Alphamin’s Mpama South to increase tin production to 20,000 tpa

A total of 808m of underground development on two levels to connect Mpama North and Mpama South has been completed to date, of which 369m of development was completed in Q1 2023. The Mpama South deposit has been intersected in a number of planned underground crosscuts.

Development is expected to significantly accelerate from May 2023 as additional underground fleet equipment arrives on site. Additional grade control drilling is being completed to enable detailed short-term planning for the commencement of stoping later in 2023.

Work commenced on the Mpama South portal with the excavation, stabilising and shotcreting of the portal area being completed. The adit was established with 49m of adit and associated cubbies having been excavated and supported through moderately weathered ground. Ground conditions will improve significantly when hard rock is encountered towards the end of April 2023 and advance rates will increase thereafter.

Additional underground mining and maintenance staff have been recruited and are being mobilised in line with the mechanised machine deliveries.

Progress on the processing plant is as follows:

• Procurement is complete.
• Design and engineering are 92% complete.
• Fabrication is 79% complete.
• 24% of the processing plant has been moved to site.
• Bulk earthworks are complete.
• Civils are 41% complete.
• SMPPEI (structural, mechanical, piping and platework, electrical and instrumentation) has commenced and steelwork is starting to be erected on site.

The processing plant as a whole is 66% complete and is progressing well towards the planned December 2023 commissioning date. Items on the critical path are being monitored and interventions are being made as and when required.

The Alphamin project team, together with the existing site team, remains focussed on operational readiness preparation. This primarily involves recruitment and training of personnel, expansion of the laboratory and accommodation facilities and infrastructure, and increasing the supply chain to meet the increase in production.

The Mpama South development project is forecasted to be complete within the budget of US$116m with commissioning targeted in December 2023. The project is expected to increase annual contained tin production from ~12,000 tonnes to ~20,000 tonnes.

Alphamin achieved record tin production of 3,187 tonnes for the quarter ended March 2023, exceeding market guidance of 3,000 tonnes. Run-of-mine volumes processed were scaled back due to the higher tin grades in order to increase recoveries. The run-of-mine and crushed ore stockpiles ahead of the processing plant were at record levels at quarter-end, being 15,011 tonnes at an average tin grade of 5,98%. Sales volumes were in line with production at a tin price of US$26,432/t. Guidance for AISC per tonne of tin sold is 4% higher than the prior quarter at US$13,900 due to the increase in tin prices which impacts off-mine costs such as royalties, export duties, the smelter deductor and marketing fees. Commendable production and sales together with a higher tin price resulted in a 53% increase in expected EBITDA of US$41.4 million for the quarter.