Trial Blast Successfully Undertaken
No summary for this filing – the full text is below.
Select text to share a quote on X · sign in to keep highlights & notes in your 1SN notes
First Tin PLC (LSE: 1SN), a tin development company with advanced, low capex projects in Germany and Australia, is pleased to announce that a Trial Blast at its Taronga Tin Project ("Taronga") in Australia has been successfully undertaken and the results have been analysed.
The blast was undertaken on 2nd October 2024 and the consultants' final report was received on 28th October. All safety procedures were followed and no safety or community concerns were recorded.
Key findings include:
- Drilling showed excellent penetration rates aided by the vertical nature of the fracture sets. A total of 221.5m was completed within 6 hours.
- Powder factors of 0.3, 0.5 and 0.8 were trialled based on 0.8 SG ANFO (Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil).
- All powder factors showed excellent breakage to sizes less than 400mm.
- The consultants recommended that a powder factor of 0.5 be used for production holes at the start of operations, with 0.3 used for batter holes in trim shots. It was suggested that a powder factor of 0.3 could be trialled once mining has commenced.
- This confirms the powder factor used in the Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") is correct.
- Two Geophone style blast monitors were placed at the nearby communications tower (500m from the blast site) and 243m in the opposite direction from the blast site. The trigger points were set at 0.5mm/s (PPV) and 85db overpressure (noise). The only recorded vibration was at the closest monitor 243m from the blast site and no overpressure noise was recorded.
First Tin CEO, Bill Scotting commented:
"The trial blast was a great success and reinforces the technical viability of our Taronga project. It confirms that the powder factors used in the DFS produce excellent fragmentation and that further trials using even lower powder factors could result in significant operating cost savings.
Our monitoring also confirmed acceptable vibration and noise from the trial, demonstrating our commitment to safety and minimal community impact. This data is currently being modelled as part of the preparation of Taronga's Environmental Impact Statement.
The blasted rock also provided an opportunity to collect another bulk sample for our continuing metallurgical testwork programme, with samples more closely representing the actual run of mine blasted material. ALS Burnie in Tasmania will conduct metallurgical testing on these samples.
These insights are invaluable as we advance our Taronga asset toward production."
(Figure 1: Drone Footage of Blast)
Cleaned text: letterheads, contacts and legal notices removed. View the original announcement ↗ · Company filings. Not investment advice.