New research from Durham University has traced Bronze Age tin artefacts found in Mediterranean shipwrecks back to Britain, providing compelling evidence that Cornish tin was a key component of early international trade.

Although bronze—an alloy of copper and tin—accounts for only a small proportion of modern tin usage, its adoption from around 3300 BC marked a significant technological leap as the preferred metal for tools and weapons.

While copper was widely available across Europe, tin is far less abundant and constrained to just a few major deposits. The research group, Project Ancient Tin, used three independent ICP-MS (inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry) techniques analysing trace elements, lead isotopes, and tin isotopes, to determine the provenance of ancient tin ingots.

The researchers found the chemical signatures of these artefacts were all consistent with specifically Cornwall or Devon tin ores.

Key findings include tin recovered from shipwrecks off the coast of Israel, dating to around 1300 BC, and from a 600 BC wreck near southern France. These results point to a far-reaching Bronze Age trade network, making tin one of the first commodities to be traded over such a significant distance.

Historical texts support these conclusions. Pytheas of Massalia, writing around 320 BC, described tin being mined in Britain and exported via small island—now believed to be St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall—before travelling overland through France.

In the Bronze Age, tin production in the UK was dominated by alluvial deposits, and excavations in the nineteenth century have found tools used for tin mining, while other classical authors also reference tin mining in the British Isles.

The findings underscore Britain’s early role in international trade, and reinforce Cornwall’s historic importance in global tin supply. With several modern tin mining projects now advancing towards production, the area’s multi-millennia mining legacy may soon enter a renaissance—forty years after the 1985 tin price crash led to the closure of Cornwall’s last tin mines.

Link to paper

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The UK’s National Wealth Fund, wholly owned by HM Treasury, has committed to invest at least £25 million in South Crofty mine developer Cornish Metals.

As a part of successful fundraising of a minimum of £56 million, Cornish Metals announced on Tuesday that the National Wealth Fund has committed to invest up to £28.75 million minus expenses, while major shareholder Vision Blue will make an investment of up to £18.28 million to maintain its 25.95% stake.

Cornish Metals CEO, Don Turvey, commented “We are very pleased to welcome NWF as a major shareholder in Cornish Metals and to lead this fundraise alongside Vision Blue, demonstrating support for the Company and our plans to bring tin mining back to Cornwall.”

Continuing, Mr Turvey highlighted that the financing will enable the company to maintain the “strong momentum” of the last couple of years, enabling the delivery of “crucial milestones expected in the coming year including the completion of mine dewatering and shaft refurbishment, the start of early project works, placing orders for long-lead items, and concluding the project finance process.”

The company has earmarked £13.3 million for mining-related works and dewatering, £17.2 million for early works and long-lead items, and £5.1 million for project engineering studies. Cornish Metals states the fundraising will bring South Crofty nearer to production and advance it towards a formal final investment decision.

The company has been focused on reopening the historic South Crofty mine in Cornwall, UK, which represents the highest grade tin resource not currently in production, and is set to be one of the first new supply projects to come online.

John Flint, CEO of the National Wealth Fund, commented “Critical minerals are not only an important driver of the UK’s transition to net zero, but also of the UK’s growth mission, providing opportunities to anchor important supply chains in the UK.”

At ITA’s Investing in Tin seminar in December 2024, speakers highlighted the importance of government-owned funds investing in critical minerals, with investments signaling government support for domestic mining projects and encouraging other market participants to invest.

Our view: ITA is delighted to see that the UK’s government-owned investment fund recognises the importance of tin and the urgency of the impending supply deficit, and has accordingly made a significant investment into a future producer. This follows a move in late 2024 by the US Department of Defense to offer a $19 million grant to secondary tin producer Nathan Trotter to expand their production capacity in the interest of reducing supply chain vulnerability.

ITA’s Investing in Tin seminar in December 2024 featured a presentation on the role of sovereign wealth funds in critical minerals. A summary of the event and all slides and recordings can be found on our website.

Cornish Metals Inc. is a member of ITA’s Explorers & Developers Group.

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South Crofty developer Cornish Metals (ASM/TSX-V: CUSN) has announced that it has secured a further US$9.145 million from major shareholder Vision Blue Resources.

Cornish Metals (formerly Strongbow Exploration) has been actively working to develop the historic mine in Cornwall since 2016 but the required dewatering of the mine appeared to be an obstacle for investment. After a hiatus in drilling, in 2022 Vision Blue invested £25 million to continue development. Vision Blue currently holds 26% of Cornish Metals share capital.

Newly appointed CEO and Director of Cornish Metals, Don Turvey, commented that “this funding signals Vision Blue’s continued support for Cornish metals and plans to bring tin mining back to Cornwall through the restart of South Crofty.”

Continuing, he stated that the company “has been engaging with investment entities interested in financing the development of the project.”

The project, which targets the highest grade tin deposit not in production, is fully permitted and earlier this year published a Preliminary Economic Assessment highlighting a 3-year post-tax pay back period and a low All-in Sustaining Cost of $13,700/t payable tin. The mine will see production of 49,310 tonnes tin-in-concentrate over its 14-year mine life.

Our view: ITA is pleased to see further investment in a future supply project. Cornish Metals is a promising project with operating costs firmly in the lower half of the forecasted cost curve and a capex intensity similar to that of peer projects.

Representatives of Cornish Metals will be attending and speaking at ITA’s Asia Tin Week in Shanghai on 6-8 November 2024. For details on registration and for more information visit our website.

Cornish Metals Inc. is a member of ITA’s Explorers & Developers Group.

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South Crofty developer Cornish Metals (AIM/TSX-V: CUSN) has announced final drilling results from its exploration of the Wide Formation adjacent to the existing South Crofty mine in Cornwall.

The 14 hole, 8,993 m drilling programme successfully tested the geometry and continuity of tin mineralisation within a 2,500 by 800 m extent. The drilling also intersected mineralisation discovered earlier in 2024 at the Great Flat Lode and the Great Flat Lode Splay.

The company said the results have increased overall confidence in its exploration model and confirm the potential of systematic exploration drilling to make new discoveries and expand the South Crofty mineral resource.

Cornish Metals highlighted intercepts of 10.55 m at 0.19% Sn including 1.49 m at 0.72% within the Wide Formation, as well as intercepts of 1.56 m at 0.76% Sn, 2.07 m at 0.85% Sn, and 1.96 m at 0.66% Sn within high-grade ‘dropper’ zones between the Great Flat Lode and Wide Formation.

Additionally, the drilling intercepted copper within a new structure for 2.11 m at 5.48% Cu and 0.58% Sn.

Cornish Metals Interim CEO and Director Ken Armstrong commented the drilling has “validated the Wide Formation as a new, large-scale, tin-bearing exploration target that is potentially accessible from the underground workings at South Crofty.” Continuing, he said the new discovery of polymetallic tin and copper “further demonstrates the exploration potential of the South Crofty area”.

In July, Cornish Metals announced the completion of the sale of its royalties at the Mactung and Cantung tungsten projects in Canada for a total of US$4.5 million, and the sale of its Nickel King project in June for approximately US$5.9 million. The company said it would use the proceeds of these sales to continue development of South Crofty.

Our view: We are pleased to see positive exploratory drilling results from Cornish Metals, and we look forward to seeing further work to potentially expand the South Crofty mineral resource, which is the world’s highest-grade tin resource not currently in production.

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Tin explorer Cornish Metals (AIM/TSX-V: CUSN) has published a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the South Crofty project, highlighting a base case after-tax Net Present Value (NPV) of US$201 million and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 29.8%.

The company has been dewatering the historic South Crofty mine, which flooded since its closure in 1998, and has been developing the project with the aim of entering production in 2027 for a 14-year mine life. The project is fully permitted with mining permission to 2071, and with full planning permission to construct a processing plant.

Cornish Metals Interim CEO and Director, Ken Armstrong commented: “This PEA is an important milestone for Cornish Metals and our goal of bringing responsible tin mining back to Cornwall and the United Kingdom.”

The PEA outlines a mine throughput of 500 ktpa at an average of 0.94% Sn, and a processed throughput of 250 ktpa at an average of 87.8% tin recovery, for a production total of 49,310 tonnes contained tin over the 14-year mine life. In addition to tin, the PEA includes life of mine production totals of 3,844 tonnes contained copper and 3,225 tonnes contained zinc.

Pre-production capital costs are placed at US$177 million, and post-production at US$54 million, while the average life of mine net cash cost is reported as US$12,705 per tonne tin and an all-in sustaining cost of $13,661 per tonne tin.

Highlighting the project’s economics, Chief Operating Officer Owen Mihalop commented: “The PEA results are compelling with a post-tax NPV of $201 million and IRR of about 30% at a tin price of US$31,000.” The company expects an average annual post-tax cash flow of US$65 million in years 2-6, peaking at US$82 million in year 2, and a post-tax capital payback period of three years, reflecting a lower all-in-sustaining cost of around US$12,400 per tonne tin in the early mine life period. Mr Mihalop continued, “The low all-in sustaining cost of about US$13,700 per tonne of payable tin is an important metric and potentially positions the project within the lowest quartile of the global tin industry cost curve.”

The mine design utilizes existing developments where possible, with new ramps developed to provide mechanised access to other levels, and mine waste will be backfilled as a paste into historical void spaces meaning that the underground operation does not require surface tailings storage. Additionally, Cornish Metals intends to use the historic Wheal Jane concentrator as the basis of the processing circuit, which the company has used for its 2023 metallurgical testwork.

Our view: We are happy to see the publication of the South Crofty PEA, as both a key milestone for the project, and highlighting the mine’s operational and financial potential key infrastructure already in place. Cornish Metals’ exploration activities in the neighbouring Carn Brea area also provide potential for future resource expansion and extension of mine life.

Cornish Metals Inc is a member of ITA’s Explorers & Developers Group.

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South Crofty developer Cornish Metals (AIM/TSX-V: CUSN) has reported results from the first six drill holes of the company’s ongoing Carn Brea drill programme, which identify new mineralised structures beneath the historically mined Great Flat Lode.

All six drill holes at the Carn Brea South exploration area, located along the southern boundary of the South Crofty underground mine permission area, intersected the Wide Formation lode structure and identified new high-grade, steeply dipping tin-mineralised structures between the overlying Great Flat Lode and the underlying Wide Formation. The drilling also identified the Great Flat Lode Splay, an underlying offshoot of the Great Flat Lode.

Highlights from the drill results include 1.21 m at 0.87% Sn and 1.90 m at 0.83% Sn in the Wide Formation (CB23_004 & CB23_006), and 3.38m at 1.01% Sn and 1.00 m at 1.56% Sn in the newly identified Great Flat Lode Splay (CB23_002 & CB23_004).

These results confirm the Wide Formation exploration model for a parallel tin mineralised structure at the expected depths beneath the Great Flat Lode. The extent of the Wide Formation has now been confirmed over a strike length of 1.6 km and a downdip extent of at least 525 m, with thicknesses ranging from 1.8 m to 4.8 m. Characterized by strong tourmaline alteration, it displays variable tin mineralisation as disseminated cassiterite. The geology at the Carn Brea South exploration area is identical to that at South Crofty, with the metasediments crosscut by blue tourmaline-quartz veins.

Within the steeply dipping mineralised zones between the lodes, drilling intersected 0.30 m at 7.48% Sn (CB23_001), 3.09 m at 1.21% Sn (CB23_004), 1.21 m at 1.83% Sn (CB23_004), 3.06 m at 0.93% (CB23_005), and 1.17 m at 0.62% Sn (CB23_006).

CEO and Cornish Metals Director Richard Williams commented: “These results confirm Cornish Metals’ model that the Wide Formation represents a new, large-scale, tin-bearing exploration target lying beneath the historically mined Great Flat Lode. The discovery of additional mineralised structures above and below the Wide Formation is a bonus.”

The Great Flat Lode Splay represents a previously unrecognized splay structure at less than 280 m depth, immediately beneath the Great Flat Lode. Ranging in thickness up to 9 m, this mineralised lode has been highlighted by Cornish Metals as an important new exploration target.

The company outlined the next stages to constrain the location, orientation, true thickness, and extent of these discoveries. A further eight drill holes are planned, testing the 2.5 km strike length of the Wide Formation.

Our view: Cornish Metals will be pleased with these very positive results, which demonstrate the exploration potential around South Crofty. These initial results from the ongoing 14-hole, 9,000 m Wide Formation exploration drill programme are a strong start to a crucial year for Cornish Metals as the company advances the project toward a Feasibility Study and a Preliminary Economic Assessment.

Cornish Metals Inc. is a member of ITA’s Explorers & Developers Group.

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Mineral explorer and developer Cornish Metals Inc (AIM/TSX-V: CUSN) has provided an update on the advancements at the South Crofty project and a look ahead to the company’s objectives in 2024.

In September 2023, the company announced the completion of an updated Mineral Resource Estimate, marking a 31.6% increase in the Indicated category for contained tin in the Lower Mine. The South Crofty Resource currently stands at 2.90 Mt Indicated at 1.50% Sn and 2.63 Mt Inferred at 1.42% Sn. Other significant developments included the commissioning of the water treatment plant, encouraging results from ore sorting testwork, and numerous underground refurbishments.

Looking at the year ahead, Cornish Metals anticipates further progress in the ongoing dewatering of the historic mine to 360 m below the surface. The company plans to initiate underground infill drilling, and aims to complete a comprehensive 14-hole, 9,000 m Wide Formation exploration drill programme. This programme has the potential to increase the Mineral Resource and extend the mine’s operational lifespan.

The South Crofty Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) is slated for completion in the first half of 2024, preceding the publication of the Feasibility Study. CEO Richard Williams reflected on the company’s performance in 2023, emphasising the significant milestones achieved, particularly the construction of the water treatment plant and the commencement of dewatering. Williams stated “activity levels are expected to remain high through 2024 with more important milestones to be met as [Cornish Metals] works to further progress the South Crofty project towards a construction decision”.

Giving more detail on Feasibility Study progress, the company reported the completion of geotechnical testwork, numerical modelling of the proposed underground mining methods and stope designs, the initial phase of a metallurgical testwork programme, and the design of the mineral processing plant. Work is currently underway on the underground mine design.

Our view: Strong progress has been made in 2023, and 2024 will be a pivotal year for Cornish Metals. A construction decision is expected in the winter of 2024-2025, contingent upon the successful completion of both the PEA and Feasibility Study.

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The tour began with a presentation about the mining history at South Crofty and in the Camborne-Redruth-Gwennap Mining District, including a schematic of the historical tin and copper workings. Cornish Metals have been pumping up to 25,000 cubic metres of water per day from the mine, with the impermeability of the surrounding killas and granite geology allowing for selective draining of the tin workings while the historical copper workings above remain flooded.

A milestone of this project will be the use of an old pumping platform and reservoir, breaking the vertical distance which water must be pumped. The dewatering is expected to be completed by mid-2025, followed by a Complete Feasibility Study, and production targeted for end-2026.

Historically, mining at South Crofty reached a depth of 750 m without encountering the lower boundary of tin mineralisation. A separate drilling project in the region indicated mineralisation extending to 3.5 km depth. The historical workings at South Crofty provide enough void space for underground deposition of tailings, with no surface tailings storage required.

Underground, our analysts observed a 75 kW hydroturbine, recovering up to 20% of the power consumed by the Water Treatment Plant from discharged water. The ITA saw current refurbishment of the New Cooks Kitchen shaft, the recommissioning of which and the New Roskear shaft has been scheduled.

Analysts saw the newly installed winder adjacent to the New Cooks Kitchen shaft, designed to lower a custom-built cage as a working platform. A secondary egress winder is also being installed.

At the surface, analysts were shown the Mine Water Treatment Plant (MWTP). Waste sludge from the MWTP is transported to the Wheal Jane hazardous waste site, another former tin mine. The company is investigating the prospect of selling treated water to a local reservoir, as well as exploiting the geothermal power potential of the 25 degree C mine water.

Ore dilution is anticipated to be in line with historical estimates at 40%, and X-Ray Transmission and Heavy Liquid Separation ore sorting trials have shown rejection rates of 50% and 55% respectively. Cornish Metals is assessing potential recovery rates, drawing on historical data from South Crofty which achieved an 88% metallurgical recovery rate using Dense Media Separation and a shaking table. A metallurgical drill programme has been completed, with five areas sampled representing production areas in the first six years of the mine life.

We extend our thanks to Cornish Metals for the opportunity to visit their South Crofty tin project and meet the leadership and mine management teams.

Cornish Metals is a member of the ITA’s Explorers & Developers Group.

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Cornish Metals Inc. (AIM/TSX-V: CUSN) has provided an update on the dewatering of the historic South Crofty tin mine, which is progressing at a faster-than-expected rate. 

The company last month commenced dewatering of the mine near Redruth, which was in continuous production from the sixteenth century until 1998, and has since flooded. Up to 25,000 cubic metres of water has been pumped out, treated at the Water Treatment Plant, and discharged into the Red River. 

Water discharged from the mine powers a 75 kW hydro-turbine, which ITA analysts saw on a recent visit to South Crofty, generating up to 20% of the power consumed by the Water Treatment Plant. 

On 05 December 2023, the water level was reported to be 155 m below the surface. As the water level continues to fall, Cornish Metals expects the rate of drop to decline as the void volume of the historic workings increases with depth. 

Richard Williams, CEO and Director of Cornish Metals reiterated the company’s objective to “complete dewatering of South Crofty within 18 months”. 

Our view: Positive dewatering progress bodes well for Cornish Metals’ published project timescale of completion of dewatering in mid-2025, followed by further mineral resource drilling, the subsequent completion of a Complete Feasibility Study, and a potential commencement of mining by end-2026.  

Cornish Metals is a member of the ITA’s Explorers & Developers Group. 

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Cornish Tin has raised £1.1 million on Crowdcube, over 250% of its £420,000 target, from 1,700 investors for its Great Wheal Vor tin exploration project in Cornwall.

Great Wheal Vor is a group of 26 former tin and copper mines that closed in the 1870s during a crackdown on illegal mining operations. Historical production saw grades above 3% Sn, peaking at 5.5% Sn.

Since acquiring the project in 2017, Cornish Tin has undertaken exploratory drilling for tin, copper, lithium, and tungsten, as well as evaluating the prospect for geothermal energy. Drilling in 2022 discovered multiple tin lodes, with one drill hole recording 0.6 metres from 319.25 m at 6.28% Sn. The company has estimated that “a head grade of at least 2% Sn” could be achievable. Previous drilling has also reported tin and lithium occurrences within the roof complex of the G5 Tregonning granite, with further lithium intercepts deeper below.

The company intends to continue with a second drilling campaign to constrain tonnage and test the continuity of mineralisation across Great Wheal Vor.

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