Andrada Mining Ltd. secured N$98 million ($5.3 million) in conditional debt funding from two Namibian financial institutions to expand its flagship Uis tin mine, capital behavior that allows the critical minerals producer to boost output without diluting equity.
The funding package is evenly split into N$49 million tranches provided by Bank Windhoek Ltd. and the Development Bank of Namibia Ltd., according to a company statement. Both credit lines carry 10-year repayment terms. The capital injection comes just weeks after Andrada tapped equity markets for an $11 million share placement in April, signaling an aggressive push to scale its southern African footprint.
Chief Executive Officer Anthony Viljoen said the combination of fresh debt and recent shareholder backing positions the company to accelerate operational upgrades at Uis. The capital is earmarked for building and commissioning an ore-sorting circuit, expanding crushing capacity, stripping activities, and updating resource estimates.
Concurrently, the London-listed miner completed an expanded drilling campaign at its adjacent Lithium Ridge project, a joint venture with Chilean lithium giant Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA (SQM). Strong early exploration data prompted the partners to expand the diamond drilling program by 18% to roughly 16,500 meters across 143 holes.
Assay results from the first 22 holes confirmed high-grade lithium intersections starting from the surface, with peak grades reaching 3.02% lithium oxide over five meters, a result Viljoen characterised as exceptional by global standards. The exploration also flagged sub-surface tin and tantalum mineralisation, pointing to broader polymetallic potential within the pegmatite system.
About 85% of the assay results from the extended drill program remain outstanding. Andrada expects to release further data updates in the coming months as it refines its geological modeling and prepares a formal resource estimation.
