Cornish drills tin, zinc and silver at United Downs, England

Cornish Metals Inc. [CUSN-TSXV; SBWFF-OTC] reported assay results from nine diamond drill holes drilled to test the Trenares lode target within the United Downs project, southern England.

The Trenares target area is located approximately 300 metres south of the historic, copper-rich, United Mines. Nine drill holes were completed, on three drill sections, for a total of 2,683.55 metres drilled. Multiple zones of mineralisation were intersected on each drill section. Mineralisation is principally tin, zinc and silver with minor copper.

Intersects include drill hole TN21_002 that returned 2.42 metres grading 2.88% tin and 1.43% zinc. TN21_002 returned 3.34 metres of 2.48% zinc and 22 g/t silver. TN21_002 returned 0.90 metres of 10.30% zinc and 18 g/t silver. TN21_003 returned 1.52 metres of 0.72% tin, 1.69% zinc and 14 g/t silver. TN21_004 returned 0.62 metres grading 1.46% tin, 5.23% zinc and 18 g/t silver.

Richard Williams, CEO, stated: “The Trenares Target drill program has been successful in demonstrating the presence of multiple zones of mineralization in an area of the United Downs project that is underexplored, has never been mined and represents a compelling exploration target. The presence of high-grade tin and zinc warrants further follow-up exploration. Once we are in receipt of all remaining drill programme assays, we can evaluate the priority targets for follow up work.”

The drill program at United Downs project is now complete, with results pending for a further five holes drilled into the Mount Wellington, UD Lode, and United Mine targets still pending. In addition, eight drill holes for 2,501 metres were drilled at the Carn Brea South Target, located approximately 2 km southeast of South Crofty mine site. Results for these drill holes will be released in due course.

The drill rig has now been moved to the South Crofty where it will start an 8,000-12,000-metre drill program designed to collect samples for metallurgical testwork as part of the South Crofty Feasibility Study leading to a construction decision for the South Crofty mine. This program will involve three drill rigs testing the eastern, central, and western part of the mine complex. The other two drill rigs are expected to arrive at South Crofty over the next four to six weeks.

United Mines and Consolidated Mines, located 320 and 720 metres north, respectively, of the Trenares Target operated between the early 1700s and the 1870s, mining high-grade copper ores (reported grades of 7.5% copper) to depths of up to 500m below surface.

Cornish Metals completed the acquisition of the South Crofty tin and United Downs copper/tin projects, plus additional mineral rights located in Cornwall, UK, in July 2016. The additional mineral rights cover an area of approximately 15,000 hectares and are distributed throughout Cornwall. Some of these mineral rights cover old mines that were historically worked for copper, tin, zinc, and tungsten.

The South Crofty project covers the former producing South Crofty tin mine located beneath the towns of Pool and Camborne, Cornwall. South Crofty mine closed in 1998 following over 400 years of continuous production. Since acquiring the project in 2016, Cornish Metals has completed and published maiden NI 43-101 Mineral Resources for South Crofty using the vast archive of historical production data and more recent drilling completed between 2007 and 2013.

In 2017, Cornish Metals completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment that demonstrated the economic viability of re-opening the mine. Additionally, Cornish Metals has undertaken extensive pilot-scale water treatment trials and successfully applied for and received the necessary environmental permits to abstract, treat and discharge mine water in order to dewater the mine. Planning permissions for the operation of the mine and re-development of the surface facilities have been secured and construction of the water treatment plant foundations commenced. The dewatering pumps, variable speed drives and new high-voltage power supply have been delivered to site. An updated Mineral Resource was completed in June 2021.