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Andrada Mining, a producer of tin, tantalum, and lithium for the green energy transition, is setting its sights on opening more mines in Namibia.
“We have always been quite bullish on Namibia, not only as an investment location but also because of its extraordinary geology,” said Andrada CEO Anthony Viljoen.
He highlighted the mineral-rich Erongo area, saying it “blessed with an abundance of phenomenal geology.” Reflecting on the company’s early days of exploration in the region, Viljoen remarked, “When we started exploring, we concentrated on past mining activities. We are now happy that our efforts in Namibia’s mining industry are beginning to show.
Andrada intends to increase its presence in the nation going forward in order to be a major participant in the worldwide critical minerals sector.
Operating from Johannesburg’s Illovo area, the Guernsey-headquartered firm listed on London’s AIM and the U.S. based OTCQB runs Andrada is also working on a lithium cooperation with SQM (Sociedad Química y Minera), a New York-listed Chilean mining corporation and one of the world’s top lithium producers, also located in Illovo.
Viljoen remarked, “SQM is a significant player in world lithium.” We are jointly starting a strong drive to increase the resource at Lithium Ridge. We hope this will be our second project to enter production.
At Andrada’s flagship Uis mine, work goes on in the interim to release lithium’s potential as a useful by-product of current tin activities. A lot of effort has gone into examining how we might include lithium into our circuit. What is coming excites us; shortly we will be able to inform the market of our intentions.
While Andrada is negotiating with its present funders to increase Uis operations instead of building a new, independent facility, SQM has pledged up to $40 million to move Lithium Ridge to a conclusive feasibility study phase.
Regarding the progress of a second tin processing jig facility, Viljoen remarked, “That’s been an intriguing extra to our Uis activities. Uis was historically the largest hard-rock opencast tin mine in the world. Beyond our present pit, we see genuine promise in reviving numerous nearby pits Iscor mined decades ago.
He said that the larger area is geologically rich in tin, which would allow Andrada to establish a secondary production line at the current Uis facility without interfering with its primary activities.
Andrada has also advanced using tantalum. Viljoen remarked, “It’s going really well.” Monthly shipments have begun, and given its presence with tin in the concentrate, it is already adding to our income. It clearly highlights the polymetallic strength of this orebody.
Andrada said in April that first drilling in previously mined areas surrounding Uis verified the degree and grade of pegmatites within a 3-km radius of the current processing plant. The findings, which showed crossovers of tin, lithium oxide, and tantalum, underline the possibility to improve tin production while also getting useful co-products.
This came after Andrada’s February declaration that the company had obtained a $2.5 million loan to build a second 100-ton-per-hour tin production. The facility will include a three-stage crushing and screening circuit, a jigging section, and shaking tables designed to handle a wide range of ore grades across the Erongo region.
Exploration at Lithium Ridge has shown ongoing mineralisation of lithium, tin, and tantalum across a 6-km stretch. Andrada may now fast-track exploratory initiatives with SQM on board. Roughly 3,300 hectares make up the project, which runs the NaiNais-Kohero pegmatite belt, where spodumene one of the most sought-after lithium-bearing minerals is prominent.
