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It's pretty close to the second drill site
A case of not seeing the wood for the trees. I was looking closer to the drill site, not expectin it to be so far beyond.
Cheers
As you go up the road to the carn it's just on the right hand side
Cornishknocker, where is Lyle's Shaft. I'm sure I've seen it on a map but can't find it now.
VW signs offtake with Vulcan-Energy,
as did the French Stellantis Group a few days ago.
https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/ann-binding-offtake-agreement-signed-with-volkswagen-group.6475454/
Watch the link I posted SW, it confirms they gave carried out initial test work.
"Perhaps I have misunderstood, but I thought some considerable amount of initial sorting was planned to take place underground. This I understood was going to considerably reduce quantities hoisted to the surface. And underground voids were going to be used to take backfill/waste."
Thats theoretically possible, and may well work, although I am not sure any testwork has been conducted yet on ore sorting at Crofty? There's no mention of any underground processing in the existing PEA, so yeah an opportunity for optimisation there. Its a great idea, just, its a concept still, not something you can build (or finance) a mine around yet...
That is the reason why noone has systematically explored Cornwall, the stuff has been too easy to find. https://youtu.be/UC5k_CLbxpM
As long as they keep the noise down. Moving to Carnkie in the next few weeks.
SW'er thanks again, "you dont really want to be hoisting sub 1% ore"
Perhaps I have misunderstood, but I thought some considerable amount of initial sorting was planned to take place underground. This I understood was going to considerably reduce quantities hoisted to the surface. And underground voids were going to be used to take backfill/waste.
CK; "Just to be clear, when I say opening wheal maid, I mean for further drilling and exploration."
Oh ok that makes sense if they seriously think the depth extension of Hot lode and its parallel structures is economically viable. I'm not sure you'd want to incur the cost of reopening Wheal Maid decline until further drilling and a PEA had been conducted on the project though, to check what the viability is. I'm not seeing anything in these drilling results which is making me think this is a sensible course of action in the immediate future, but there are a lot of variables so I'm not certain.
Val; "What would the combination of these two things cost? £40m (PP) and £Xm (tunnel)?
This could be a much quicker (18-24 months vs 4 years) and cheaper way of getting into production and a way of financing SC. So, short circuiting /reducing the need for £100m.
It would mean less finance and perhaps existing shareholders could finance it without looking for external additional investors. That would be a game changer.
What do you think?"
Certain other infrastructure costs related to facilities would be incurred not just the tunnel and processing plant, but yeah overall you could probably see a reduction in capital from £100m to £70m or so. But remember this would likely happen in parallel with dewatering of Crofty, as I doubt anyone is imagining they find more than a couple of years of high grade ore in this area. And then remember this is totally hypothetical as we have no idea there is anything there yet!
Valu; "What do you see as being the main technical challenges in re-opening SC?"
100+ year old shafts that have been submerged in water for 20 years, and are no doubt full of rusted steelwork, being reopened as the primary means of transporting ore, men and materials. Thats a big job to sort out I can assure you. And then the mining method has to comply with modern health and safety legislation so all the old methods are out and you have to use LHOS basically, but you also need to avoid excessive dilution as hoisting capacity is limited and you dont really want to be hoisting sub 1% ore. And then you have the heat and radon at depth, so you are going to need vastly improved ventilation compared to what they used to have. Its going to be challenging, but if the price is right, if the economics stack up, anything is possible. But there is a significant amount of technical work to be done to bring the project to a Feasibility study level.
Southwesterner "So the building of the processing plant and access to the GFL could be carried out in parallel. "
What would the combination of these two things cost? £40m (PP) and £Xm (tunnel)?
This could be a much quicker (18-24 months vs 4 years) and cheaper way of getting into production and a way of financing SC. So, short circuiting /reducing the need for £100m.
It would mean less finance and perhaps existing shareholders could finance it without looking for external additional investors. That would be a game changer.
What do you think?
The first time I saw the rig was about 3 weeks ago, but tgat was only because I went around looking. If they've been drilling that long, they will have at least two full holes drilled.
CK"They've been drilling there now for around 3 weeks"
They were collecting cores from Carnkie on 3/11 /21......................... So perhaps even longer ago. If the analysis is done locally, then results may come through shortly.
Southwesterner "................but that remains a significant technical challenge."
What do you see as being the main technical challenges in re-opening SC?
They've been drilling there now for around 3 weeks, so if there's something they will have a good idea by now.
Just to be clear, when I say opening wheal maid, I mean for further drilling and exploration.
As I said earlier, at the moment the evidence on Carnkie is anecdotal, although it is reported that South Crofty undertook some drilling there in the 60s, shich if thats the case, they will be being guided by any data that exists.
If there was high grade tin in the upper section of the GFL around Carnkie, that would be very advantageous as an early mining source, and could be accessed in around 18 months from the existing Tuckingmill decline as CK points out. So the building of the processing plant and access to the GFL could be carried out in parallel. Possibly would have to consider cut and fill if the lode is flatly dipping, but if the grades are good (at least 1%+ tin required post-dilution) this can be a suitably selective mining method. Of course this is hugely conjectural as we have no idea if there is anything of any significance there yet!
CK; "On Wheal Maid, I think it is now highly likely that the decline will be reopened, probably in the next 12 months. The end of tge decline is around 10 metres from the structure currently being drilled"
As for United Downs, and this RNS, I think you have to bear in mind this is the at-depth extension of the United Mines Hot lode, and associated structures. These are narrow veins, the grades are reasonable for copper, but the depth is a problem, you are looking at 2 years of development and significant cost and pumping to get down there. This is not an extension of the shallow UD lode structure in close proximity to the Wheal Maid decline, that was intersected by the CL drilling to the west, so I am not sure what reopening that would achieve. Previous drilling showed the "UD lode" appears to be a minor south dipping lode and has only been traced for a short distance from the original hole. I am not convinced they have yet found enough potential mineralisation in this area to constitute a viable project, but its too early to write it off as well.
Certainly though I think it'd be hard to argue professionally that these fairly inconclusive results are the reason for the recent SP rise, if so that makes little sense. So what is really driving the rise remains to be seen, but I still believe the vast majority of the potential value of the share lies in the known high grade tin resources at South Crofty - not the unproven concept of lithium brines or the UD project - but time will tell what is right on that. If someone was willing to put forwards the capital to pump out Crofty, and they release a revised PEA using the new resource and updated prices around the same time, that would be the kind of thing that could justify a SP rise. The potential value of South Crofty at current tin prices is immense, if they can monetise it and prove a viable development pathway forwards, but that remains a significant technical challenge.
CK "The end of the decline is around 10 metres from the structure currently being drilled"
That is very good news. I had got a bit lost about which holes were where. That suggests that if CUSN consider it viable, mining could start fairly quickly. And the chances of it being viable are increased by the existence of WMD.
The hill keeps going up to the South for about another 1500m at four lanes so it's a non starter.
South West Aggregates gave been on the Crofty site for around 40 years, they started taking the DMS reject, a readmix plant was also on site.
On Wheal Maid, I think it is now highly likely that the decline will be reopened, probably in the next 12 months. The end of tge decline is around 10 metres from the structure currently being drilled
What do you think about tunneling in from the South side of Carn Brea? Presumably the tunnel could be shorter, but all the waste would then have the be trucked around as I guess SW Aggregates are near SC.
Talking of declines, do you think the news today means the Wheal Maid decline might be put back into use? It gives CUSN depth, but does it go in the right direction? It would save a considerable expense if it does.
If you look at the map here: -
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carn_Brea,_Redruth
The shaft near the drill site is marked, the decline is located about 1.5km North West of that shaft
No, not at all, carn brea is a granite mass that pushed up through the killas, crofty is on the northern flank, with the granite coming up at angle of around 60 degrees, with granite/killas surface contact being about 100m North of the tuckingmill decline (just the other side of the railway line). From the water level in the decline (around 70m below the portal), if you tunnel North towards carn brea, you should hit the granite in around 50m, from tgat point it will be granite all the way. The surface at the target location is about 200m above the tuckingmill portal or 250m above the water level, so tunnelling will be uphill.
CK Thanks - our posts crossed. As the tunneling would mostly be granite, presumably the start of the tunnel would be quite deep? Would the mine need to be de-watered first? I know you can go below water level now, but would the tunnel to CB need to start below that water level?
Vii ,Keep an eye on tsx ,one way or another on today's RNS I think