Home | Log In | Register | Our Services | My Account | Contact | Help |
About Van Diemen Mines
Van Dieman Mines plc owns 13 exploration and retention licences in Tasmania and was admitted to Londons Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in November 2004.
The Scotia, Central Ringarooma and Great Northern Plains areas constitute a tin and gem based resource in excess of 100 million cubic meters. Further areas immediately adjoining the Great Northern Plains resource are estimated to contain in excess of 39 million cubic meters while offshore, extending into Bass Strait, a tin mineralisation zone of some 200 million cubic meters has been delineated.
These alluvial mineral resources encompass a number of discrete project areas. Some deposits such as Endurance and Pioneer which form part of the Central Ringarooma area are "stand alone" projects whilst others such as Scotia, Great Northern Plains and Offshore are linked together, such that they each form part of a major resource area.
The Van Dieman team has spent three years researching the Ringarooma project and Ambrian Partners estimate its break-even cost of producing tin alone at some US$7,800 per tonne BUT there are Sapphires and Gold as well as the tin (along with Zircon, Rutile and Tantalite) !!
Latest News :
5th Dec 2005 : "Mining Lease Granted" : Link Click Here
28th Dec 2005 : "Funding for Treatment/Clean-up Plants" : Link Click Here
Major Shareholders :
Markswift Limited 40.75%
Credit Suisse FCBN Ltd 10.73%
AXA S.A. 7.87%
Chase Nominees Limited 6.95%
The Bank of New York (Nominees) 5.27%
HSBC Global Custody Nominee (UK) 5.18%
Z Nominees Limited 3.74%
Nutraco Nominees Limited 3.60%
Other information :
Old article, good info, price of tin has rapidly moved up now, to well into the profit zone on tin alone for VDM !
30th Nov 2005 :
http://metalsplace.com/metalsnews/?a=3156
Celebrations this month of Van Dieman Mines' first anniversary on AIM were necessarily a fairly low-key affair. Not that are any problems mining at its Tasmanian tin and sapphire resource is on schedule to start next summer but setting up mining operations is not the most exciting of processes, and Van Dieman is hard at it, progressing through the task list. Nothing to hit the headlines or champagne here!
In a few weeks, however, that could change. Van Dieman Mines is right now doing the sums to see how best to fund the treatment plant for its Scotia and Endurance mines. If the best option is judged to be an equity issue, then it will be raising its profile. News on that front should be out within weeks.
Van Dieman has cash, around 2.3m at the end July interim stage, but this money is set aside for the mining operations themselves, especially necessary as it is starting mining at the Scotia and at Endurance mines simultaneously. The plan has always been for the treatment plant to be funded separately. As yet the final price for the plant has to be agreed, so the size of the funding requirement has yet to be revealed.
While the current softness of the tin price is not the best background against which to be going to the market, Van Diemans' CEO, Clive Trist, says his confidence comes from the majority of forecasts which are going for a recovery to a US$7,000-US$8,000/tonne range in 2006. Operational break-even from independent studies put the Van Dieman Mines' break-even at around US$7,040 a tonne of tin. That is quite a way from the current price of just over $6,000, but his hopes are for a rally before next summer. There were signs of better sentiment this week as the price crept up a little, but whether the market will produce enough recovery to be useful for that funding remains to be seen.
However, Van Dieman's strength is that it also has sapphires, plus heavy mineralisation that includes a small amount of gold. The gold will be separated out for sale to the US jewellery market.
The company's hand is further strengthened by the fact that it already has in place a six-year contract with Thailand Smelting and Refining for the purchase and smelting of its entire output of tin concentrates. The contract is based on the LME tin price at the time of the delivery of concentrate, and on the basis of the tin price and estimated production at the time of the September announcement was worth around US$60 million. Mine life is estimated at 15 years.
So, though Trist still has his sleeves rolled up, working through his in-tray, he is sounding pretty relaxed. He has also getting the company's operating headquarters up and running at a little village between the Scotia and Endurance mine sites. This comprises a ten-acre site, depot, tin clean-up shed and shipping facility.
Van Diemans owns overall thirteen exploration licences in the north east Tasmanian tin region, which has been a significant contributor to the overall production of tin and precious stones in Tasmania. Records up to 1980 show recovery of over 40,000 tonnes of tin. This stretches from the Blue Tier granite massif in the south to the north and northeast coasts and into offshore Bass Strait of Australia, a zone delineated to contain around 200 million cubic metres. Hopefully more information will be forthcoming on the sapphires in the coming months as the tin story does not stand up by itself until the price moves significantly.