Columbus Metals Limited is planning a September IPO on the Australian Stock Exchange as a basis for developing the Heemskirk (formerly known as Zeehan) mine project in Tasmania. The deposit was identified by Aberfoyle Ltd in the early 1980s and has a (non-JORC) resource base of over 50,000 tonnes of contained tin. Columbus Metals is a wholly owned subsidiary of Stellar Resources and currently owns 60% of the project. Minority stakeholder Gippland Limited has recently agreed to accept Columbus shares post IPO in exchange for its 40% share.
Columbus is aiming to raise A$15 million to cover two year’s exploration and development work by a technical team headed by ex-Aberfoyle and Renison Goldfields personnel. At the end of the two years the company should have completed the bulk of the work needed for a full feasibility study into a 500,000 tpy ore capacity underground mine capable of producing 3,500 – 4,500 tpy of tin-in-concentrate. This is expected to be based on the relatively high grade (1.21% Sn) parts of orebodies previously identified.
