Aus Tin Reports Drill and Metallurgical Test Results from Taronga Tin Project

Aus Tin Mining Ltd (ASX:ANW) announced the results from the company’s most recent drilling and metallurgical test work at its Taronga tin project in Australia.
As quoted in the press release:

The results included concentrate grade and tin recoveries above those adopted for the 2014 Pre‐Feasibility Study, a strongly positive reconciliation compared with the resource block model grades.   Either of these results has the potential to substantially increase the value of the Taronga Tin Project. A program of metallurgical test work incorporating gravity and flotation test was completed by ALS Metallurgy (Burnie) on fresh Reverse Circulation (RC) drill sample obtained from within the Northern Zone.    Results of the metallurgical test work are summarised in Table 1 and compared with values adopted for the 2014 Pre‐Feasibility Study (PFS).
The improved concentrate grade is attributed to an expanded suite of flotation test results to include the flotation of silicates.  Previous metallurgical test work focussed on the flotation of sulphides only, however, recent mineralogical work identified topaz (an aluminium and fluorine silicate) as a diluent in the tin concentrate.  The recovery of topaz to a separate concentrate may also provide an opportunity for an additional by‐product credit and will be pursued in conjunction with the Stage 1 Development.    The improved tin recovery may be attributed to the use of Mozely concentrators and as reported previously, improvements in tin recovery at Taronga were expected through the employment of more efficient gravity concentration.  The improved recovery may also be attributed to the higher head grade (see below).   Adopting the most recent metallurgical results to the 2014 Pre‐Feasibility Study Base Case has the impact of increasing NPV(8%) from AU$63.15M to AU$100.07M.

Highlights:

• Metallurgical test work completed on fresh drill samples from the Taronga Tin Project has yielded a higher grade tin concentrate (64.7%Sn) and higher overall recovery (75.7%) compared with values adopted for the Pre‐Feasibility Study.
• The drill result highlight the potential tin grade upside at the Taronga tin Project with a positive reconciliation of up to 52 percent above the resource block model grades.

Click here to read the full Aus Tin Mining Ltd (ASX:ANW) press release.