REG - First Tin PLC - Taronga DFS Update

First TinAnnouncement

25/10/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 1547R  First Tin PLC  25 October 2023

 

25 October 2023

First Tin Plc

("First Tin" or "the Company")

Taronga DFS Update

 

Mine throughput decision at 5Mtpa and further improvements made to mineral
processing flowsheet

 

First Tin PLC, a tin development company with advanced, low capex projects in
Germany and Australia, is pleased to provide an update on its Definitive
Feasibility Study ("DFS") at its Taronga Tin Project in Australia. The project
is owned by First Tin's 100% owned Australian subsidiary, Taronga Mines Pty
Ltd ("TMPL").

 

The DFS is now well advanced, with completion due in Q1 2024. The deposit is
amenable to low-cost mining and processing techniques as a result of the
below.

 

·    The resource is significantly larger than previous workers have
estimated due to a combination of, a lower cut-off grade (based on lower
mining and processing costs as noted below) and newly identified
mineralisation to the southwest. As a result, a higher throughput of 5Mtpa has
been decided on for the DFS, resulting in economies of scale.

·    Further modifications have been made to the gravity circuit in the
mineral processing flowsheet which has further simplified the mineral
processing characteristics as shown in Figure 1:

o  46% of mass can be rejected after coarse crushing to 12mm.

o  27% of mass can be rejected after jigging the minus 12mm, plus 0.4mm
fraction.

o  Therefore, the coarse gravity processing facilities (after jigging) only
need to handle 27% of the total run of mine mass, resulting in low capital and
operating costs.

o  This coarse gravity circuit, consisting mainly of spirals, re-grind mills
and clean-up tables, rejects a further 26% of the mass, meaning less than 1%
progresses to the tin dressing circuit for clean-up.

o  We expect these simplifications will improve CAPEX, OPEX and recovery
rates when the DFS is published in Q1 2024.

·    The above simple circuit upgrades a 0.18% Sn head grade sample to
0.36% after crushing and screening, 0.63% after jigging and before spirals and
16.4% Sn after the spirals and tables (Figure 1).  This final 1% can be
cleaned up into a 56% or higher tin concentrate in the tin dressing circuit.

·    The deposit is mineable by open pit techniques, is located on a hill
and has a very low stripping ratio of between 1.1:1 and 1.2:1, making mining
costs low.

Together, these factors result in our Taronga tin deposit being unusual, if
not unique, among hard rock tin deposits.

 

First Tin CEO Thomas Buenger said: "We are pleased with the DFS outcomes at
our flagship Taronga tin deposit, which have validated our assumptions held
prior to the study. The simple mineralogy and subsequent mineral processing
characteristics, combined with the low strip ratio and open pit mineability of
the deposit, make it one of the most straightforward hard rock tin deposits in
the world.

 

The Company has looked at ore sorting, the "go to" technology for most hard
rock tin deposits, and we have confirmed that this is not required at our
Taronga asset. As a result, the process flow sheet has been simplified,
significantly improving CAPEX, OPEX and recovery rates. Due to the large
increase in the resource base, economies of scale come into play, and we are
currently looking at a throughput of up to 5Mtpa.

 

We eagerly await the final DFS results in Q1 next year and we look forward to
updating shareholders once we have received these."

 

 

Technical Discussion

 

In summary, the DFS results to date indicate:

·    The tin resource has been increased by 240% to 133Mt @ 0.10% Sn
containing 138,000t tin using a 0.05% Sn cut-off, as previously reported
according to JORC guidelines on 14(th) September 2023.  This includes a
maiden measured resource category.

·    It has been shown that the deposit contains higher grades and could
potentially be mined to a higher-grade cut-off if tin price conditions are
such that it becomes necessary. For example, at a cut-off of 0.1% Sn (as
previously reported by Aus Tin) the resource is 53Mt @ 0.16% Sn containing
84,000t tin (an increase of 40% over the Aus Tin resource) and at a cut-off of
0.15% Sn, the resource is 22Mt @ 0.21% Sn containing 46,000t tin.

·    Results of mineral processing test work have confirmed First Tin's
previous hypothesis that much of the tin is liberated at, and can be
concentrated at, a very early stage in comparison to most other hard rock tin
deposits.

·    In order to keep capital and operating costs as low as possible, it
has been decided to focus solely on recovering the coarse tin for the current
study, although preliminary work has shown that between 3% and 8% more tin can
be recovered if a fine tin circuit is included. This will be examined as a
potential add-on once the coarse circuit is operational.

·    The process flow diagram (PFD) is therefore very simple and consists
of (Figure 1):

o  Conventional 3-stage crushing during daylight hours only (in order to
reduce nighttime noise and potentially use solar power).  This will reduce
the run of mine ore to around 12mm in size.

o  A 24-hour circuit for the rest of the processing facility consisting of:

o  Single pass VSI crushing to scavenge additional tin not previously
liberated.

o  Screening at 2.8mm and 0.4mm, with all plus 2.8mm material sent to a
co-disposal facility, minus 2.8mm to plus 0.4mm material sent to a jigging
circuit and minus 0.4mm material sent to a spiral circuit. Jig tailings are
also sent directly to the co-disposal facility.

o  Grinding of jig con to minus 0.4mm, which is then sent to the spiral
circuit.

o  Spirals followed by shaking table and cyclone de-sliming, producing
concentrates, middlings which are ground to minus 0.15mm and re-circulated,
and tailings which are filtered and then sent to the co-disposal facility.

o  Clean-up of combined concentrates in a tin dressing circuit consisting of
magnetic separation, sulphide flotation and fine tabling.  The sulphide
tailings are sent to a dedicated storage facility and will be tested for the
extraction of silver and copper at a later stage.

o  A simplified PFD with approximate annual tonnages is shown in Figure 1.

·    Preliminary pit optimisations have shown that a 5Mtpa mining
operation is viable producing between 26,000 and 29,000 tonnes of tin metal
over a 7-8 year producing mine life.

·    Average tin production is expected to be around 3,500tpa during full
operation.

·    The mining will be by open pit and will have a very low strip ratio
of between 1.1:1 and 1.2:1 and will thus have a low cost of production.

·    Detailed economics will be published when the DFS is completed, this
is currently estimated to be in Q1, 2024.

 

 

Figure 1: Taronga Simplified Process Flow Diagram (PFD)

Enquiries:

 

 First Tin                                                                      Via SEC Newgate below
 Thomas Buenger - Chief Executive Officer
 Arlington Group Asset Management Limited (Financial Advisor and Joint Broker)

 Simon Catt                                                                     020 7389 5016

 WH Ireland Limited (Joint Broker)
 Harry Ansell                                                                   020 7220 1670

 SEC Newgate (Financial Communications)
 Elisabeth Cowell / Molly Gretton                                               FirstTin@secnewgate.co.uk

 

Notes to Editors

First Tin is an ethical, reliable, and sustainable tin production company led
by a team of renowned tin specialists. The Company is focused on becoming a
tin supplier in conflict-free, low political risk jurisdictions through the
rapid development of high value, low capex tin assets in Germany and
Australia.

Tin is a critical metal, vital in any plan to decarbonise and electrify the
world, yet Europe has very little supply. Rising demand, together with
shortages, is expected to lead tin to experience sustained deficit markets for
the foreseeable future. Its assets have been de-risked significantly, with
extensive work undertaken to date.

First Tin's goal is to use best-in-class environmental standards to bring two
tin mines into production in three years, providing provenance of supply to
support the current global clean energy and technological revolutions.

 

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