First Tin Limited was established in 2012 as Treliver Minerals Ltd. The company, which was known as Anglo Saxony Mining between 2017 and 2021, is the holder of several tin deposits, including Tellerhauser in Saxony, Germany, and Taronga in New South Wales, Australia.

First Tin is an exploration and development group focussed on new supply of tin and associated metals in OECD countries. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange in April 2022 following a capital raising (AIM:1SN).

The Tellerhauser Tin Project

The Tellerhauser project was discovered “accidentally” by the GDR-Soviet joint venture company SDAG Wismut in 1968 whilst exploring for and developing a nearby uranium deposit.

The project’s geology is divided into two packages: the skarn package and the schist sequence. The skarn package accounts for 124,000 tonnes of contained metal, with a further 19,000 tonnes of contained tin within the schist sequences. The skarn mineralisation occurs in three major, shallowly dipping seams. Here, tin occurs as cassiterite alongside indium as roquesite and zinc as sphalerite. The schist sequence beneath the skarn feeds the mineralisation, and these feeder structures also host significant tin mineralisation.

A JORC Resource Estimate in 2019 estimates contained tin in indicated and inferred resource totals 53,000. Once online, the capacity of concentrate production will produce 6,700 tonnes of 50% tin concentrate, along with concentrates of zinc, magnetite and indium. A local hydroelectric plant will be used for power, and waste rock/residues will be used as a by-product for backfill. The company has begun work on a Definitive Feasibility Study, with a view to complete it by mid-2023.

The Taronga Project

First Tin acquired the Taronga project in 2021 having been in development for a number of years. Along with tin, Taronga also contains a small copper and silver resource. The project’s Maiden Resource was announced in 2014 as part of a Pre-Feasibility Study for a total of 22.0 million tonnes (Mt) at 0.16% tin (35,600 tonnes contained). Since then, the Resource was improved to some 36.3 Mt at 0.16% Sn for 57,200 tonnes tin contained. This makes Taronga the fifth largest undeveloped tin reserve globally. The company has begun work on a drilling programme, with the aim of improving the resource statements at the project.