To coincide with 2016 Asia Tin Week in Shanghai, ITRI has released its 2016 ITRI Explorers & Developers Group Members report. The report includes profiles on each of the 8 current member companies and information on the major tin projects they are working to develop. ITRI and Elementos Ltd. Executive Director, Chris Dunks, both presented separately in Shanghai on tin project developments and opportunities.
The low tin prices of 2015 and early 2016 made it difficult for many tin exploration companies to maintain planned development schedules, but many have persevered. The staged development strategy adopted by Elementos and several other explorer group members has enabled a reduction in projected initial capital expenditure and provided faster start-up schedules to capitalise on rising tin prices.
Even with the many optimisations and scaling down studies that have been implemented, projects will still require significant upfront financing in order to reach construction, with current CapEx cost estimates for E&D projects ranging between US$5 million and $365 million, varying in broad relation to the designed production capacity. However, ITRI has identified a surge in tin project fundraising in Q3 2016 as tin prices have risen, which suggests that the investment community is regaining interest and that the outlook for tin project funding and development may be more positive looking forward.
