Aus Tin Mines Initial Ore Block at Granville East

Aus Tin Mining (ASX:ANW) has begun tin mining at its Granville East mine in Tasmania, with the initial mining block being estimated at 430 tonnes.

Assay results from blast hole samples saw intersections of 4 meters at 6.56 percent tin and 4 meters at 4.34 percent tin, with the average tin grade for the mining block’s eight blast holes being 2.1 percent tin.

Located at the southern end of the open-cut pit, the first mining block was extracted from hanging wall shale located over cassiterite-magnetite skarn.

Material from the first mining block will be transported to Granville’s processing plant, allowing for the plant feed to transition from low-grade stockpiles to high-grade material.

“We are delighted to have achieved this major milestone as we transition to Level 2 operations and will now move to processing this material. We are particularly delighted with the grade of the first block which across eight holes averaged 2.1 percent [tin] and is more typical of underground mines,” Aus Tin CEO Peter Williams said in a statement.

The Granville project recently underwent an expansion to include a new tailings storage facility (TSF), with the TSF’s construction being the final major permit condition for the project’s expansion.

Civil works were completed on the TSF in 2018’s December quarter, and the lining was installed shortly afterwards in January 2019.

The freshly completed infrastructure at Granville allowed the company to transition to its planned Level 2 operations, which will see increased tin production and a higher daily throughput rate. Tin concentrate sales are also scheduled to restart during the quarter.

Aus Tin’s share price took a hit on Tuesday (February 19), tumbling 6.25 percent on the ASX to close the day at AU$0.015.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Olivia Da Silva, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.