London Aim-listed tin, tantalum, and now lithium mining company, Andrada, which operates the Uis mine, says Namibia is the best jurisdiction in Africa in which to mine.
“Namibia is an attractive stock. I’m a miner, not a politician, but I can tell you that Namibia is a very favorable place for our investments. I can’t say enough good things about being invested in Namibia, and Namibia’s geology is absolutely fascinating, particularly the Erongo region,” said Andrada Mining CEO Anthony Viljoen told the Junior Indaba.
Viljoen mentioned that the country ranked at the top when the company initially pursued tin-mining opportunities.
He explained, “You’ve got these pegmatite belts, which are not uncommon. But these pegmatite belts are quite unique in Namibia in that they run for hundreds of kilometers, east and west, and they extend all the way up and down the coast. Namibia’s pegmatite belts are incredibly long and thick, measuring hundreds of meters. When we acquired the licenses, we focused on the old license areas because of the abundance of geological data. The largest of those old mining areas was the old Uis tin mine, which was once an Iscor asset.”
Viljoen’s statement coincides with the Annual Survey of Mining Companies released by the Fraser Institute, which ranks Namibia 6th out of the 16 African jurisdictions surveyed in terms of overall investment attractiveness.
The Investment Attractiveness Index measures a country’s competitiveness and combines the Policy Perception Index and the Best Practices Mineral Potential Index. The Policy Perception Index carries a weighting of 40%, while the Best Practices Mineral Index carries a weighting of 60%.
Namibia’s Investment Attractiveness Index score increased due to improvements in the Best Practices Mineral Potential Index, which rose by 12 points from 37 in 2021 to 53 in 2022.
In 2022, Namibia experienced a 12% increase in exploration expenditure in real terms, driven by the discovery and active exploration of minerals such as lithium, uranium, and gold.
Andrada Mining expects to complete its lithium bulk-testing pilot facility in June and anticipates increased tin production in 2023 as a result of the plant expansion.
Lithium is projected to be in high demand from 2025, with an expected value of N$13.9 billion, which could boost the country’s export earnings and revenue, according to a research firm.
According to projections from Simonis Storm, lithium is expected to contribute N$4.6 billion in revenue to the government in the extreme case and N$1.7 billion in the conservative case.
