AfriTin Mining believes that its Uis mine could host one of the largest lithium resources globally.
This was after initial assay results from a lithium and tantalum drilling programme at its Uis mine produced grades surpassing the company’s expectations.
AfriTin CEO Anthony Viljoen said the drilling results reinforce the company’s belief that Uis mine has one of the largest lithium resources in the world.
The assay results are for the first four holes drilled, with pegmatite intersected in all holes at depths and apparent widths as predicted by the geological model. The programme comprises about 50 holes, with drilling for 27 holes having been completed thus far.
“As a former mining operation, Uis has been extensively drilled but historic assaying has focused solely on the tin with no regard for the lithium or tantalum in the deposit,” said Viljoen.
“This programme will increase the confidence of the current lithium and tantalum estimates and is part of our strategy to bring these two commodities into production alongside our tin operation.”
A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the Phase 2 expansion of the mine, announced in April, “highlighted the economic potential of these by-product elements which are game changing”, Viljoen added.
“The construction of a new lithium pilot plant will allow us to progress to commercial production phases much faster than a new greenfield lithium resource elsewhere.”
The announcement by the listed metals mining company comes after it announced in May that metallurgical test work results showed the successful production of a petalite lithium concentrate at Uis Tin Mine.
The petalite concentrate is used in the manufacture of premium glass and ceramics manufacturers, and is suitable feedstock for battery-grade lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide converters.
AfriTin plans to set up a lithium pilot plant at Uis before the end of the year.
The miner has already appointed South African company, Consulmet, as the Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management contractor for designing and constructing a 20 tonnes per hour pilot plant at Uis, with a target commissioning date in Q4 2022.
The lithium resource is contained within the currently mined orebody, and the lithium concentrate will be a by-product to existing tin concentrate.
AfriTin is aiming for a full-scale integrated lithium beneficiation circuit to be implemented in 2024.
