Stellar Resources (ASX:SRZ)

Stellar Resources (ASX: SRZ) is an ASX-listed company focused on developing the Heemskirk Tin Project located in the historic mining Zeehan district, Western Tasmania, Australia. The company also owns a portfolio of nearby Exploration and Mining licenses including at the St Dizier satellite deposit and at the Scamander Mineral Field.

The Heemskirk Tin Project

The Heemskirk Tin Project is located on the west coast of Tasmania and is 100% owned by Stellar Resources. The Project covers three licenses: the Heemskirk Tin Mining Lease (ML2023P/M) – covering all three of the Heemskirk deposits and the proposed site for the processing plant – as well as the Heemskirk Tailings Storage Mining Lease (ML2M/2014) and Heemskirk Tailings Pipeline Route Mining Lease (ML2040P/M) covering the tailings storage site and the tailings pipeline route for the project.

The Heemskirk tin deposits, only 18 km southwest of the historic Renison mine, are granite-related and hosted within moderate-to-steeply dipping sediments and volcaniclastics. Mineralisation is dominantly cassiterite, with minor stannite and base metal sulphides, and structurally controlled on fold and fault dilation zones between strata.

At Heemskirk, the Severn tin deposit is a north-trending and north-plunging deposit striking over 500 m, 3-30 m wide, and extending over 700 m down-dip. To the south, the Queen Hill tin deposit covers a strike length of over 450 m, 2-30 m wide, and extends 500 m down-dip. Mineralisation at each deposit remains open down-plunge.

Over 50,000 metres of diamond drilling has been undertaken at the Heemskirk deposits across 172 drill holes, with Stellar Resources completing 28,620 metres over 75 diamond drill holes in late 2023. Stellar’s drilling campaign in 2022 yielded some of the best intercepts at the Severn deposit, including 36.6 m at 1.07% Sn from 471.5 m depth (including 12.0 m at 2.12% Sn from 485.0 m) and 51.6 m at 0.44% from 381.3 m depth (including 5.7 m at 0.71% Sn from 381.3 m and 3.2 m at 1.91% Sn from 429.8 m).

In September 2023, the company announced an updated Mineral Resource Estimate of 7.48 Mt at 1.04% Sn (77,872 t contained tin) at a cut-off grade of 0.6%. An updated Indicated Mineral Resource of 3.52 Mt at 1.05% (36,991 t contained tin) represented a 24% increase in contained tin from the November 2022 MRE and a 58% increase from the 2019 MRE.

In October 2019, Stellar published a Scoping Study for the project based on development of an underground mine, processing plant, tailings storage facility, and surface infrastructure to mine ~350 ktpa ore at a head grade of 0.95% over its 10-year initial mine life. The company expects the plant to produce 4,500 tpa tin concentrate with a tin content of 2,200 tpa, and updated Scoping and Mining Studies are underway.

The project will be supplied by 100% renewable energy generation.

Other projects

Stellar holds the nearby St Dizier Tin Mining Lease (ML10M/2017), just 20 km from Heemskirk, covering the open-pittable St Dizier deposit. Over 7,600 metres of diamond drilling has been completed by various operators across 46 drill holes, and a 2014 MRE defined 2.3 Mt at 0.61% Sn (13,786 t contained tin). Stellar plans to mine the deposit in year 11 of the Heemskirk mine plan and transport ore to the Heemskirk plant for processing.

The company also holds the neighbouring Montana Flats Exploration License (EL13/2018) containing the Oonah deposit which has been historically mined as a silver-lead-zinc resource, and the Scamander Mineral Field (EL19/2020) in northeast Tasmania where the company made a significant polymetallic discovery in August 2023.