In its latest quarterly report Metals X reported a 6% year-on-year increase in tin-in-concentrate production at the Renison mine in Tasmania to 1,676 tonnes in January-March. Metals X and its Chinese partners (Yunnan Tin Group and L’Sea Resources) have agreed to move from contract to owner-operator mining from this month and are also in the process of reviewing the options for a tailings treatment project which has been on hold since the completion of a feasibility study in 2009.

In a statement Metals X reported that “the operating JV completed review of the Rentails tin fuming technologies during the quarter. The planned Ausmelt technology for tin fuming was compared against the proprietary Box-fumer technology of Yunnan Tin Group. The conclusions were that any saving in capital and/or operating costs were offset by the copper credit from tapping a copper matte from the Ausmelt top- lance furnace. The JV partners agreed to review and update the feasibility study for Rentails and refresh its capital cost and construction methodology as the Australian dollar tin price was approaching a level that made the development feasible and bankable.”

Commenting on the decision not to re-new the underground mining contract which expired at the end of April, Metals X said “the company believes that the operations have reached a long-term steady-state production level and with the changing landscape of a hungry labour-pool in the Tasmanian mining sector the time is right for such transition. A predominantly new fleet of underground equipment has been acquired and the employment of an owner miner’s team is advanced. It is expected that additional cost saving will be achieved moving forward despite some one-off costs in the next quarter associated with contractor de-mobilisiation.”