JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – An internal review has shown the potential extraction of lithium as an additional revenue stream along with tantalum, London Aim-listed tin mining company AfriTin announced on Tuesday.

The London Aim-listed company's fourth shipment of tin concentrate was dispatched this month.

Providing an operational update and a first phase review of the company’s Uis tin mine in Namibia, AfriTin CEO Anthony Viljoen stated that the internal review should also see increased production capacity.

“We’re working hard to optimise the pilot plant,” he said.

Mining Weekly can report that phase 1 of the pilot plant is designed to deliver early positive cash flows, while demonstrating the feasibility of a much larger second phase mine development on Uis’ multi-commodity deposit.

AfriTin stated in a media release that the results of the internal financial model indicated that the plant, with a few modifications, had the capability and potential of producing a 60% internal rate of return (IRR) and a net present value  (NPV) of $122-million for all stages of phase 1.

The increased IRR  and NPV potential, the company stated, had been calculated on the basis of 50% increased production capacity and improved recoveries beyond initial design capacity.

The long-term focus of ramping up phase 2 and ultimately being responsible for 1% of global tin supply was reiterated as mining operations returned fully after the easing of Covid-19 lockdown measures in Namibia and the strict Covid-19 mitigation measures that had been implemented across the company to safeguard the workforce.

Delayed phase 1 pilot plant throughput had, the company said, increased steadily month-on-month and optimisation work had resumed to reach design capacity.

Further expansion of tin and tantalum concentrate production had been achieved and lithium ore was being processed to generate a new by-product revenue stream.

Uis’ compliant mineral resource has 95 539 t of tin, 6 091 t of tantalum and 450 265 t of lithium oxide.