Andrada Mining Limited (AIM: ATM | OTCQB: ATMTF), has commenced an initial exploration programme for its Brandberg West exploration licence.
Anthony Viljoen, Chief executive officer, commented, “The exploration programme will enable us to determine the extent of the mineralization in and around the Brandberg West mine. The project provides an exciting opportunity for us to duplicate the development process we have successfully implemented at Uis, by taking it from an abandoned historical operation, into a fully-fledged producing mine.
The company’s Namibian exploration licence, EPL5445, is located 110km west of Andrada’s Uis Mine (ML134) within the mineral rich Erongo region of Namibia. The licence covers an area of 35,045ha and includes the Brandberg West mine which was owned and operated by the mining entity Gold Fields until closure in 1980. Historical reports indicate that over 12,000t of tin and tungsten concentrate were produced during the mine’s life, with peak production recorded at 1,249t in 1978.
Brandberg West is currently the only Namibian exploration licence within the company’s portfolio. The project was acquired for its significant tin and tungsten mineralization in line with the company’s vision to become a tier-one multi-tech-metal producer. The licence has multiple documented mineral occurrences that indicate the presence of a large-scale mineral system including known concentrations of tin, tungsten, and copper.
The potential production of tungsten will expand the number of technology metals within the company’s portfolio. Copper mineralization has also been documented within the mineralized area and will be investigated as a potential by-product. The licence area lies within the Southern Kaoko Zone, a division of the Damara Orogen. The lithological units within the licence area comprise a sequence of metamorphosed sedimentary layers folded along a NNE-SSW trend. Multiple generations of quartz veins have been identified within these metasediments, with one or more of these generations being associated with hydrothermal tin, tungsten, and copper.
“The historical figures show that EPL5445 has the potential to double the current volume of tin concentrate produced at Uis and add Tungsten to the expanding list of metals produced by Andrada. The Erongo region continues to prove itself to be an untapped technology metals province, and we are excited to be commencing work on what we believe will be another world class technology metals asset.
“Brandberg West will solidify Andrada’s tech-metals portfolio by potentially adding critical metals revenue streams of tungsten, and copper as a by-product. We look forward to continuing with our exploration programme and aimed at re-establishing the historical Brandberg West Mine.” Added Anthony.
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