Modern Mining January 2021

TIN

Uis Tin Mine – a jewel in the African In the face of challenging operational conditions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Namibian-based Uis Tin Mine, in line with its projections, defied the odds to achieve nameplate tin concentrate production of 63,9 tonnes before the end of 2020. The milestone, CEO Anthony Viljoen tells Modern Mining, speaks volumes of the capabilities of the AfriTin Mining Limited team and the high quality nature of the asset. By Munesu Shoko .

D espite the COVID-19 influenced operational challenges, AfriTin Mining Limited (AIM: ATM), a tin mining company with a portfolio of assets in Namibia and South Africa, achieved its tar- geted production milestone at its flagship asset, the Uis Tin Mine in Namibia, at the end of 2020. CEO Anthony Viljoen confirms that nameplate tin concentrate production and completion of produc- tion ramp-up for Stage I of Phase 1 were successfully achieved during November 2020. “We are pleased to report that we have successfully completed Stage I of our Phase 1 production ramp-up of our pilot mining and processing facility, achieving 63,9 tonnes (t) of tin concentrate (containing 41,6 t of tin metal) during the month of November, a 32% improvement on the previous month,” he says. The production level achieved in November 2020 represents approximately 107% of the Stage I target in terms of tin concentrate tonnes produced and 116% of the Stage I target in terms of tin contained in concentrate. At the time of writ- ing, the tin concentrate production for the year to

Anthony Viljoen, CEO of AfriTin Mining Limited.

November 2020 had totalled 301 t. Commenting on the key to achieving the mile- stone, Viljoen tells Modern Mining that when AfriTin was floated, the company assembled a world class team of engineers capable of delivering the Uis proj- ect. It is a credit to their hard work, he says, that the company has now achieved the milestone. Overall, AfriTin has also found the ore body much easier to work with than expected, allowing for simpler extraction of tin.

The Phase 1 pilot processing plant is capable of processing 500 000 t of ore a year to produce 60 t of tin concentrate a month.

Top projects

14  MODERN MINING  January 2021