AfriTin Mining Ltd (LON:ATM) produced 194.5 tonnes of tin concentrate from its Uis mine in Namibia in the fourth quarter to end February 2021, representing a 28% quarterly increase compared with the previous quarter, and exceeding the 180 tonnes production target.
Total production for the 2021 financial year amounted to 473 tonnes of tin concentrate.
AfriTin is committed to further optimisation and expansion of the operation. The company plans to develop a modular expansion of the pilot plant, and production of by-products in the form of tantalum and lithium concentrates.
The company is currently conducting test work to investigate the feasibility of magnetically separating tantalum minerals from the tin concentrate and will update the market with the results of this test work in due course.
"After reaching nameplate capacity in November 2020, the team at AfriTin continues to optimise and develop our flagship asset, the Uis tin mine,” said Anthony Viljoen, chief executive of AfriTin.
“We are delighted to release our first quarterly production update and demonstrate that the company is operating 108% beyond our production targets for Stage I. Our work is far from complete as we look to incrementally expand our processing plant and bring additional concentrate streams online. Our positive production results have coincided with a strong tin price. The LME three-month tin price hit its 10-year high in February 2021 after unprecedented turbulence, triggered by low stocks with no sign of relief from a constrained physical supply chain."