Australian listed Elementos Ltd. (ASX-ELT) has undertaken a review of the JORC compliant, hard rock, mineral resource at its Cleveland tin-copper project, in north-west Tasmania, to assess the potential for partial exploitation via an open pit operation. As a result, the top 150m of the deposit has been defined as an open pit resource, with the remainder reported as an underground resource.
The total indicated and inferred hard-rock mineral resource has remained unchanged at 7.4 Mt of ore at 0.65% Sn and 0.25% Cu, or 48,000 tonnes of contained tin and 18,500 tonnes of contained copper. However, the open pit component of the indicated and inferred resource has a higher tin grade of 0.81% Sn within 0.84 Mt of ore.
An open pit is important for the current mine plan, as it links together the tailings reprocessing project and redevelopment of the historical underground mine. A Development Proposal and Environmental Management Plan (DPEMP) was recently lodged for the first stage of development, which includes the reprocessing of tailings and dewatering of the old mine workings. Elementos is now undertaking scoping and exploration targeting studies to optimise the mine plan and extend the known mineralisation, which remains open along strike.
Calvin Treacy, Elementos’ Managing Director, commented: “The outcome of the review of the Cleveland Mineral Resource is outstanding, and we are excited about the development potential of the open pit mineral resource, due to its high-grade and potential synergies with the tailings and underground projects”
