Cornish Metals Inc said it will lease additional land, mineral and waste rights to further the redevelopment of South Crofty mine in Cornwall.
The Canadian miner has reached an agreement with Brownfield Investments Ltd and Roskear Minerals LLP to lease 1.2 hectares surrounding New Roskear shaft in Camborne for up to 23 years.
An agreement has also been reached to lease the mineral rights owned by Roskear Minerals LLP within the South Crofty underground permission area for up to 25 years.
Cornish Metals has also agreed a binding heads of terms with Wheal Jane Ltd to dispose waste material from the treatment of mine water from South Crofty mine into the Wheal Jane tailings dam located 12 kilometres east of South Crofty.
Cornish Metals said that the agreement would become effective when dewatering of South Crofty starts.
MINE DEVELOPMENT
“The agreements with Roskear Minerals, Brownfield Investments and Wheal Jane are important steps towards the redevelopment of South Crofty Mine, a strategic asset for the company,” said Cornish Metals chief executive Richard Williams.
“Our agreement with Roskear Minerals enables Cornish Metals to explore and develop the mineral resources that are contained in the Roskear section of South Crofty.
“During the 1980s and 1990s, much of the ore mined from South Crofty came from this part of the mine, and it is considered by the Company to be a key area for delineation of additional mineral resources.
“The agreement with Brownfield Investments and Roskear Minerals secures access to the New Roskear Shaft, a 650-metre deep, six-metre diameter, vertical shaft in the centre of Camborne, which is important for ventilation and access to South Crofty.
“Additionally, the binding heads of terms signed with Wheal Jane for the disposal of waste material derived from the dewatering of South Crofty will enable dewatering of the mine.”
Cornish Metals completed its acquisition of the South Crofty tin and United Downs copper / tin projects, plus additional mineral rights located in Cornwall in July 2016.
The additional mineral rights cover an area of approximately 15,000 hectares and are distributed throughout the county.
Some cover old mines that were historically worked for copper, tin, zinc and tungsten.
SOUTH CROFTY
The South Crofty project covers the former producing South Crofty tin mine located beneath the towns of Pool and Camborne, Cornwall.
Since acquiring the project in 2016, Cornish Metals has completed and published maiden NI 43-101 mineral resources for South Crofty using archive historical production data and recent drilling completed between 2007 and 2013.
In 2017, Cornish Metals completed a preliminary economic assessment that demonstrated the economic viability of re-opening the mine.
The company has also undertaken extensive pilot-scale water treatment trials and holds the necessary environmental permits to abstract, treat and discharge mine water in order to dewater the mine.
Planning permissions for the operation of the mine and re-development of the surface facilities have been secured and construction of the water treatment plant foundations has started.
The dewatering pumps, variable speed drives and new high-voltage power supply have been delivered to site.
South Crofty mine closed in 1998 following over 400 years of continuous production.