Andrada Mining’s flagship Uis mine in Namibia has received a boost following the company’s updated mineral resource estimate (MRE).
A 7000m drilling campaign in 2022 aimed to expand the main V1/V2 pegmatite deposit at the mine and increase its lithium resource.
The effort was a success, with the average lithium grade rising from 0.63% lithium oxide to 0.73% lithium oxide, and the total contained lithium oxide resource increasing by 30% to 587,000 tonnes, or 1.45 million tonnes in lithium carbonate equivalent.
“The drilling programme has exceeded our expectations, delivering higher grades, and has increased the overall tonnage by 13% when compared to the previous resource estimate of 2019, [as well as] 30% more contained lithium,” said Andrada CEO Anthony Viljoen.
The updated MRE for the V1/V2 deposit was upgraded to a measured and indicated classification due to infill drilling, resulting in an increase of 47% to 38 million tonnes.
The updated resource estimate also revealed a rise in the average grade of tin at Uis, which now stands at 0.15%, and a contained tin metal content of 120,000 tonnes. Andrada also declared a maiden rubidium resource with a contained total of 109,400 tonnes at an average grade of 0.14%.
Viljoen stated that this updated MRE will increase the economics for Andrada and form the basis for the next phase of expansion and growth for the Uis mine.
“The next phase of exploration will investigate the other proximal pegmatites at Uis with the end goal of repeating this process and ultimately expanding the resource at Uis to achieve the exploration target of 200 million tonnes,” he said.
The updated MRE confirms Andrada’s belief that the Uis mine is a globally significant lithium and tin resource with untapped potential, and will pave the way for further growth and expansion for the company.
