutions.
MINING | AfriTin Mining
Local beneficiation
but the multiplier effect of a large mining
Placing Uis in its geographic context in the
operation is exactly what the communities
Erongo region of Namibia, AfriTin has a duty
need, in terms of job creation and further
to ensure that the local communities benefit
long-term economic beneficiation.
from the project as much as the company will. As such, AfriTin has placed a strong focus
“We are looking at various initiatives for
on community engagement throughout the
employing as many local people as possible,
development.
particularly those semi-skilled people who worked on the mine before it closed. In
There was no natural economic activity in the
general, we plan to upgrade water and
region prior to the historic mine, but since
electricity supply which will have an indirect
operations ended in 1990, the local mining
but definite multiplier effect on economic
communities suffered as the main source of
activities.
economic activity was taken away. “We believe that a happy mine is based on a In recent years tourism has provided some
happy community, so we will look to stick to
respite to conditions of poverty in the region,
that mantra. Our local operating company
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is 15% owned by a nonprofit organisation
This target would be achieved either
that looks after all of the communities near
through resource expansion at Uis or
the mine. They all have a direct exposure to
from consolidation of other assets in the
profitability and that’s the way sustainable
portfolio, notably the Mokopane project in
mining should happen these days.”
South Africa. In the near term, the company will deliver a number of catalysts for value
When the Uis mine reaches full scale
creation, starting with early production from
production it will produce in the region of
the phase 1 plant.
5,000 tonnes of tin concentrate a year. This rate would make AfriTin a significant player in the global tin market, however Viljoen aims to push the company’s overall production up to 10,000 tonnes a year.
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Published by Anderson Murray Media Ltd
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