SANTA COMBA PROJECT
The project is located 60km from the nearest deep-water port by sealed road and has significant infrastructure already in place, including grid power, a partially completed processing plant, workshops and offices, and a tailings dam. The project enjoys considerable industry support, having received an offer from HC Starck for the offtake of tungsten concentrate, a pre-approved German government funding guarantee (subject to a positive feasibility study) and logistical and offtake support from Transamine Trading, the world’s oldest independent commodity trader.
With the mine fully permitted for underground mining and partially permitted for open pit out to 2068, the project is well-placed for fast-tracking through to production. Rafaella recently announced the appointment of a local drilling contractor and feasibility study manager to conduct the work required to finalise the debt arrangements and execute the HC Starck offtake agreement.
RESOURCE
The Project is fully permitted for underground and partial open pit mining. GTT defined a maiden JORC (2012) mineral resource estimates (MRE) in 2016 for both near-surface disseminated mineralisation and underground vein-style mineralisation following its maiden drilling program and assessment of historical data (Wheeler, A., Resource Estimation for the Santa Comba Project, Spain. Prepared for Galicia Tin & Tungsten SL).
The near-surface disseminated and veinlet JORC (2012) Inferred MRE is based on 23 drill holes (2,219m) conducted over less than 10% of the prospective endogranite lithology (Fig. 2). 5.1 million tonnes with an average grade of 0.203% WO3 (0.05% WO3 cut-off; Table 1 & 2) has been defined. Individual lode widths range from 2m to 30m. As part of feasibility studies, the Company will assess this style of mineralisation for potential open pit mining.
TABLE 1
Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (JORC, 2012) – near-surface disseminated mineralisation and veinlets.
* Cut-off = 0.05% WO3. Maximum extrapolation distance = 70m;
TABLE 2
Near-surface Inferred Mineral Resource reported at range of cut-off grades.
The near-surface disseminated and veinlet JORC (2012) Inferred MRE is based on 23 drill holes (2,219m) conducted over less than 10% of the prospective endogranite lithology (Fig. 2). 5.1 million tonnes with an average grade of 0.203% WO3 (0.05% WO3 cut-off; Table 1 & 2) has been defined. Individual lode widths range from 2m to 30m. As part of feasibility studies, the Company will assess this style of mineralisation for potential open pit mining.