The information contained within this announcement is deemed
by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 (MAR) as in force in
the United Kingdom pursuant to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018. Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory
Information Service (RIS), this inside information will be in the
public domain.
Andrada Mining Limited
("Andrada" or the "Company")
Operational update for the
period ended 29 February 2024.
54% increase in tin concentrate
production to 1 474 tonnes.
Andrada Mining Limited (AIM: ATM, OTCQB: ATMTF), the African
technology metals mining company with a portfolio of mining and
exploration assets in Namibia, hereby provides an unaudited
operational update for the 12 months ended 29 February 2024
("FY2024").
HIGHLIGHTS
Operations
§ 60%
year-on-year ("YoY")
increase in ore processed to 915 599 tonnes (FY2023:
573 818 tonnes).
§ 54% YoY
increase in tin concentrate production to 1 474 tonnes
(FY2023: 960 tonnes).
§ 51% YoY
increase in contained tin production to 885 tonnes (FY2023: 587
tonnes).
§ Plant
availability increased to 91% in FY2024 (FY2023: 87%).
§ Tin
recovery increased to 72% in FY2024 (FY2023: 69%).
§ Production
of five tonnes of saleable tantalum concentrate.
§ Production
of 40 tonnes saleable lithium concentrate.
Financial
§
Average C1¹ operating cash cost compared to
management guidance of between
USD 17 000 and USD 20 000 per tonne of
contained tin:
- FY2024 at USD
17 640 was within guidance.
- 14% decrease in C1
costs quarter-on-quarter ("QoQ").
§
Average C2² operating cash cost compared to
management guidance of between
USD 20 000 and USD 25 000 per tonne of contained
tin:
- FY2024 at USD 20
173 was within guidance.
- 12% decrease in C2
QoQ.
§
All-in sustaining cost ("AISC") compared to management
guidance of between
USD 25 000 and USD 30 000 per tonne of
contained tin:
- FY2024 at USD 26
223 was within guidance.
- 13% decrease in
AISC QoQ.
§
The Company will provide updated guidance in the
Q1FY2025 operational update.
§
Unaudited cash balance on 29 February 2024 of GBP
17.5 million (USD 22.2 million).
Strategic Process
§ Indicative, non-binding offers received for a partnership
interest at the project level.
§ Discussions with potential partners are progressing
well.
Anthony Viljoen, Chief Executive
Officer, commented:
"It pleases
me that the strategic operational initiatives that we embarked on
have been successful and yielded the further double-digit
percentage increases in production tonnage at our operations that
we are presenting today. Although the higher stripping resulted in
an increase in the AISC during the year, the exposure of the
orebody's grade, diversity of minerals including lithium, and scale
at depth according to our geological model, will start to become
glaringly apparent placing the operations in a robust position to
capitalise on the rebound in the commodities markets for all our
products."
OPERATIONAL review
Table 1: Uis Mine unaudited TIN
production and cost performance
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Feed grade
|
% Sn
|
0.151
|
0.161
|
0.141
|
0.137
|
0.148
|
0.148
|
0%
|
-3%
|
Plant processing
rate
|
tonnes per
hour
|
135
|
138
|
138
|
137
|
137
|
106
|
29%
|
-1%
|
Ore
processed
|
tonnes
|
217
189
|
232
154
|
228
234
|
238 022
|
915 599
|
573
818
|
60%
|
4%
|
Tin
concentrate
|
tonnes
|
359
|
398
|
346
|
371
|
1 474
|
960
|
54%
|
7%
|
Contained
tin
|
tonnes
|
216
|
238
|
202
|
231
|
885
|
587
|
51%
|
14%
|
Tin
recovery*
|
%
|
70
|
67
|
66
|
72
|
69
|
68
|
1%
|
9%
|
Plant
availability
|
%
|
91
|
92
|
89
|
89
|
91
|
87
|
5%
|
0%
|
Plant
utilisation
|
%
|
79
|
83
|
86
|
89
|
84
|
66
|
27%
|
4%
|
Uis mine C1 operating
cost¹
|
USD/t contained
tin
|
15
741
|
19
560
|
18
917
|
16 273
|
17 640
|
19
762
|
-11%
|
-14%
|
Uis mine C2 operating
cost²
|
USD/t contained
tin
|
18
235
|
22
252
|
21
386
|
18 775
|
20 173
|
22
287
|
-9%
|
-12%
|
Uis mine
AISC³
|
USD/t contained
tin
|
21
377
|
26
671
|
30
452
|
26 616
|
26 223
|
24
939
|
5%
|
-13%
|
Tin price
achieved
|
USD/t contained
tin
|
25
149
|
25
183
|
24
749
|
26 125
|
25 593
|
25
051
|
2%
|
6%
|
C1¹ refers to operating cash
cost per unit of production excluding selling expenses
and sustaining capital expenditure associated with Uis
Mine.
C2² operating cash cost is C1
plus selling expenses including logistics, smelting and
royalties.
All-in sustaining cost³
incorporates all costs related to sustaining production; capital
expenditure associated with developing and maintaining the Uis
operation as well as pre-stripping waste mining
costs.
*Tin recovery includes
stockpiles.
TIN
Review of performance
Ore processed increased by 60% to
915 599 tonnes and the plant processing rate increased by 29%
YoY to 137tph, all due to the plant expansion in FY2023 and the
preliminary impact of the Continuous Improvement 2 programme
("CI2"). Annual tin
concentrate production increased by 54% to 1 474 tonnes
(FY2023: 960 tonnes) resulting in a 51% increase in contained tin to 885
tonnes (FY2023: 587 tonnes)
YoY.
Contained tin tonnage produced in Q4
increased by 14%, a higher rate than the 7% increase in tin
concentrate, due to tantalum concentrate separation. The extraction
of tantalum resulted in an increase in tin concentrate grade by 16%
between December 2023 and February 2024.
Production expansion plan
The Company is implementing a
production expansion project at the existing tin processing plant
to 2 600 tpa (or 1 600 tpa of tin metal) in line with the Orion tin
royalty requirements. The production expansion will be facilitated
through the installation of a pre-concentration circuit that
incorporates ore-sorters.
The net effect of the ore-sorters is
expected to be an increase of approximately 50% in the tin content
to the wet processing plant. The CI2 will
augment the pre-concentration circuit, enabling plant production to
reach the targeted run-rate by April 2025. Commissioning of the pre-concentration circuit is planned for
the first quarter of 2025. This expansion
is anticipated to increase revenue by up to 75% and to reduce the
AISC. (See announcement dated 12 March
2024).
TANTALUM
Optimisation of the circuit has been
completed, and 7.4 tonnes of tantalum concentrate were produced
during Q4. The current concentrate production rate is 48tpa and is
expected to increase to approximately 83tpa after implementation of
the ore-sorting facility. The Company is on track to supply
tantalum to AfriMet on a quarterly basis, commencing March 2024.
The revenue from the tantalum concentrate is anticipated to
increase total group revenue by between 3% and 5%.
(See
announcement dated 12 March 2024).
LITHIUM
Lithium Pilot Plant
Approximately 40 tonnes of saleable,
technical-grade lithium concentrate was produced and stockpiled by
the end of the reporting period. The production rate is expected to
increase to 100 tonnes per month by the end of March 2024. Internal
test work confirms that this technical-grade material meets the
specifications for the glass-ceramics market, and Andrada is
exploring additional offtake agreements with both industrial and
battery chemical markets.
FINANCial
All unit costs were at the lower
level of management guidance for the full year. Furthermore, all
the costs decreased by double digit percentage points in Q4 due to
higher tonnages and enhanced efficiencies as the Company implements
the CI2 programme. AISC declined from USD30 452 per tonne in Q3 to
USD26 616 in Q4, mainly due to the decrease in the stripping ratio
from 4.51 at the end of November 2023 to 3.21 at the end of
February 2024. The unaudited cash balance
on 29 February 2024 was GBP 17.5million
(USD 22.2 million).
STRATEGIC PROCESS
Since the launch of the Strategic
Process to identify an appropriate partner for the lithium
development, leading international organisations within the lithium
value chain have visited the Company's assets in Namibia, have
conducted mineralogical test work, and have implemented detailed
due diligence. Andrada has narrowed down
the various non-binding indicative offers that have been received
to date and discussions are ongoing with the objective of
progressing to final binding bids.
The Company is encouraged by the
keen interest that has been shown and will work expeditiously to
make a value-accretive decision for its shareholders. The Company
will keep the market updated as matters progress.
Glossary of abbreviations
AISC
|
All In
Sustaining Cost
|
CY
|
Calendar
year for the 12 months ending December
|
CI2
|
Continuous
Improvement 2 programme
|
FY
|
Financial
year for the 12 months ending March
|
GBP
|
British
pound sterling
|
NAD
|
Namibian
dollar
|
Q3
|
Third
quarter ending November
|
Q4
|
Fourth
quarter ending February
|
USD
|
United
States dollar
|
CONTACT
|
|
ANDRADA MINING
LIMITED
|
|
Anthony
Viljoen, CEO
Sakhile
Ndlovu, Investor Relations
|
+27 (11)
268 6555
investorrelations@andradamining.com
|
|
|
NOMINATED
ADVISOR
|
|
WH Ireland
Limited
Katy
Mitchell
|
+44 (0) 207
220 1666
|
|
|
CORPORATE BROKER &
ADVISOR
|
|
H&P Advisory
Limited
Andrew
Chubb
Jay
Ashfield
Matt
Hasson
|
+44 (0) 20
7907 8500
|
|
|
Berenberg
Jennifer
Lee
Natasha
Ninkov
|
+44 (0) 20
3753 3040
|
|
|
WHI Capital
Markets
Harry
Ansell
|
+44 (0) 20
7220 1670
|
|
|
FINANCIAL PUBLIC
RELATIONS
|
|
Tavistock (United
Kingdom)
Jos
Simson
Catherine
Drummond
Adam
Baynes
|
+44 (0) 207
920 3150
andrada@tavistock.co.uk
|
About Andrada Mining Limited
Andrada Mining Limited, formerly
Afritin Mining Limited, is a London-listed technology metals mining
company with a vision to create a portfolio of globally
significant, conflict-free, production and exploration assets. The
Company's flagship asset is the Uis Mine in Namibia, formerly the
world's largest hard-rock open cast tin mine.
An exploration drilling programme is currently underway with the aim of
expanding the tin resource over the fourteen additional,
historically mined pegmatites that occur within a 5 km radius of
the current processing plant. The Company has set a mineral
resource target of 200 Mt to be delineated within the next 5
years. The existing mine, together with its
substantial mineral resource potential, allows the Company to
consider economies of scale.
Andrada is managed by a board of
directors with broad industry knowledge and a management team with
extensive commercial and technical skills. Furthermore, the Company
is committed to the sustainable development of its operations and
the growth of its business. This is demonstrated by the way the
leadership team places significant emphasis on creating value for
the wider community, investors, and other key stakeholders. Andrada
has established an environmental, social and governance system that
has been implemented at all levels of the Company and aligns with
international standards.