JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The commissioning of the first phase of the tin expansion project at the Uis mine in Namibia is complete, AfriTin Mining said on Monday.

Appealingly, lithium and tantalum will also be extracted from the processing streams.

“The beneficiation plant is performing well, and the production ramp-up from pre-expansion levels is going according to plan,” London Aim-quoted AfriTin CEO Anthony Viljoen stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

AfriTin is developing its business aspirations in Namibia by:

• expanding its mineral resource base;
• expanding its production volume and product portfolio; and
• focusing on the supply of metals to the technology and renewable energy sectors.

An infill exploration programme in progress aims to improve the geological confidence of the present lithium and tantalum mineral resource estimates.

To produce a saleable tantalum concentrate, further expansion of the plant has been initiated and successful bench scale tests for the production of lithium concentrate will be followed by the construction of a lithium pilot plant.

Increased plant throughput is also expected to benefit the ultimate production of lithium and tantalum by-products, as these minerals are present in the same ore stream as the tin.

Being investigated is the suitability of sensor-based ore sorting, which has the potential to double or treble ore throughput.

The first-phase expansion project targets lifting production from 780 t/y – involving 470 t/y of tin in concentrate – to 1 200 t/y  – involving 720 t/y of tin in concentrate.

Forming part of the project’s scope is modular expansion of the processing plant’s crushing and screening circuits, as well as construction of stockpile for ore fines.

Dry plant expansion allows for the feed rate of ore to the plant to be increased by roughly 50%, with the stockpile providing buffer capacity for greater plant utilisation.

The C4 commissioning certificate, which has been issued by independent mineral processing consultancy Consulmet, is indicative of the entire system being fully operational.