Metals X adds high-quality material to Renison Reserve
Metals X has updated its Reserve estimate for the Renison mine in Tasmania, Australia, replacing depleted material with higher grade ore. New drilling results add confidence that the company will be able to continue this trend in the future.
The Renison area has been continuously mined for almost 100 years, and so proving the continued longevity of the project is a crucial benchmark for Metals X and its investors.
In June, the company updated the Resource Estimate for Renison. Despite mining depletion, the company increased the amount of tin in ore at the mine by some 6%. However, Resources are not an indication of whether the material can be extracted economically.
In the latest update of economically extractable metal at Renison, Metals X has announced that contained tin has increased by 17%. The mine now contains some 128,900 tonnes of metal at a grade of 1.46%.
This increase of 19,000 tonnes is the net result of new Reserves (31,000 tonnes) and mining depletion (12,000 tonnes). The new Reserves added during the year were higher quality than material currently mined at Renison. New material has a grade 1.68% Sn compared to the 1.50% Sn average grade of mined material, which could help reduce operational costs.
On top of the material added to the Renison Reserve, Metals X has also announced drilling results from new areas of mineralisation. In 2019, the company surveyed seven drill holes using downhole electromagnetic probes. This work identified 24 conductive targets, of which three were highlighted as key targets for further testing. Initial drilling intersected sulphide mineralisation.
The initial drilling was followed up with a six-hole drilling program, of which the latest results are from the second of this drill holes. Hole S1671 is located roughly 800m from the nearest mining drive and returned strong tin results: 26.93m of 4.57% Sn was the standout. Following the strong results, Metals X plans to drill an additional five holes around S1671 to further test the extent of mineralisation.
Based on 2021 production levels, the increase in Reserves extends the Life of Mine at Renison from 13 years to 15 years. With higher grade material, however, Metals X may opt to produce more metal annually instead. The strong drilling results from outside of the traditional Renison Resource area is a positive sign that mineralisation extends laterally as well as at depth. The high-grade intersections add confidence that Metals X will be able to continue to add high-quality Resources in the future.
