Tin and tantalum successes, lithium to follow

Andrada Mining has reported increases in ore processed to 237 976 tonnes for the first quarter of the financial year. The company further announced that tin concentrate is up to 364 tonnes, contained tin up to 223 tonnes and plant availability increased to 93%, while nine tonnes of saleable tantalum concentrate was produced, a 14% increase from the previous comparable quarter.

Already five tonnes of tantalum were shipped to AfriMet during the quarter per the offtake agreement, the company said. The year-on-year increase in realised tin price from US$25 149 to US$30 839 per tonne of contained tin has added to its commercial success.

CEO Anthony Viljoen said the company is "ideally positioned to capitalise on the tin price rally that began in April this year".

"Despite the plant outages during the quarter, I am pleased to confirm that all the issues were resolved and will not repeat in the future. We successfully produced and delivered our first five-tonne consignment of tantalum to AfriMet during the quarter, with the second consignment produced and targeted for shipment in the second quarter. This is an important milestone for the company that places us firmly on the path to becoming a multi-mineral producer of critical metals. We look forward to a continuation of this supply agreement," he said.



Expansion of scope

“Given the diversity of the minerals within our mining licences, we have broadened the scope of our strategic process beyond just the Uis mining licence. The expansion of the scope has the potential to unlock multiple partnership opportunities across our portfolio of assets. This process is progressing well,” Viljoen elaborated.

In terms of tin, ore processed increased by 10% compared to last year, but remained at 238 kilotonnes due to plant outages from a malfunction in the ore preparation section. Meanwhile, the pre-concentration circuit expansion continues with XRT ore sorters from Tomra and a crusher circuit from Metso expected later this year, the company said. Construction of the pre-concentration circuit is targeted for completion early in 2025 with commissioning commencing in April next year, Andrada added.

Development of the lithium pilot plant has paved the way for integration into the existing tin processing plant. Studies on the integration of the lithium circuit are underway, Viljoen noted.

Approximately nine tonnes of tantalum concentrate were produced during the quarter, the company said, adding that it received a 90% provisional payment from AfriMet for its five-tonne consignment.

The lithium pilot plant has been primarily utilised for bulk sampling campaigns, and there has been limited commercial production during the quarter, it added.