A company working to revive production at a tin mine in Cornwall has begun a new exploration drilling programme.
Canadian-headquartered mining company Cornish Metals has started a fresh 14-hole / 9,000m dig on the southern boundary of its South Crofty mine in Pool near Redruth.
The AIM-listed firm said it was looking to test the geometry and the continuity of tin mineralisation on an extension of the Great Flat Lode, a mineral-bearing body of underground rock.
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At the start of this year, Cornish Metals discovered new high-grade tin at the spot, known as the ‘Wide Formation’, which is located under the southern slopes of Carn Brea south of Camborne in west Cornwall.
The Great Flat Lode district comprised a series of copper and tin mines that covered a strike length of approximately five kilometres (3.1 miles).
The drill programme will test an area measuring 2,500m north-east to south-west, and 500m north to south.
Richard Williams, chief executive and director of Cornish Metals, said; "We are very excited to start this drill programme, testing what we believe represents a new district-scale target that is only 500m - 1,000m south of the Tuckingmill Decline at South Crofty.
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“It reflects the opportunity to make new discoveries close to the South Crofty underground infrastructure and, if the programme is successful, we believe there is potential to not only grow the mineral resource base, but also to potentially expand production rates if the project advances through to mine development."
Cornwall was formerly one of the world’s major tin-producing areas and Cornish Metals and is looking to establish a primary production site for the critical metal for Europe and North America, with around 75% of the tin mined today coming from China, Myanmar and Indonesia.
South Crofty was closed in 1998, following more than 400 years of continuous production, and was acquired by Cornish Metals in 2016.
Over the summer Cornish Metals said it had successfully installed and commissioned two submersible pumps at the mine, marking the first time that water has been pumped out of the mine since it was closed.
Last year the company raised £40.5m to fund the construction of the mine water treatment plant, dewatering and a feasibility study. The firm previously estimated dewatering would take 18 months to complete, through to the end of 2024, with a target of recommending tin production at the mine in 2026.