Baal gammon

Chinese mining company, Snow Peak, through its Australian interests in Consolidated Tin, have agreed to commit to completing the stage one pit at the Baal Gammon Mine near Herberton that was severely effected by a contaminated water spill in early 2012. Stage one involves the returning of waste rock into the pit before it is capped and closed down. Snow Peak is also looking at developing stage two of the Baal Gammon Mine that involves mining it as an underground operation to avoid any further adverse environmental impact occurring.

Baal Gammon Mine is Located Seven Kilometres from Herberton
The Baal Gammon Mine is located alongside the main sealed road that runs between Watsonville and Herberton, seven kilometres west of the Herberton township. The mine is situated on granted mining leases within the Herberton Tin Project zone. The Baal Gammon deposit that contains copper, indium, tin and silver covers an area of one square kilometre where 17 small mining operations have been carried out in past years, particularly from 1967 to 1983.

Baal Gammon Owned by Monto Minerals
The Baal Gammon mining lease is owned by Monto Minerals, which in May 2011 signed a mineral rights agreement with Kagara Limited to carry out mining operations at the Baal Gammon open pit mine. Kagara, as the operator of the Baal Gammon Mine was fully responsible for all funding expenses and all obligations concerning the mines operation and development.

Baal Gammon Mine Operator Kagara Replaced With Snow Peak
Kagara trucked the ore from the Baal Gammon operation to the Mount Garnet polymetallic ore processing plant that is situated about 25 kilometres south of the Herberton operations. However, Baal Gammon mining ceased in April 2012 when Kagara entered voluntary administration. It currently remains on care and maintenance. In January 2013, Hong Kong based company, Snow Peak, entered into an agreement to take over the mining interests of Kagara Limited.

Snow Peak, as a shareholder in Consolidated Tin Mines Limited, has given the responsibility to manage and operate the Baal Gammon Mine and the Mount Garnet processing plant, to Consolidated Tin.

Consolidated Tin went ahead with the operation of the Mount Garnet processing plant processing stockpiled ore from the Baal Gammon mine while waiting to process ore from its own Mount Garnet Tin Project. The processing plant has the capacity to process one million tonnes of ore a year with the current poly-metallic and copper circuits. An additional tin circuit is under consideration in order to process Mount Garnet ore when it comes on hand in 2014.

The agreement Snow Peak has entered into with Monto Minerals includes Monto Minerals receiving 2.5 percent net smelter royalty on all metals for the first 550,000 tonnes of Baal Gammon ore that is mined. This royalty amount falls to two percent net smelter royalty for ore mined over and above the initial 500,000 tonnes. At the time of the agreement being reached there was a stockpile of ore at the Baal Gammon Mine totalling 6,368 tonnes grading at 67.87 grams a tonne of silver and 2.86 percent copper awaiting trucking to the Mount Garnet processing facility. Snow Peak's Mineral Rights Agreement with Monto Minerals places all costs and obligations incurred with running the mine onto Snow Peak as well as the the mines environmental obligations.
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