GRANVILLE TIN MINE CHANGES HANDS
Aus Tin Mining has signed a Heads of Agreement with Ten Mining to sell its Granville Tin Mine in Tasmania.
The agreement replaces a December 2019 funding plan which sought to resume operations at Granville.
Under the terms, Ten Mining will receive all shares from Ten Star Mining, a subsidiary of Aus Tin Mining, which in turn will snare $365,000 and a further $635,000 for existing environmental bonding commitments.
Aus Tin Mining wants to offload the Granville Tin Mine to diversify its portfolio and focus on exploration within the Lachlan Fold Belt in NSW.
The company recently sealed a farm-in agreement with Lachlan Copper to earn a 51pc interest in three exploration licence areas.
The Lachlan Fold Belt has already recorded some success from the likes of Alkane Resources, Sky Metals and
Magmatic Resources. Since January, Aus Tin Mining had been working with Ten Mining on preparations to restart Granville, and was seeking approval for 24-hour operations at the site.
However, delays in finalising funding documentation and restricted movement into Tasmania due to COVID-19 had impacted the schedule.
In light of this, Aus Tin Mining considered the divestment to be an advantage as it shifts its focus to copper and gold exploration in NSW.
Despite the sale, the company remains positive on tin as a commodity, and will retain its Taronga Tin Project in northern NSW, which has a higher value than Granville.
Taronga has previously reported JORC reserves of 22mt at 0.16pc tin for 35,600t contained tin.
A 2014 pre-feasibility study (PFS) also identified several areas of potential upside in relation to resource grades and by-products. To test grade upside at Taronga, Aus Tin Mining will undertake a drilling program once funding is available.
To preserve its savings during COVID-19, Aus Tin implemented a 25pc reduction in fees for directors and senior management in March.