Mining company Cornish Metals has found new high-grade tin while drilling at its mine in Cornwall. The AIM-listed firm said it made the discovery while carrying out work at the southern boundary of the South Crofty mine in the Duchy.
The spot, called the ‘Wide Formation’, is an extension of the Great Flat Lode - a mineral-bearing body of rock under the southern slopes of Carn Brea south of Camborne in west Cornwall.
The area the discovery was made lies parallel to, north of, and beneath the Great Flat Lode.
Richard Williams, chief executive of Cornish Metals, said: “The Wide Formation has been interpreted to exist from exploration drilling conducted in the 1960s but has never been followed up until now. Discovering a new high-grade zone of tin mineralisation in the middle of a historic mining district is a tremendous outcome, and again demonstrates the exploration potential of the region."
Mr Williams said the Great Flat Lode, which lies above the Wide Formation, was mined historically over a five km strike length and Cornish Metals believed it had a “very compelling” target to explore within and immediately next to the South Crofty underground permission area.
He added: “We look forward to the next phase of drilling to determine the extent of this discovery. The shallow, high-grade, tin intersects from the Great Flat Lode, represent an opportunity to define nearby and near surface Mineral Resources to complement those we have already identified at South Crofty.”
South Crofty closed in 1998 following more than 400 years of continuous production and was acquired by Cornish Metals in 2016.
The company has undertaken extensive pilot-scale water treatment trials at the site and successfully applied for and received the necessary environmental permits to abstract, treat and discharge mine water in order to dewater the mine.
Planning permissions for the operation of the mine and re-development of the surface facilities have been secured and construction of the water treatment plant is currently underway. The dewatering pumps, variable speed drives and new high-voltage power supply have been delivered to the site and dewatering of the mine is expected to start at the end of the second quarter of 2023.
Cornish Metals said in November it was “on track” with its progress.
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