TIDMATM
RNS Number : 5940K
AfriTin Mining Ltd
22 December 2022
22 December 2022
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 (MAR) as in force in
the United Kingdom pursuant to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018. Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory
Information Service (RIS), this inside information is now
considered to be in the public domain.
AfriTin Mining Limited
("AfriTin" or the "Company")
Quarterly Production Update
Record Production During November 2022 Following Plant
Expansion
AfriTin Mining Limited (AIM: ATM), an African technology metals
mining company with a portfolio of mining and exploration assets in
Namibia, provides an unaudited quarterly production update for the
Uis Mine ("Uis") for the third quarter ("Q3") ending 30 November
2022 of the 2023 Financial Year ("FY2023")*.
Highlights:
-- Commissioning of the expanded crushing and tin concentrating
circuits completed during October 2022;
-- Record tin production of 88 tonnes of concentrate (53 tonnes
of tin contained) achieved during November 2022, equal to 88% of
the expanded nameplate production capacity of 100 tonnes of
concentrate per month;
-- Operating unit cost for November 2022 was 14% lower than
average monthly unit cost for H1 FY2023 ending 31 August 2022;
-- Production ramp-up on track for completion by end of January 2023; and
-- Lithium pilot plant and tantalum separation circuit under
construction and on track for commissioning in Q2 2023.
Anthony Viljoen (CEO) commented:
"We are extremely pleased with the production ramp-up
performance of the expanded Uis Mine processing plant as evidenced
by the November 2022 production which exceeded the target by 20%.
We believe the expanded production capacity will significantly
increase revenue and reduce unit costs, thereby improving the
margin and sustainability of the operation.
In addition, the Company is fast tracking the development of
separate lithium and tantalum products alongside its existing tin
production, with both a lithium pilot and a tantalum separation
circuit under construction. We look forward to realising the full
polymetallic potential of the Uis deposit."
Production Ramp-up
Commissioning of the Uis Phase 1 Expansion Project ("the
Project"), a modular expansion of the current processing plant, was
completed in October 2022 and announced on 7 November 2022. The
Project targets an increase in production at Uis from approximately
780 tonnes per annum ("tpa") to 1200 tpa tin concentrate (470 tpa
and 720 tpa tin contained in concentrate respectively). The
production ramp-up period is estimated to last for 3 months, from
November 2022 to January 2023.
During November 2022, the first month of production following
commissioning, the ramp-up target was exceeded by 20% (88 tonnes of
tin concentrate vs a target of 73 tonnes). The production of 88
tonnes of tin concentrate (containing 53 tonnes of tin) achieved
during November 2022 also represents a new monthly production
record.
Q3 Production Performance
Production during Q3 FY2023 was impacted by a planned 5-week
processing plant shutdown from 7 September 2022 to 13 October 2022,
which was required to complete the construction and commissioning
of the expanded crushing and tin concentrating circuits. This
resulted in a loss of approximately one third of the available
production time during the quarter under review. An average of 90
kt of ore was processed at an average processing rate of 107 tph
(excluding the plant shutdown period), resulting in a tin
concentrate production of 145 tonnes ( Table 1 ). The operating
unit cost for the quarter also rose concurrently with the lower
production volumes.
Management is, however, encouraged by the record production
achieved during November 2022, after commissioning of the plant
expansion ( Table 2 ). Compared to the monthly average performance
during H1 FY2023, the plant processing rate has increased by 17%,
ore processed has increased by 22%, tin concentrate production has
increased by 16%, and the operating unit cost has decreased by 14%
(unaudited). It is expected that these trends will continue as the
production ramp-up progresses.
Table 1 : QoQ (Q3 FY2023 vs Q2 FY2023) production and cost
performance of the Uis Mine.
Description Units FY2022 Actual Q1 FY2023 Q2 FY2023 Q3 FY2023 QoQ
Quarterly Actual Actual Actual Performance
Average (Mar (Mar 2022 - May (Jun 2022 - Aug (Sep 2022 - Nov (% Change)
2021 - Feb 2022) 2022) 2022)
2022)
Plant
Availability % 87 89 89 73 -18%
-------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- --------------
Plant
Utilisation % 79 78 69 63 -9%
-------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- --------------
Plant
Processing
Rate tph 92 99 100 107 7%
-------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- --------------
Ore Processed t 135,900 152,243 134,315 90,278 -33%
-------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- --------------
Feed Grade % Sn 0.147 0.149 0.145 0.140 -3%
-------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- --------------
Tin
Concentrate t 201 239 214 145 -32%
-------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- --------------
Tin Contained
in
Concentrate t 124 152 133 87 -35%
-------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- --------------
Tin Recovery % 62 67 69 68 -1%
-------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- --------------
Operating US$/t
Cost* for contained
Uis Tin Mine tin 25,209 20,989 25,245 33,207 32%
-------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- --------------
US$/t
AISC** for contained
Uis Tin Mine tin 27,515 23,526 29,282 38,570 32%
-------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- --------------
US$/t
Tin Price contained
Achieved tin 38,604 34,367 22,975 22,625 -2%
-------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- --------------
* Operating Cost (excludes sustaining capital expenditure
associated with developing and maintaining the Uis operation;
unaudited)
** AISC = All-In Sustaining Cost (incorporates all costs related
to sustaining production and in particular recognising the capital
expenditure associated with developing and maintaining the Uis
operation, including pre-stripping waste mining costs;
unaudited)
Production period includes a 5-week shutdown of the processing
plant from 7 September 2022 to 13 October 2022, which was required
to complete the construction and commissioning of the expanded
crushing and tin concentrating circuits.
Table 2 : Production and cost performance for November 2022
compared to the average monthly performance for the Uis Mine for H1
FY2023 ending 31 August 2022.
Description Units H1 FY2023 Actual Nov 2022 Actual Change in Monthly
Monthly Average Performance
(Mar 2022 - Aug 2022) (%)
Plant Availability % 89 91 2%
--------------------- ------------------------ ---------------- ------------------------
Plant Utilisation % 74 81 9%
--------------------- ------------------------ ---------------- ------------------------
Plant Processing Rate tph 100 117 17%
--------------------- ------------------------ ---------------- ------------------------
Ore Processed t 47,760 58,333 22%
--------------------- ------------------------ ---------------- ------------------------
Feed Grade % Sn 0.147 0.140 -5%
--------------------- ------------------------ ---------------- ------------------------
Tin Concentrate t 76 88 16%
--------------------- ------------------------ ---------------- ------------------------
Tin Contained in
Concentrate t 48 53 10%
--------------------- ------------------------ ---------------- ------------------------
Tin Recovery % 68 67 -1%
--------------------- ------------------------ ---------------- ------------------------
Operating Cost for Uis
Tin Mine US$/t contained tin 23,117 19,883 -14%
--------------------- ------------------------ ---------------- ------------------------
AISC for Uis Tin Mine US$/t contained tin 26,404 22,763 -14%
--------------------- ------------------------ ---------------- ------------------------
Lithium Pilot Plant and Tantalum Separation Circuit
As announced on 7 December 2022, a lithium pilot plant and
tantalum separation circuit are currently under construction. The
lithium pilot plant is intended to process bulk samples into a
lithium concentrate, with the aim of refining the process flow
design for lithium, as well as for offtake testing and development.
The tantalum separation circuit will be integrated with the
existing tin concentrating plant to produce a separate saleable
tantalum concentrate. Commissioning of both projects is scheduled
for Q2 2023.
Glossary of abbreviations
AISC All-in sustaining costs
FY Financial year
------------------------
k t K ilo tonnes
------------------------
M t M illion tonnes
------------------------
Q oQ Q uarter-on-quarter
------------------------
t Tonnes
------------------------
t ph T onnes per hour
------------------------
Glossary of Terms
Operating Costs Excludes sustaining capital expenditure associated with developing and maintaining
the Uis
operation (unaudited)
AISC = All-In Sustaining Cost Incorporates all costs related to sustaining production and in particular recognising
the
sustaining capital expenditure associated with developing and maintaining the Uis
operation,
including pre-stripping waste mining costs (unaudited)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The Company's Financial Year runs from March to February. All
reference to quarters applies to the financial year reporting
period, unless stated otherwise.
AfriTin Mining Limited +27 (11) 268 6555
Anthony Viljoen, CEO
Nominated Adviser +44 (0) 207 220 1666
WH Ireland Limited
Katy Mitchell
Corporate Advisor and Joint Broker
H&P Advisory Limited
Andrew Chubb
Jay Ashfield
Nilesh Patel +44 (0) 20 7907 8500
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited
Ashton Clanfield
Callum Stewart
Varun Talwar +44 (0) 20 7710 7600
Tavistock Financial PR (United Kingdom) +44 (0) 207 920 3150
Emily Moss
Catherine Drummond
Adam Baynes
About AfriTin Mining Limited
Notes to Editors
AfriTin Mining Limited is a London-listed technology metals
mining company with a vision to create a portfolio of globally
significant, conflict-free, producing and exploration assets. The
Company's flagship asset is the Uis Tin Mine in Namibia, formerly
the world's largest hard-rock open cast tin mine.
AfriTin is managed by an experienced board of directors and
management team with a current strategy to ramp-up production at
the Uis Mine in Namibia to more than 10,000 tonnes of tin
concentrate and 350,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate in a Phase 2
expansion, having reached Phase 1 commercial production in 2020.
The Company strives to capitalise on the solid supply/demand
fundamentals of tin and lithium by developing a critical mass of
resource inventory, achieving production in the near term and
further scaling production by consolidating assets in Africa.
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