AusTin Mining has made a number of changes in plans for its Taronga mine project in New South Wales which will substantially reduce operating and capital costs. A new pre-feasibility study has been delayed to take into account the changes, but is still due to be completed in the current quarter. First tin concentrate production is targeted for 2017.
In a recent presentation the company said that optimisation of open pit mining plans results in a much lower strip ratio of 0.9 in the first three years of planned production, reducing the tonnage of waste removed from over 20 million tonnes in an early study by Newmont in the 1980s to 6.7 Mt, cutting operating costs by A$60 million. Capital spending on the processing plant will also be lowered by reducing capacity by 30% to 2.5 Mty, use of modular equipment and new location and tailings disposal plans. AusTin is also exploring a range of innovative funding options, to minimise equity financing requirements.
