23 September 2020

Eastinco Mining & Exploration PLC

Trading update

Eastinco Mining & Exploration PLC ("EME" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the assembly of the 25 tonnes per hour wash plant has been completed on site by our in-house team. Some delays in component delivery had been encountered as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, with Rwanda closing its border to goods and imposing restrictions on travel within the country. The on-site team, in compliance with government regulations, successfully completed the work with a skeleton crew during the lockdown period. This is a significant accomplishment for Eastinco and the mining sector of Rwanda as the plant is the first of its kind to be installed in the region. 

The wash plant consists of a wash trommel, cone crusher, hydro-cyclone, separation spirals, jigs, shaking tables, conveyor belts, rotary dryer and magnetic separation unit. The wash plant design recovers so-called critical metals, such as tantalum and tin (as a by-product), from soft, weathered pegmatite hosted ore bodies, using water, and gravity separation processing techniques. The final tantalum product will initially be sold in-country, where a number of international metal buying companies are established and have operated for a number of years. The benefit to the Company from in-country sales is no shipping requirement for the final product and payment terms providing immediate funds for continuing operations and expansion.

Testing and commissioning of the wash plant is being undertaken with a view to achieving the targeted feed rate over the next few weeks. Initial test work has identified areas which required minor adjustments to improve product flow; but, the overall objective of separating out the heavy metal minerals by gravity separation techniques has been successfully achieved. Significantly, the preliminary test work to date has indicated that the Company is able to recover the fine to very fine grain size portion (sub 1 mm) of the mineralisation, which is in line with the recent Government mandate to improve metal recoveries within the mining sector. During the commissioning exercise tailings previous generated by the artisanal mining undertaken by our local partner have been washed, with primary ore expected to be excavated and processed within the next week. The area of initial mining occurs only 400m from the wash plant. Pending site visits, by our designated process engineers/consultants, will likely further optimise the plant for improved recoveries.   

Ancillary works completed on site include the construction of tailing settling ponds and a holding tank for the plant processing water, construction of the access road to the start-up mining area, acquisition of the land where the operations will start in accordance with government guidelines, and construction of a water pumping station on the near-by stream. Also, connection to the mainline electrical power grid was completed in early September, which will provide for lower plant operating costs as compared to a diesel powered genset.

Executive Chairman, Charles Bray noted, "Notwithstanding a very difficult environment over the course of 2020 as a result of the COVID19 pandemic, we have managed to complete the development of the largest tantalum wash plant in the region. Credit must be given to our outstanding shareholders and their understanding of and commitment to our strategic objectives. It is satisfying to see that this wash plant is now nearly ready to become fully operational and producing the corresponding benefits for all stakeholders."

The Directors accept responsibility for this announcement.

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For further information, please visit https://www.equatorialmining.com or contact:

Equatorial Mining & Exploration Plc:

Charles Bray, Executive Chairman - charles.bray@eme-plc.com

Mike Staten, Executive Director - mike.staten@eme-plc.com

Aquis Stock Exchange Corporate Adviser:

Alfred Henry Corporate Finance Limited

Nick Michaels  and Jon Isaacs

www.alfredhenry.com

Tel: 0203 772 0021