Saxony Mines Ltd, a newly-formed wholly owned subsidiary of Australian gold explorer Indo Gold Ltd, is investigating the possibility of establishing a large-scale underground tin mine in the “Ore Mountains” on the German/Czech border. Its Westerzgebirge project is the third major player in the area, with Tin International also active in Germany and European Metals in the Czech Republic.
The project includes several deposits with an historical resource of 243,000 t of tin at an average grade of 0.34%. Within the total a higher grade skarn deposit of 12 Mt at 0.76% tin, containing 88,000 tonnes, has been identified. Saxony Mines plans to carry out new drilling and underground sampling via an existing adit to produce a JORC-compliant resource estimate. Its development strategy also includes metallurgical test work and the production of a scoping study for an underground mine producing two million tonnes of ore per year. The company is aiming for a listing on a recognised stock exchange within 12 – 18 months.
