The owners of the South Crofty mine in Cornwall, UK, plan to relocate surface operations as part of their plan to re-open the mine, which has been closed since 1998. The mine is now owned by Western United Mines, a joint venture between Baseresult Holdings and a group of investors headed by Galena Asset Management, part of the Trafigura group.
Alan Shoesmith, chief executive at Western United Mines, told local newspaper Western Morning News recently that good progress was being made with mine tunnelling and mineral exploration. He said: “A series of boreholes have been drilled into the rock enabling us to investigate and identify mineralised structures. The results, at this early stage, have confirmed our expectations.”
“We are now negotiating the purchase of a vital piece of land from Cornwall Council which will, when acquired, enable us to relocate our surface operations to an area adjacent to the Tuckingmill Decline – thereby freeing up 27 acres of land for regeneration. Failure to acquire the land will mean having to abandon our relocation plans in favour of refurbishing the existing mill and other buildings and utilising the whole of the site solely for mining purposes – we already have the necessary permissions to do that.”
Almost UK £10 million has been invested in the project so far and further investment in excess of £50 million is forecast to be needed to get the mine back into production. Initial planned production from the re-opened operation is expected to be some 3,000 tpy of tin-in-concentrate.
