Three ASX-listed companies have recently announced progress in bringing new projects into production, with one, Gippsland Limited, reporting a first shipment of concentrate from a small project in Egypt. Meanwhile Stellar Resources and Consolidated Tin Mines, both members of ITRI’s Explorers and Developers Group, have had encouraging drilling results from much larger-scale projects in Tasmania and Queensland respectively.
Gippsland made its first shipment of ore from its Abu Dabbab alluvial unit to Malaysia Smelting Corporation last Thursday, 28 June. 9 tonnes of ore grading approximately 46% Sn was despatched, with a second shipment scheduled later this month. The mine is expected to produce some 550 tonnes of tin-in-concentrate over a 17 month period.
Stellar reported the first results of a 10,000 metre diamond drilling programme at its Heemskirk project near Zeehan. The company has a JORC resource of 48,000 tonnes contained tin within the Queen Hill, Montana and Severn orebodies, which it will upgrade as it works towards the completion of a full feasibility study by the end of 2013. The first phase work includes the first drilling at Severn in over 25 years, with best intersections grading between 0.5% and 1.77% Sn. Meanwhile an aeromagnetic survey has identified a fourth potential drill target area designated Golf Course.
Consolidate Tin Mines has now completed two drilling programmes at its Mt Garnet project, focussing on the Gillian deposit. Managing Director Ralph de Lacey commented that the “good results indicate strong continuity of mineralization at the Gillian deposit, which will be the first proposed mining area, and should aid in upgrading the resource confidence in the current JORC review.’ The Mt Garnet project has a current total JORC Mineral Resource of 7.3Mt @ 0.60% Sn, which includes 1.2Mt @ 0.82% Sn in the measured category at the Gillian deposit. The company’s strategy is to confirm a JORC Resource base of 8Mt-10Mt of tin ore from its three deposits, to feed a proposed centralised mill and process about 1Mt per annum to produce about 5,000 tonnes of tin per annum.
