[Cornish Metals opens new workshop and stores facility to advance UK South Crofty tin project]
Cornish Metals (AIM:TIN) has opened a new workshop and stores facility to provide permanent maintenance, engineering and storage services for the South Crofty tin project in the UK, supporting the project through development and into production. The building stands on the site of the former Bartles Foundry within South Crofty's surface footprint, is covered with solar panels and will use geothermal energy recovered from mine water pumped from South Crofty, providing a lower-carbon energy source. The project was part-funded by a grant of up to 4.2 million GBP (about 7.98 million USD) from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, managed by Cornwall Council; total project cost was approximately 6.8 million GBP (about 12.92 million USD). CEO Don Turvey said installation of the service winder and completion of the production winder building mark a visible shift from preparation to construction at the New Cook's Kitchen (NCK) shaft, with underground dewatering passing 400m below surface and progressing steadily. A two-hole, 2,330m surface drilling programme at Roskear has been completed; both holes intersected the known Roskear lodes at or close to predicted positions, confirming tin mineralisation continues west beyond the current resource and supporting potential resource growth. High-grade tungsten was also discovered, but tin remains the company's focus. South Crofty is a historical underground tin mine considered among the highest-grade tin resources globally, with potential to become a new low-cost global producer. Tin mining in Cornwall's Central Mining District dates back to 2,300 BC, with large-scale production from the mid-1600s until South Crofty, the last active mine, closed in 1998.