Trading Statement

RNS Number : 6336V

Eastinco Mining and Exploration PLC

16 April 2021

 

Eastinco Mining and Exploration plc

("Eastinco" or the "Company")

Trading Statement

Eastinco Mining and Exploration plc ("EME" or the "Company") announces its trading statement for the quarter ended 31 March 2021.

The reporting period has been one of focussed testing and optimising the wash plant, coupled with external COVID related disruptions. The current focus is to increase metallurgical test work on plant feed material and selective wash plant samples to build on the knowledge database, which will be used in conjunction with external consultants to maximise the metal recovery.

The Company at present is conducting laboratory-scale test work on orebody samples to determine the mineral composition and preferentially mineralised size fractions, with the objective of improving the recovery rate and enhance the equipment optimisation. Much of the work is focussing on the fines (sub-1mm) to ultra-fines (sub-0.05mm) circuit, which historically has lost and not recovered from mining operations within Rwanda, and potentially represents a significant uplift to future tantalum metal recoveries. Depending on the outcome of this work phase we will evaluate the benefits of installing a centrifugal gravity separator, or equivalent, which may provide for improved recovery of the ultra-fine material.

Recent test work on a sample from the shaking tables, conducted at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, returned tantalum values for 10.3% Ta, which is very encouraging from feed material that grades 150-200ppm Ta. Additional X‐ray diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS) was conducted to determine the chemical composition of the different mineral phases, with a primary Ta-bearing mineral identified as iron-rich tapiolite or tapiolite-(Fe), and the predominant Nb-rich phase as iron-rich columbite, also known as columbite-(Fe). In the sample analysed columbite accounted for 55% of the mineral composition. The ratios and composition of the tantalum bearing minerals will vary across the ore body and the over deposit.

A recent site visit made by a Gravity Separation Engineer identified a number of areas requiring upgrades to improve performance, namely the hydro-cyclone, slurry density monitoring, spiral configuration modifications and increased input (hutch) water on the duplex jigs. The effect of these important changes is a significant increase in demand for water and therefore requires additional water recycling, with the jigs now using twice the original water volume. To address this the Company is installing a jig-specific recycling circuit to capture the waste water. Major efforts are also being made to improve the overall quality of the wash water which previously had a high clay content. This clay-rich water has the effect of stripping out the ultra-fine mineralisation, resulting in metal losses. This is being remedied by the installation of improved material settling processes in the river dam. Whilst these modifications are taking place, the plant is not operational, however we expected to restart the wash plant in the latter part of April, and will contract another wash plant consultant to advise on any potential additional improvements.

The Company is finalising the requirements with its partner, the Kuaka Co-operative, to increase to land area at Musasa from 50 hectares to 400 hectares with the issuance of a new mining licence. The new licence will be transferred to a joint venture company with Eastinco holding 85% and Kuaka 15% of the share capital.

COVID-19 continues to present some operational challenges, with local labour movements,  and more importantly inbound and return international travel restricted.

As reported previously, the Company received a Letter of Intent ("LOI") from a subsidiary of the multi-national Noble Group Holdings, to purchase a significant portion of the future tantalum and tin metal production from the Musasa operations. We will continue discussions once the plant re-commences operations.

The Board continues to evaluate opportunities to grow the Company's asset portfolio and further updates will be provided to the market should any of these progress.

The Company presently has available cash and cash equivalents of approximately US$325,000. 

Charles Bray, Chairman stated "We are pleased to provide this update to our shareholders who have remained incredibly patient and understanding of the challenges that we, as with many other companies globally, have faced over the last 12 months. The inability of suppliers to meet contractual obligations with engineering expertise has forced us to acquire the requisite knowledge from third-parties and has inevitably led to delays. Nevertheless, the current phase of metallurgical testing will provide important data to ensure we maximise the potential metal recoveries on the project over the long term, and we expect to continue more test work on a regular basis. We believe that the work we are doing and the lessons learnt in building this project will serve us well as we seek to expand the asset portfolio with the aim to broaden the Company's critical mineral portfolio across Africa."

The Directors take responsibility for this announcement.

Enquiries:

For further information, please visit http://www.eastinco.com/ or contact:

Eastinco Mining & Exploration Plc:

Charles Bray, Executive Chairman - [e-mail]

AQSE Growth Market Corporate Adviser:

Novum Securities Limited

David Coffman / Lucy Bowden

Tel: [phone]

 

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