AFRITIN, a UK-listed firm that mines the Uis tin mine in Namibia, said it had renewed an offtake agreement to supply tin to Thailand Smelting and Refining Corporation (Thaisarco), and had signed an offtake deal for tantalum with a new customer, AfriMet.
AfriMet, a subsidiary of the Swiss-headquartered specialist commodity trader, Vanomet AG, concluded a one-year agreement with AfriTin, renewable for another three years, and providing the miner with the option of a 50% prepayment 30 days before delivery up to a maximum value of $500,000.
“This last year has proved extremely positive for AfriTin, with tin production achieving design capabilities for Stage I at Uis ahead of year-end,” said Anthony Viljoen, CEO of AfriTin. He added the renewal of the offtake deal with Thaisarco comes at a time of vastly improved pricing for tin.
“The strong performance at Uis has coincided with the tin price hitting new recent highs, breaking through the ceiling of $23,000 per ton for the first time since 2014,” said Viljoen. Demand growth for tin from electronics and electric vehicles, and low tin inventories were the main reasons for the price improvement, he added.
In a separate announcement, AfriTin said AfriMet had chosen to convert its convertible loan notes totalling about £1.79m, including interest. The conversion of the loan notes will equal 44.9 million new shares priced at 4 pence a share taking AfriMet’s stake in Afritin to 5.1%.
