Consolidated Tin Mines (CSD) has provided an update on how it will work with partner company Snow Peak Mining (SPM) to re-start the recently acquired Mt Garnet concentrator and related copper mining assets in North Queensland and bring the Mt Garnet tin mine project into operation. SPM is controlled by a Chinese investor who also holds a 19.9% stake in CSD, but will be managed by the Australian company.
SPM bought the Mt Garnet concentrator from Kagara Limited at the start of the year and plans to re-start the one million tpy unit in August, initially processing copper and poly-metallic ores from the nearby Baal Gammon and Surveyor mines. SPM will also operate the Baal Gammon open pit mine, which is owned by Monto Minerals. However while the partners say they “will be flexible to optimise any near term opportunities” in other metals, they re-iterate that their long term focus is on tin.
A Pre-Feasibility Study on the Mt Garnet tin project will be completed by August, based around the modification of the concentrator to treat ore from several tin deposits controlled by CSD. The arrangement will reduce the capital costs of the tin project and shorten the time interval to start up. The transition to tin processing is expected to take 12 – 18 months, with tin production potentially building towards 5,000 tpy of tin-in-concentrate.
