Venture Minerals has completed highly encouraging metallurgical drilling and appointed a senior mining engineer to complete its feasibility study for a new underground tin mine at Mount Lindsay, Tasmania.
The undeveloped tin project is one of the largest in the world whilst tin and tungsten are listed as critical minerals in Australia.
Critical minerals are metals and non-metals that are considered vital for the economic well-being of the world's major and emerging economies, yet whose supply may be at risk due to geological scarcity, geopolitical issues, trade policy or other factors.
Tin and tungsten are critical for the manufacture of electric vehicles, advanced robotics, renewable energy, energy storage, advanced computing and information technology.
The Mount Lindsay deposit is located within a 148 square kilometre area about 125km south, by sealed road, of the Port of Burnie in northwest of the island.
Abundant renewable electricity for the project is provided by Tasmania’s hydroelectric dams.
With more than 80,000 tonnes of tin at Mount Lindsay and a globally significant critical metal content of 3,200,000 metric tonnes of tungsten, across 100,000 metres of completed drilling and 70 per cent of the resource in the measured and indicated categories, the prospect appears red-hot for development.
Tin continues to sell at a premium price higher than US$42,000 a tonne, nearly four times the value of copper and global stockpiles are critically thin, with only two days of global supply available through the London Metal Exchange. A mine life of more than 10 years could be expected from a deposit of this scale.
During the critical metallurgical drilling program, Venture has pulled out a string of globally significant high grade intersections with the latest including 158.5m at 0.8 per cent tin and 0.1 per cent tungsten from an intersection depth of only 78m. The intersection included a high grade zone of 39m at 2.6 per cent tin.
Venture Minerals Managing Director, Andrew Radonjic, said: “Mount Lindsay clearly demonstrates the potential to be a vital source of EV metal and Critical Minerals for the world and can be developed in a net zero emissions environment, and is therefore an important part of the decarbonisation of the global economy.”
The new appointment of mining engineer Glenn Van Vlemen, as project development manager to lead the Mount Lindsay underground feasibility study, provides Venture experience for this critical decision.
Glenn brings more than 30 years of domestic and international experience from his tenures at BHP Nickel, WMC Gold, Central Norseman Gold, Croesus Mining, Perilya, Munali Nickel and Oceana Gold.
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By Matt Birney
