Jan. 30 -- Consolidated Tin Mines completed some 4,000 metres of exploration drilling at its Mount Garnet project in Northern Queensland in the quarter to end-December and after further work in the current quarter will upgrade its JORC resource estimate (currently 7.4 million tonnes at 0.6% tin). In the December quarter the company also agreed to acquire the Jeannie River project 320 kilometres north of Mt Garnet (2.24 Mt also at 0.6% tin) and concluded a three year negotiating process to conclude an Indigenous Land Use Agreement.

Further work on mineral processing of the ironstone skarn deposits and environmental studies will feed into a Pre-feasibility Study. In a presentation made at ITRI's Investing in Tin seminar in December, the company indicated that the PFS could be completed in Q1 and a full feasibility study in Q2. Subject to the satisfactory conclusion of the studies and funding negotiations, project construction could start by the end of the year.