Aim- and OTCQB-listed Andrada Mining has announced that its inaugural drilling programme at the historical Brandberg West mine has intersected mineralisation containing tin, tungsten and copper, the primary metals of interest.

The mine is located within the EPL 5445 exploration licence, in Namibia.

The purpose of the drilling programme was to provide an initial assessment of the grade potential and geology in the historical openpit area and explore the potential mineralisation of northern extensions.

The reported results consist of the first set of samples from the 20 holes drilled, covering ten of those holes.

Significant intersections include results from drill hole AT3 10, which showed 0.86 m at 0.15% tin, 2.42% tungsten and 0.46% copper from a depth of 30.55 m to 31.41 m. Another intersection from the same hole revealed 2.88 m at 0.78% tin, 2.65% tungsten and 0.80% copper from 65.28 m to 68.16 m.

Similar mineralisation was encountered in several other drill holes, including AT3 21, which recorded 1.68 m at 0.62% tin, 0.93% tungsten and 0.73% copper from a depth of 46.56 m to 48.24 m, and AT3 03, where one intersection measured 1.22 m at 0.95% tin, 1.15% tungsten and 0.99% copper from 10.02 m to 11.24 m.

"The Brandberg West project's initial drilling results are highly encouraging. These intersections, with grades of up to 4% for tin, over 2% for tungsten and typically 0.5% to 2% for copper, underscore the licence's commercial potential.

“Notably, Brandberg West expands Andrada's portfolio of critical metals to include tungsten and copper. This reinforces the company's belief that the Erongo region, in Namibia is a promising mineral-rich area with substantial inventory to support our key objective to grow the resource base," Andrada CEO Anthony Viljoen said on September 12.

The Brandberg West project, located in the Erongo region, is about 100 km from the Uis tin mine, which is Andrada's flagship asset.

The historical openpit mine was previously owned by Gold Fields, ceasing operations in the 1980s following a global collapse in tin prices. During its operation, the mine produced tin and tungsten concentrates, with secondary copper being reported but not concentrated or sold.

The mineralisation occurs in multiple quartz veins, which trend both east-west and northwest-southeast, and are primarily subvertical. These veins are hosted by the metasediments of the Zebraputs formation, with a marble unit overlaying the formation, acting as a barrier to mineralising fluids.

The current exploration programme comprises 20 diamond drill holes, resulting in a total of 2 975 m drilled.

The primary aim of the programme is to investigate the continuity and metal endowment of quartz veins within the historical pit, as well as potential mineralised extensions to the north.

All holes were drilled at 60º or 45º angles to target the steeply dipping mineralised veins. The company clarified that the intersections should be considered apparent widths, as they were greater than true widths owing to the non-perpendicular angles of intersection.

In addition to tin, tungsten and copper, some samples from the drill programme indicate anomalous concentrations of silver and gallium.

Andrada said that it would further investigate the economic potential of these metals as the project advanced.

The results of this drilling programme will be used to update the geological model, forming the basis for any future exploration activities.