Cornish Metals Inc (AIM:CUSN, TSX-V:CUSN, OTC:SBWFF) has started a new drill programme at the South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall.
The programme will comprise a minimum of 8,000 metres and is designed to collect samples for metallurgical testwork as part of the ongoing feasibility study.
Three drill rigs have been contracted from Priority Drilling, two drilling from surface, and one from underground.
Samples will be collected for various metallurgical studies, including XRT ore sorting, flowsheet optimisation, and paste backfill studies, as well as collecting assay data to complement the current resource estimate.
"This drill programme allows us to accelerate the South Crofty feasibility study in advance of dewatering the mine, and will provide key information for the mineral processing flowsheet,” said Cornish Metals chief executive Richard Williams.
The geology at South Crofty comprises metasediments, termed locally as "killas", which overlie an intrusive granite body. The killas typically hosts vein structures containing polymetallic copper-tin-zinc mineralisation.
The underlying granite hosts lodes that are predominantly tin only.