Australian-listed Variscan Mines Ltd. (ASX : VAR) has been granted a 278 km2 exploration license, which includes the defunct Abbaretz tin mine in the Pays de la Loire region of western France. The mine is situated in the north of the commune of Abbaretz.
Tin mining was widespread in the region during Roman times. More recently tin was mined from the Abbaretz mine, between 1920 and 1926 as an underground mine and between 1951 and 1957 as an open pit operation, from which a total of some 2,700 tonnes of tin is estimated to have been extracted. The geology of the mine is known to share many geological similarities with the vein-hosted Cornish tin deposits of South West England. Significant near-surface tin mineralisation was discovered at the Beaulieu deposit during historical drilling and underground development, 4.5 km west of the mine, along with several other prospects found by the French Geological Survey (BRGM) following closure of the open pit operation.
The company plans to initiate work on the license by digitising and interpreting the available data and drilling key prospects in the area in the hope of defining a JORC-compliant resource. The project is at a very early stage and it will be a number of years before mining could potential recommence at the site.
