TIDM1SN
RNS Number : 1547R
First Tin PLC
25 October 2023
25 October 2023
First Tin Plc
("First Tin" or "the Company")
Taronga DFS Update
Mine throughput decision at 5Mtpa and further improvements made
to mineral processing flowsheet
First Tin PLC, a tin development company with advanced, low
capex projects in Germany and Australia, is pleased to provide an
update on its Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") at its Taronga
Tin Project in Australia. The project is owned by First Tin's 100%
owned Australian subsidiary, Taronga Mines Pty Ltd ("TMPL").
The DFS is now well advanced, with completion due in Q1 2024.
The deposit is amenable to low-cost mining and processing
techniques as a result of the below.
-- The resource is significantly larger than previous workers
have estimated due to a combination of, a lower cut-off grade
(based on lower mining and processing costs as noted below) and
newly identified mineralisation to the southwest. As a result, a
higher throughput of 5Mtpa has been decided on for the DFS,
resulting in economies of scale.
-- Further modifications have been made to the gravity circuit
in the mineral processing flowsheet which has further simplified
the mineral processing characteristics as shown in Figure 1:
o 46% of mass can be rejected after coarse crushing to 12mm.
o 27% of mass can be rejected after jigging the minus 12mm, plus
0.4mm fraction.
o Therefore, the coarse gravity processing facilities (after
jigging) only need to handle 27% of the total run of mine mass,
resulting in low capital and operating costs.
o This coarse gravity circuit, consisting mainly of spirals,
re-grind mills and clean-up tables, rejects a further 26% of the
mass, meaning less than 1% progresses to the tin dressing circuit
for clean-up.
o We expect these simplifications will improve CAPEX, OPEX and
recovery rates when the DFS is published in Q1 2024.
-- The above simple circuit upgrades a 0.18% Sn head grade
sample to 0.36% after crushing and screening, 0.63% after jigging
and before spirals and 16.4% Sn after the spirals and tables
(Figure 1). This final 1% can be cleaned up into a 56% or higher
tin concentrate in the tin dressing circuit.
-- The deposit is mineable by open pit techniques, is located on
a hill and has a very low stripping ratio of between 1.1:1 and
1.2:1, making mining costs low.
Together, these factors result in our Taronga tin deposit being
unusual, if not unique, among hard rock tin deposits.
First Tin CEO Thomas Buenger said: "We are pleased with the DFS
outcomes at our flagship Taronga tin deposit, which have validated
our assumptions held prior to the study. The simple mineralogy and
subsequent mineral processing characteristics, combined with the
low strip ratio and open pit mineability of the deposit, make it
one of the most straightforward hard rock tin deposits in the
world.
The Company has looked at ore sorting, the "go to" technology
for most hard rock tin deposits, and we have confirmed that this is
not required at our Taronga asset. As a result, the process flow
sheet has been simplified, significantly improving CAPEX, OPEX and
recovery rates. Due to the large increase in the resource base,
economies of scale come into play, and we are currently looking at
a throughput of up to 5Mtpa.
We eagerly await the final DFS results in Q1 next year and we
look forward to updating shareholders once we have received
these."
Technical Discussion
In summary, the DFS results to date indicate:
-- The tin resource has been increased by 240% to 133Mt @ 0.10%
Sn containing 138,000t tin using a 0.05% Sn cut-off, as previously
reported according to JORC guidelines on 14(th) September 2023.
This includes a maiden measured resource category.
-- It has been shown that the deposit contains higher grades and
could potentially be mined to a higher-grade cut-off if tin price
conditions are such that it becomes necessary. For example, at a
cut-off of 0.1% Sn (as previously reported by Aus Tin) the resource
is 53Mt @ 0.16% Sn containing 84,000t tin (an increase of 40% over
the Aus Tin resource) and at a cut-off of 0.15% Sn, the resource is
22Mt @ 0.21% Sn containing 46,000t tin.
-- Results of mineral processing test work have confirmed First
Tin's previous hypothesis that much of the tin is liberated at, and
can be concentrated at, a very early stage in comparison to most
other hard rock tin deposits.
-- In order to keep capital and operating costs as low as
possible, it has been decided to focus solely on recovering the
coarse tin for the current study, although preliminary work has
shown that between 3% and 8% more tin can be recovered if a fine
tin circuit is included. This will be examined as a potential
add-on once the coarse circuit is operational.
-- The process flow diagram (PFD) is therefore very simple and consists of (Figure 1):
o Conventional 3-stage crushing during daylight hours only (in
order to reduce nighttime noise and potentially use solar power).
This will reduce the run of mine ore to around 12mm in size.
o A 24-hour circuit for the rest of the processing facility
consisting of:
o Single pass VSI crushing to scavenge additional tin not
previously liberated.
o Screening at 2.8mm and 0.4mm, with all plus 2.8mm material
sent to a co-disposal facility, minus 2.8mm to plus 0.4mm material
sent to a jigging circuit and minus 0.4mm material sent to a spiral
circuit. Jig tailings are also sent directly to the co-disposal
facility.
o Grinding of jig con to minus 0.4mm, which is then sent to the
spiral circuit.
o Spirals followed by shaking table and cyclone de-sliming,
producing concentrates, middlings which are ground to minus 0.15mm
and re-circulated, and tailings which are filtered and then sent to
the co-disposal facility.
o Clean-up of combined concentrates in a tin dressing circuit
consisting of magnetic separation, sulphide flotation and fine
tabling. The sulphide tailings are sent to a dedicated storage
facility and will be tested for the extraction of silver and copper
at a later stage.
o A simplified PFD with approximate annual tonnages is shown in
Figure 1.
-- Preliminary pit optimisations have shown that a 5Mtpa mining
operation is viable producing between 26,000 and 29,000 tonnes of
tin metal over a 7-8 year producing mine life.
-- Average tin production is expected to be around 3,500tpa during full operation.
-- The mining will be by open pit and will have a very low strip
ratio of between 1.1:1 and 1.2:1 and will thus have a low cost of
production.
-- Detailed economics will be published when the DFS is
completed, this is currently estimated to be in Q1, 2024.
Figure 1: Taronga Simplified Process Flow Diagram (PFD)
Enquiries:
First Tin Via SEC Newgate below
Thomas Buenger - Chief Executive
Officer
Arlington Group Asset Management
Limited (Financial Advisor
and Joint Broker)
Simon Catt 020 7389 5016
WH Ireland Limited (Joint
Broker)
Harry Ansell 020 7220 1670
SEC Newgate (Financial Communications)
Elisabeth Cowell / Molly FirstTin@secnewgate.co.uk
Gretton
Notes to Editors
First Tin is an ethical, reliable, and sustainable tin
production company led by a team of renowned tin specialists. The
Company is focused on becoming a tin supplier in conflict-free, low
political risk jurisdictions through the rapid development of high
value, low capex tin assets in Germany and Australia.
Tin is a critical metal, vital in any plan to decarbonise and
electrify the world, yet Europe has very little supply. Rising
demand, together with shortages, is expected to lead tin to
experience sustained deficit markets for the foreseeable future.
Its assets have been de-risked significantly, with extensive work
undertaken to date.
First Tin's goal is to use best-in-class environmental standards
to bring two tin mines into production in three years, providing
provenance of supply to support the current global clean energy and
technological revolutions.
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