AfriTin Mining Ltd (AIM:ATM) said testing confirmed the potential to produce separate saleable lithium and tantalum concentrates from its flagship Uis tin mine in Namibia, opening up additional revenue opportunities.
As a result, the AIM-listed company will proceed with the design and procurement of a pilot lithium beneficiation facility. The pilot plant is expected to cost £2.2mln and will be funded from existing cash reserves.
“Implementation of these by-product streams could substantially transform the overall economics and unit cost of production for the current Phase 1 facility,” said chief executive Anthony Viljoen.
“More importantly, it provides an outstanding platform for the future large-scale Phase 2 facility with a planned production capacity of more than 8 times the current facility. By implementing the pilot phase development of these separate elements, the company aims to take advantage of the burgeoning technology metals market by fast tracking the by-product streams into production.
“We are encouraged by the rapid progress on our metallurgical test work programme in support of our goal of becoming a major player in the tech-metal mining sector."
Lithium oxide at Uis occurs primarily as the mineral petalite in the ore which is treated by the current processing facility. The test work achieved petalite concentrate grades in excess of 4% lithium oxide, the minimum level for technical grade petalite concentrate.
The low contaminant levels of technical grade petalite make it suitable for the glass and ceramics market, the company said, adding that it is also investigating possible offtake routes in the battery materials market.
Tantalum at Uis is currently recovered as part of the tin concentrate and the company does not receive a credit for the contained tantalum within the tin concentrate.
The test work produced a high-grade, saleable specification tantalum concentrate above 24% tantalum oxide. Based on the results, AfriTin will proceed with the construction of a pilot beneficiation circuit to further process the currently produced tin concentrate. The circuit will cost an estimated £0.3mln and will also be funded from existing cash reserves.