Australian tin explorer and developer, Stellar Resources (SRZ) has added to its portfolio of Tasmanian tin properties with the recent grant of the Mount Razorback exploration license, which contains the historical Razorback and Grand Prize tin mines and a tailings dam.

While both historical mines were operational on a small-scale from the early 1900’s The Razorback mine was the most significant, producing 153 tonnes of tin-in-concentrate between 1975 and 1978. The license area is 10km from Zeehan in Tasmania via road, with the Renison tin mine 8km to the north. Stellar is positive about the potential to recover tin cassiterite from the tailings dam and to discover further mineralisation below the historical open pit of the Razorback mine and along a 3km fault structure.

Stellar’s Managing Director, Peter Blight, said “Adding the Mount Razorback EL to the Company’s portfolio of Tasmanian tin assets is a great way to start the new year. This is the third significant tin asset in a portfolio that already includes JORC resources at St Dizier and Heemskirk.”

The company is planning initial sampling work to determine the feasibility of reprocessing the tailings, which it is planning to complete by March 2018, as well as revisiting historical drilling data to establish a JORC-compliant resource and establish new drilling targets.

ITRI View: This recent addition to Stellar’s portfolio complements the company’s advanced Heemskirk tin project and deposit nearby, which has a similar geological structure and mineralogy. The close proximity of the company’s existing tenements and potentially similar processing requirements could well justify a centralised processing plant sourcing from each of these sites. However, like any early stage exploration project, it will take time for sufficient exploration activities and technical studies to be undertaken in the recently acquired license area to determine the viability of developing the site.

Read the full press release here