Alphamin Resources’ (TSXV:AFM) (JSE: APH) is sitting pretty at a time when the world is entering a new decade of renewable energy, electric vehicles, breath-taking new technology and responsible mining.
Technology is not the first thing that comes to mind when flying over Alphamin Resources’ tin mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is a bumpy flight from Goma, the colourful capital of the North Kivu province to Walikale, a tiny settlement surrounded by impenetrable rainforest, slightly north east of Lake Kivu. Sixty kilometres from Walikale, there is a hill the locals call Bisie. Bisie is where Alphamin has been unearthing the highest-grade tin ore on earth for close to two years.
From the air, Bisie looks anaemic amidst an encircling green wave. But this forested hill is more than meets the eye. Underlying its fertile soil are two of the richest tin plumes in Africa. The ore bodies of Mpama North (currently being mined) and Mpama South (still being explored) will play a pivotal role in moulding a new world, one for which the plans were drawn up, but for which humanity was not entirely prepared for only a year ago. The outbreak of Covid-19, however, has fast-tracked the world’s transformation to clean energy, environmental and social responsibility, and political accountability. With it comes innovative technology and “cool” new minerals that will kickstart the fourth industrial revolution.
New technology revives tin mining
Unlike new “cool” minerals like lithium and graphite, or cobalt and rare earths, humans have mined tin for centuries. But new technologies have revived demand for tin. So much so that the USA recently declared tin a strategic and critical metal. Millennials, post Covid-19 entrepreneurs, and new-world inventors now mention tin in the same breath as the other “cool” minerals. But that is only one of the reasons to get excited about Bisie. Demand for Alphamin’s high quality product at Bisie will increase as production of Electric Vehicles (EV’s), lithium batteries, and new electronic equipment continues ramping up in the next five to ten years. Moreover, the hill at Bisie hosts sufficient tin reserves to keep feeding the market should a glut occur within the next twenty years. Bisie is the first link in a long supply chain for new technologies and is situated in a region where development is desperately needed, and where social and environmental responsibility is paramount. Tin is a constituent in several new green technologies, which enables Alphamin to enter a post Covid-19 world on the front foot. For Alphamin though, it is not only about the bottom line, but also about sustainability, human development, and responsibility. Tin will continue playing a critical role in the future of human progress and the long-term outlook for this metal is thus extremely optimistic.
Demand for tin predicted to increase
About two years ago Andrew Latham, head of Rio Tinto Ventures, said that tin would be the metal most impacted by new technology in the future. He based his predictions on a study done for Rio Tinto by a research group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Currently tin is used in lead-free solders for electronic circuit boards and microchips, which accounts for about 50% of global tin consumption. According to the International Tin Association, the metal will increasingly contribute to modern, clean technologies including lithium-ion batteries for autonomous and EV’s.
“Battery researchers are developing solid-state batteries utilising ceramic electrolytes (versus liquid) for improved safety and performance. Silicon is a potentially attractive anode material due to its high potential capacity and abundance in nature. Recent research has shown that adding tin to the silicon-based anode enhances its performance, creating the potential for tin to be a major contributor to the next generation of lithium batteries.”
Furthermore, researchers at the Texas Material Institute have demonstrated that a tin-aluminium alloy can be produced that is cheaper and double the charge capacity of today’s copper-graphite anodes for lithium ion batteries. The greatest growth potential for tin is likely to be found in these and other automotive battery applications. As of 2016, use of tin in lead-acid batteries approached 30kt and, supported by further growth in vehicles sales and the further substitution of antimony, use of tin in this application could exceed 50,000 tons by 2027. In addition, indium-tin-oxide is used as a glass coating due to its electrical conductivity and optical transparency and continues to find application in renewable energy and communications, including flat panel displays, smart windows, thin film photovoltaics (solar panels) and organic light emitting diodes lights.
That tin, together with lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt will continue to play a substantial role in a technology driven world is backed up by the fact that in 2018, more than 5000 scientific papers, and patents on tin related technology alone saw the light. This demonstrates a bright future for this versatile commodity.
Although energy uses and technologies are currently the strongest new use drivers, with tin additions to lead-acid batteries and solder used for joining solar cells already benefiting, within the next decade tin has many opportunities in lithium ion and other batteries, solar PV, thermoelectric materials, hydrogen-related applications and carbon capture.
According to the International Tin Association tin is the “forgotten EV metal”. “Tin is gaining momentum as a performance enhancing component in all of the three generations of advanced anode materials that have been road mapped to 2030, plus some solid-state technologies. Whilst the current focus is on lithium ion batteries the next generation of cheaper, safer products is already in development, including sodium ion, magnesium ion, potassium ion and other products. Tin, its alloys and compounds are prominent candidates for anode materials in some of these.
Tin: the green metal of the future
With renewable energy in the form of solar panels being rolled out across the developing world, and especially in Africa, the fact that tin is being considered as a replacement for scarce and expensive rare earth elements like gallium in solar PV technologies is a boon for mines like Bisie. In another development, tin has recently been tested in ‘lead-free’ perovskite products in for example architectural glass, targeted at new markets. Tin is also being explored as a heat energy storage medium on solar farms that concentrate sunlight using mirrors. Apart from the materials themselves, this sector is already benefitting tin use in China particularly through increased use of solder ribbon used to join solar cells and increased associated electronics production.
One of the more interesting uses of tin though, is in nanotechnology, particularly in water treatment technologies. With a growing global population and high rate of urbanisation, water management is becoming one of the most critical elements in burgeoning cities. Moreover, clean water and sanitation is one of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainability goals and tin, through its application in water treatment technologies, has the potential to play a role.
The International Tin Association states that tin can chemically interact with and neutralise various contaminants, especially in its most active ‘stannous’ form. “Using energy from sunlight and/or doping with other metals or compounds makes the stannous ions even more active. At the same time, tin oxide nanomaterials are excellent adsorbents for water contaminants, used for example as an ‘ion exchange’ agent for radioactive elements.” There are a many published academic papers and research and development project focussing on ways that tin can be used to recycle wastewater and clean up water supplies.
Tin for hydrogen fuel cells
Hydrogen generation and fuel cell technology have become buzz words in the green economy and although still in its infancy stages, concepts like hydrogen fuelled aeroplanes are gaining traction. Research has shown that tin can be used in these future technologies as a liquid metal to strip carbon from methane and as an oxide or sulphide photocatalyst to split water in sunlight. Even more fascinating and exciting is that tin has been shown to make an important contribution to key components in fuel cell. Liquid tin was first used as an electrode in a type of fuel cell that was able to convert any type of hydrocarbon gas feed and at the same time act as catalyst the recombinant reaction.
The importance of tin in the new world economy was recently recognised when it was declared a critical strategic metal in the USA. According to a 2018 U.S. Geological Survey tin has not been produced in the United States since 1993. “In 2017, the USA maintained a net import reliance as a percentage of apparent consumption of approximately 75% for tin, where 25% of the apparent consumption is attributed to the recycling of tin (U.S. Geological Survey, 2018).
Alphamin Resources well positioned to take advantage of current trends
Alphamin’s Bisie tin mine in the DRC is well-positioned to take advantage of the world’s growing demand for “clean” minerals. The Bisie project in the DRC is a great example of how to go about mining in developing countries and building relationships with all stakeholders. Moreover, the company’s drive to find more and better ore bodies at Bisie, means that the local people of Walikale will be able to benefit from the rich resources beneath their feet for at least the next twenty to thirty years.
