PERTH (miningweekly.com) – An economic study into the Oropesa tin project, in Spain, has found that the project could produce some 2 440 t/y of tin metal over a mine life of 14 years.
The study was based on the development of an opencut mine, processing plant, tailings storage facility and infrastructure to support a 750 000 t/y mining operation.
ASX-listed Elementos has reported that at a tin price of $19 750/t, the mine could potentially generate annual gross revenue of more than $48-million, against a forecast operating cost of $28-million a year or a cash cost of $11 534/t.
The economic study estimated that the project would require a capital investment of $52.2-million, including a 20% consistency.
The study found a base-case net present value (NPV) of some $92-million and a post-tax net NPV of $66-million, with the pre-tax internal rate of return estimated at 25%, with a pay-back period of four years.
“The study demonstrates that Oropesa has the potential to deliver attractive financial returns at a relatively low capital cost; it's an excellent opportunity to create value-uplift potential for shareholders as the project is advanced towards development,” said Elementos chairperson Andy Greig.
“We’re also confident of enhancing the project’s economics through further drilling to expand and upgrade the size of the existing resource and lower the overall waste-to-ore ratio for the project.”