Having completed a merger with Rockwell Minerals at the end of October which gives it a 50% stake in the old Cleveland mine in Tasmania, Elementos Limited is moving ahead to explore various options to produce tin, copper and tungsten from the property, including two tailings dams. The Cleveland mine was operated by Aberfoyle between 1968 and 1986, during which time it produced 23,519 tonnes in tin and 9,691 tonnes of copper in concentrate. The JORC inferred and indicated underground mineral resource is 6.1 million tonnes at 0.68% tin and 0.25% copper. A separate tungsten orebody will also be evaluated.
The company is in the process of completing a A$1.5 million capital raising through private placements. The new funds will be applied to completing several steps: environmental permitting, scheduled to be completed in December 2013, for the mine de-watering and tailings retreatment project; a pre-feasibility study to redevelop the underground tin-copper mine; and acquisition payments for the remaining 50% interest in the Cleveland project exploration license.
In a statement Elementos said that it “believes that Cleveland has a number of distinctive competitive advantages that have the potential to reduce both the capital and operating costs, and the time to first production”. These include the ability to generate early cash flow by starting tailings treatment (JORC inferred resource of 4.2 million tonnes at 0.7% tin), a proven mining and processing history, substantial underground infrastructure, a brownfield status likely to shorten environmental permitting and easy access to transport, water, power and labour.
