First Tin Plc: Tin Beetle tin discovery confirms hub and spoke potential at Taronga tin project

Tin Beetle is 9km from First Tin’s Taronga tin deposit, containing the fifth largest tin reserves globally (ITA ranking) of 23.2 million tonnes at 0.16% Sn.

Thomas Buenger, First Tin PLC CEO commented: “We are excited that our Australian team have, with the first drill hole, proven our thesis that Taronga is part of a tin district rather than a singular occurrence. Tin Beetle, like Taronga, appears to benefit from extremely favourable oxide-cassiterite metallurgy that starts at surface and could therefore potentially be mined as an open pit. We look forward to further results from the Tin Beetle drill programme, one of six regional targets within trucking distance of Taronga.”

The project is owned by First Tin’s 100% owned Australian subsidiary, Taronga Mines Pty Ltd (“TMPL”).

Highlights

• Initial assay results confirm wide intervals of tin mineralisation with narrower zones of high grade mineralisation
• Significant intercepts include:

– 48m @ 0.183% Sn from 2m incl. 21m @ 0.322% Sn from 2m and 3m @ 0.281% Sn from 42m
– 5m @ 0.183% Sn from 64m
– 3m @ 0.116% Sn from 102m

• Higher grade interval within main intercept includes 7m @ 0.629% Sn
• Lower copper and silver content, and higher zinc content than Taronga mineralisation
• Second hole oriented 180° from initial hole has shown good logged/panned cassiterite (tin oxide). Assay results are awaited
• The Tin Beetle prospect is located approximately 8-9km southeast of the Taronga mineralisation, providing strong potential for it to be taken by road to a central milling facility at Taronga following on-site upgrading by crushing and jigging
• If successful, this concept could add to annual tin production and increase the overall mine life

All results are presented in Table 1. The true width of intervals is around half the downhole width. Estimated true widths are included in Table 1. 

The drilling is targeting a broad area (3km x 0.6km) of mineralisation that had been mined for alluvial and eluvial tin during the 19^th and 20^th Centuries. It is defined by large workings that have stripped the alluvial material and then continued into weathered, clayey felsic volcanics with sheeted greisen veins hosting cassiterite (tin oxide) mineralisation. Four East-North-East trending zones of sheeted veining are interpreted from the outlines of workings, tin geochemistry, mapped areas of veining and limited previous drilling (Figure 2).

This is the first TMPL drilling into the prospect and confirms and extends at depth, mineralisation identified by previous explorers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mineralisation intersected is wider and higher grade than the mineralisation intersected by the previous explorers, and the Company anticipates that this will lead to significant additional mineralisation in this large area.

The location of the drillhole is shown on Figure 2.  This figure also shows that there are potentially multiple zones of mineralisation, and several of these will be tested during the current programme – drill collars are shown on Figure 2.  Figure 3 illustrates the current interpretation of mineralisation at the prospect. The northern extent will be tested by a second hole drilled at 180° to the first hole. Based on initial logging of this hole, the Company believes that there is potential for a plus 50m wide zone of mineralisation and approximately 300m of strike will be tested as part of the current programme.

TMPL considers this target as being one of several potential satellite deposits for Taronga, with treatment via preconcentration using simple crushing and jigging and then trucking the concentrate approximately 8-9km to Taronga for final processing (Figure 1).  If successful, this concept could either add to annual tin production, or increase the overall mine life after Taronga mineralisation has been exhausted, or both.

Notes to Editors

First Tin is an ethical, reliable, and sustainable tin production company led by a team of renowned tin specialists. The Company is focused on becoming a tin supplier in conflict-free, low political risk jurisdictions through the rapid development of high value, low capex tin assets in Germany and Australia.

Tin is a critical metal, vital in any plan to decarbonise and electrify the world, yet Europe has very little supply. Rising demand, together with shortages, is expected to lead tin to experience sustained deficit markets for the foreseeable future. Its assets have been de-risked significantly, with extensive work undertaken to date.

First Tin’s goal is to use best-in-class environmental standards to bring two tin mines into production in three years, providing provenance of supply to support the current global clean energy and technological revolutions.