This start-up requirement is equivalent to $28,100 per tonne of recovered tin, which Aus Tin notes is less than the average $US30,700 ($A33,200) per tonne rate associated with other proposed tin projects.

The company said prefeasibility work at the site lowered predevelopment costs through use of an open pit mine plan and ore-pre-concentration prior to primary grinding while operating costs were optimised through a reduced mine strip ratio.

C1 cash costs were estimated at $A16,553/t of recovered tin, using a tin price of $US25,000/t.

Tin was last trading at about $23,154/t.

Taronga is planned to process a relatively simple ore at 2.5 million tonnes per annum using conventional practices and is expected to achieve an overall tin recovery of 70%, generating an average of 2825t of tin in concentrate per annum over a 9.3-year mine life.

A net present value of $A$63.1 million was projected with an internal rate of return of 27.3%.

Aus Tin said, however, that a pre-tax, ungeared NPV of $145.7 million with an IRR of 47.8% was achievable with an increase in plant feed grade.

“We are pleased with the results of the prefeasibility study confirming the technical and economic viability of the Taronga tin project and are excited by the extent of upside opportunities identified during the work,” Aus Tin chief executive Peter Williams said.

“Approaching the study from the perspective of not simply generating a technically sound project, but also one that can be financed, is expected to be rewarded as we move forward with our funding discussions.”

The company noted that it had short-listed a group of global organisation over the past six months that had expressed interest in providing funding for Taronga’s definitive feasibility study and possibly participate in construction.

These discussions are now being progressed ahead of a decision to formally proceed with the DFS.

The prefeasibility results included a maiden reserve for the project of 22Mt at 0.16% tin for 35,600t of contained tin.

This represents 96% of the proposed mine’s production target of 37,100t of contained tin and was established on a total resource of 36.3Mt at 0.16% tin for 57,000t of contained tin.

Shares in Aus Tin were last trading 16.7% higher at 0.7c.