Stellar Resources Ltd (ASX:SRZ) has been granted a mining lease over the St Dizier tin deposit at its Heemskirk Tin Project near Zeehan, Tasmania.
The mining lease provides the company with unencumbered title to extract tin and other metals from the deposit for an initial period of six years.
This increases the range of development options available for the project.
“Strong support from Tasmanian Government”
Stellar Resources director Peter Blight said: “Granting of ML 10M/2017 shows strong support from the Tasmanian Government for Stellar’s tin development strategy.
“The company is now well positioned with all of its JORC-compliant tin mineral resources under long-term tenure.”
Heemskirk project is on Tasmania’s west coast, with St Dizier deposit closer to the coast.
Blight said: “St Dizier provides the potential for development of a low-cost open pit with ore processed through the company’s proposed processing facility at Zeehan or through a third-party facility.
“The scoping study shows attractive returns on investment from the St Dizier open pit mine and development of St Dizier may be an important part of a ‘fast start’ option which the company is continuing to review.”
Approval based on key points
Government approval of the mining lease was based on Stellar’s stage I environmental assessment, ore processing at Zeehan and the open pit mine development plan.
Key scoping study outcomes.
The study assumes that the ore is mined at the maximum rate feasible, given the physical constraint of mining in a narrow pit and that processing capacity is available to treat all ore produced.
An internal scoping study was undertaken in 2015 to support the St Dizier mining lease application.
It has been recently been updated to reflect current tin prices and exchange rates, which include a base case net present value at tin prices of US$20,000/tonne.
The Heemskirk project has a low capital investment estimated at $3.8 million and can be bought into production within three months of receiving approvals.
- Jessica Cummins