AfriTin Mining said that it has started civil construction works on the processing plant of its Uis brownfield tin mine located in western Namibia.
Image: Uis is a brownfield tin mine located in Naminiba’s Erongo region. Photo: courtesy of Afritin.
The London-based tin mining company has appointed contractors to handle the phase 1 of the construction of plant civil works. Ino Invest, a Namibian construction and project management specialist, has been picked as the civil works contractor following a comprehensive tender process, said AfriTin Mining.
Phase 1 of the processing plant has been designed to process 500,000 tonnes per annum.
The civil works to be carried out will include construction of platforms and earthworks, upgrading and re-alignment of access and plant roads, run-of-mine tip retaining wall, bulk infrastructure; and internal plant infrastructure.
AfriTin Mining CEO Anthony Viljoen said: “I am very pleased to announce this appointment, signalling the beginning of mine construction, in what is another positive step in ensuring that planned production remains on track for commencement H2 2018. The appointment of local contractors attests to our commitment towards establishing Uis as a proudly Namibian operation.
“We are confident in the contractor’s ability to execute on the project and we look forward to construction commencing in the very near future.”
The company is targeting completion of construction during the third quarter of this year.
The Uis tin project is made up of three project areas in the Erongo region, with all of them having historical production.
According to AfriTin Mining, the subject of the mining project is a pegmatite-hosted tin deposit, which it says is one of the largest open castable deposits of its kind.
Discovered in 1911, the Uis asset was developed by South Africa-based Iscor into a hard-rock tin mine. Production from the tin mine commenced in the 1950s and ceased in 1990 following declining tin prices.
AfriTin Mining claimed that the project areas of the Uis mine are fully permittedes and provide near-term production with low stripping ratios.