Jul 30 2020
Image Credit: Shutterstock.com / PYP
Alphamin Resources Corp. offers updates about its operational initiatives and ownership level of its foremost Bisie tin mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Alphamin to Increase Ownership of its Bisie Tin Mine
With regards to its equity offering that ended in May 2020, Alphamin settled specific third-party indebtedness of indirect subsidiary Alphamin Bisie Mining SA (ABM), owner of the Bisie tin mine, by issuing Alphamin shares in exchange for a temporary loan due by ABM.
At present, Alphamin has acquired the needed Board and shareholder approvals from ABM to transform this ABM loan into new ABM shares. The result would be an increase in Alphamin’s equity ownership of its prime tin mine from 80.75% to 84.14%.
Fine Tin Recovery Project
Alphamin has appointed Obsideo (Pty) Ltd as its engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contractor for the execution of its Fine Tin Project (FTP). The FTP is focussed on treating the tailings stream from its gravity concentration plant at Bisie to recover the fine to ultra-fine tin particles.
When we first commissioned the gravity concentration plant at Bisie, we were focussed on ramping up to a production level of 10,000 tonnes of payable tin per annum, which we have surpassed since Q2 2020 at an annualised ~11,000 tonnes. We believe we can increase plant throughput by another 10% through minor plant de-bottlenecking activities—this could increase annual tin production to ~12,000 tonnes.
Maritz Smith, CEO, Alphamin Resources Corp.
Smith continued, “Additionally, in our efforts to maximise metallurgical recoveries, we have identified process flow streams that contain fine, recoverable tin, and have selected proven metallurgical technology to recover the fine tin from these streams, which should increase tin output further at very low incremental operating costs.”
Multi Gravity Separators (MGS), configured in rougher-cleaner setting, will be used by the FTP to treat a process flow stream of 20 ton per hour from the tailings of the existing plant running at a grade of 0.8%–1.1% tin.
It is estimated that the FTP will produce a concentrate comprising of 45%–55% tin, which will be integrated with the concentrates from the main gravity concentration plant to synthesize a final concentrate predicted to include 60% tin.
The MGS technology was selected for the FTP as a result of its proven track record in the tin industry to recover particles down to 10um in size, low energy requirements and the high upgrade ratios achievable. Internal analysis shows the FTP has the potential to increase production at Bisie by 400–800 tonnes of payable tin per annum.
Maritz Smith, CEO, Alphamin Resources Corp.
“By increasing units of production at a very low incremental cost, the FTP is expected to further decrease our all-in sustaining costs (AISC), securing our place as a lower quartile cost producer,” added Smith.
The timeline estimated for the implementation of the FTP, spanning from approval to realizing nameplate capacity, is 11 months. Orders have already been placed for the long lead items, and the estimated total project cost is US$4.6 million.
Mpama South Drilling Program
T3 Drilling SARL, an internationally acknowledge drilling contractor, has been roped in by Alphamin to conduct a diamond core drilling program of 6,000 m at its Mpama South prospect, which will start in the third quarter of 2020.
Mpama South is situated about 1 km south of the main processing plant at Bisie, and the drilling program has been planned such that it outlines a maiden Mineral Resource at Mpama South.
From 2012 to 2013, 19 drill holes for 3,364 m were drilled by Alphamin to identify the extent and nature of the mineralization at Mpama South. The drilling intercepted two unique mineralized zones—an upper zone hosting well-developed silver, lead, and zinc mineralization; and a lower zone rich in copper and tin.
We are encouraged by the historical drilling results from Mpama South and we are optimistic that by applying our exploration experience as demonstrated at Mpama North, that this drilling program will deliver sufficient information to support the declaration of our maiden Mineral Resource at Mpama South and allow for possible extension to the life of operations at Bisie.
Maritz Smith, CEO, Alphamin Resources Corp.
Smith added, “While Mpama South is the first drill target post successful commissioning of the Mpama North operations, we have already identified a number of areas along the Bisie Ridge showing soil geochemistry anomalies similar to those found at Mpama North.”
“We expect to generate a further 3-5 drill targets from these anomalies over the next 18-months. Additionally, plans are being developed for deep level drilling at our producing Mpama North orebody which is currently open at depth,” concluded Smith.