Andrada Mining Reports Strong Quarter as Tin Production Rises and Namibia Projects Advance
Andrada Mining Boosts Tin Production and Advances Lithium and Tungsten Projects in Namibia
Aim-listed Andrada Mining has reported a strong first quarter ended May 31, with increased tin production at its Uis mine, positive exploration results at Lithium Ridge and further development progress across its Namibian portfolio.
At the Uis tin mine in Namibia, quarterly tin production increased by 20% to 286 tonnes, while tin concentrate production rose by 16% to 473 tonnes.
The company attributed the improvement to ongoing processing plant upgrades and improved mining performance.
Andrada CEO Anthony Viljoen said continued optimisation of the beneficiation plant and improved understanding of the orebody had helped drive production gains, with further improvements expected following the completion of an ore-sorting programme.
“Once we’ve got the ore sorters in and finished the ore sorting programme, we should see another jump in production,” Viljoen said, adding that Uis has the potential to become a long-life operation.
Lithium and Brandberg West projects progress
At the Lithium Ridge project, drilling has been completed with 16 500 m drilled across 143 holes. Assay results are still being processed and are expected to be finalised during the third quarter.
Early results have identified high-grade lithium oxide intersections of up to 3.46% from near-surface zones, along with significant tin and tantalum mineralisation.
Lithium Ridge is being advanced through a joint venture with Chilean mining company Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM), with further drilling and metallurgical testwork planned to accelerate feasibility studies.
Viljoen said the company believes the project has strong resource potential but requires additional technical work to define a development pathway.
At the Brandberg West project, Andrada has started an extensive drilling and metallurgical testwork programme.
Early studies indicate that ore sorting could reduce ore mass by more than 90% while significantly upgrading grades, with improvements of up to seven times for tin, six times for tungsten and four times for copper.
The results could position Brandberg West as a potential low-capital-cost development opportunity, although Andrada is still evaluating the optimal development sequence between the project and Lithium Ridge.
Funding strengthens Uis expansion plans
Andrada has also secured strategic funding support for the expansion of Uis through conditional approval of a R98-million financing package from Bank Windhoek and the Development Bank of Namibia.
The proposed funding includes a 10-year loan structure with agreed periods for deferred capital repayments.
The company said its successful $11-million equity raise, aimed at accelerating Uis expansion projects, played a key role in securing the financing.
Viljoen said Andrada is in a strong position as a junior mining company, with three advanced assets, operating cash flows and funded development programmes.
“We are probably in the best position that any junior mining company could be with three assets, cash flows and fully financed development projects,” he said.
