Cleveland Tin Mine Pre-Feasibility Study to Commence
Brisbane, Nov 19, 2013 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Elementos Limited (
ASX:ELT) (ELTLF:OTCMKTS) ("Elementos" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an update on development activities at the Cleveland tin-copper project, including the commencement of a pre-feasibility study ("PFS").
Cleveland Pre-Feasibility Study
The PFS will assess the near term development potential of the substantial, relatively shallow, in-ground tin-copper resources. The tin-copper resource is well-defined through more than 130,000 metres of drilling. Cleveland also has proven mining and metallurgy through more than 20 years of well-documented historical operations.
The PFS will also examine the feasibility of an integrated development strategy, firstly processing part of the tailings resource whilst re-establishing the mine, and the additional infrastructure required to process the hard rock tin-copper resources.
The PFS will be prepared by MiningOne and pitt&sherry who together have significant experience and expertise in all aspects of tin resource definition, mining, processing and local infrastructure. The PFS will focus on the fundamental variables that will determine the technical and economic viability of developing a standalone underground tin mine and processing facility, or an integrated facility at Cleveland.
The study will be based on a Mineral Resource derived from 2,040 historical diamond drill holes totalling about 130,000 metres, and more than 75,000 assay points for tin-copper, tungsten and selected other metals. The JORC Resource for the Cleveland mine, independently prepared by MiningOne, is summarised below.
Cleveland Mine Mineral Resource Estimate# - Cut-off grade 0.35% Sn
----------------------------------------------------------Category Tonnes Tin grade Copper Tin _Eq Tin Tin Eqv. kt %Sn grade Sn_Eq% tonnes tonnes %Cu Indicated 4,239 0.70% 0.28% 0.80% 30,000 34,000Inferred 1,880 0.64% 0.19% 0.70% 12,000 13,000----------------------------------------------------------Total 6,119 0.68% 0.25% 0.77% 42,000 47,000----------------------------------------------------------
Key components of the PFS will include:
Mine design;
Geology and resource definition;
Process design;
Infrastructure including; road and port configurations; and power and water supply; and
Project economics.
The PFS will identify the optimal project configuration, capital and operating costs, and the single go forward scenario for the feasibility study.
Additionally, the PFS will determine whether further drilling, geo-technical, metallurgical or other study work is required as part of the feasibility study process.
The study results are expected to be available by the second quarter calendar 2014.
The Company believes that the feasibility of developing a new operation to extract the unexploited Cleveland tin-copper deposits has a number of distinctive competitive advantages which will form the basis of a fast-tracked PFS:
Proven low-cost mining methodology with evidence of excellent mining conditions;
Proven processing methodology, based on simple cassiterite (SnO2) mineralogy, including recovery into saleable tin and copper concentrates. Metallurgical performance has the potential to be significantly improved using modern-day cassiterite ore processing technologies;
Substantial underground infrastructure in place including a four kilometre length decline;
Brownfield project site which minimises future environmental disturbances; and
Uniquely positioned in respect of development infrastructure including roads, power, water, labour and export port.
Other Development Activities
The Company expects to complete the following activities at Cleveland by year-end, including:
Tailings dam study - a fifteen hole sonic drilling program was recently completed on the tailings dam for geotechnical, environmental, metallurgical and resource investigation. The data will be used for permitting purposes, resource definition and the PFS;
Environmental permitting for Cleveland mine dewatering and tailings reprocessing - a submission to the Tasmanian environmental protection agency of a Development Proposal and Environmental Management Plan in accordance to the guidelines issued in March 2012 is currently nearing completion. Tasmanian based pitt&sherry have been appointed principal environmental consultants to assist in the submission and associated work;
LiDAR survey - integration of the Cleveland area LiDAR survey into the resource model will providing detailed surface topography including the location of haul roads, ventilation ducts, historic mining operations and portals; and
Quantitative mineralogical analysis - a quantitative mineral analysis of the tin-copper tungsten lodes from historical drill core has been completed. The data will provide modern insights into the metallurgical characteristics of the various lodes for flow-sheet design as part of the PFS.
These programs of work, when completed, will provide supporting data to the PFS.
Elementos MD Calvin Treacy will be providing investors with a live webcast from Sydney Sky Tower on November 25th in Sydney.
To register to view the live webcast, please visit:
http://www.investorium.tv
Contact
Calvin Treacy
Managing Director
Phone: +61-7-3221-7770
Email: admin@elementos.com.au
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