Department of Natural Resources and Mines
Geological Survey of Queensland
Tin opportunities in Queensland
September 2014
What is tin?
Tin is a metallic element with symbol Sn (from Latin:
stannum) and atomic number 50. It is in group 14 of the
periodic table and shows chemical similarity to both
neighbouring group 14 elements, germanium and lead. It
has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more
stable +4. Tin is the 49th most abundant element and has 10
stable isotopes, the largest number in the periodic table. Tin
is obtained chiefly from the mineral cassiterite, which is tin
dioxide (SnO2). Tin is one of the few metals to have been used
and traded by humans for more than 5000 years. One of its
oldest uses is in combination with copper to make bronze.
Why tin is considered ‘critical’
Tin is present in almost all continents, and of the 19 countries
in which tin was mined in 2012, the top 6 accounted for 95%
of the total world tin production of 240,000 tonnes (t). China
was the leading producer (46% of world output), followed by
Indonesia (17%), Peru (11%), Bolivia (8%), Burma (4.6%) and
Brazil (4.5%).
The tin industry organization ITRI Ltd estimated in 2011 that
global tin demand in 2015 would be about 400,000 tonnes
per year (t/yr), after an all-time high of more than 370,000 t in
2007, powered mainly by the rapid industrialisation of China,
a global boom in consumer electronics, and a rapid transition
to the use of lead-free solders. In 2011, the world tin market
was estimated to have a moderate deficit of production
relative to consumption. World production of refined tin
has been fairly stable at about 350,000 t/yr in recent years,
decreasing slightly in 2008–09 in response to the decline in
world consumption following the 2008 global financial crisis.
Meanwhile, mine production, which peaked in 2007 at about
300,000 t, has been declining. The growing gap between
mine and refined tin production and consumption, especially
in China, has been filled by increased secondary refined tin
production.
Worldwide demand for primary tin was expected to increase
at moderate annual rates. The rate of increase, however,
could increase significantly in a few years if new applications
continue to find acceptance in the marketplace, especially in
the electronics field where tin solder is needed. Higher recent
tin prices discourage tin’s use in new applications.
According to the USGS in 2011, world tin reserves appeared
to be adequate to meet forseeable demand. However, in
2013, the World Bank warned that there may only be 19
years left where the known resources will sustain 2013
production levels. New technology such as smartphones and
other electronic devices are placing a strain on tin supplies
because of the tin solder needed. Secondary sources of tin
are likely to become an even more important component
of supply, especially in the United States which has no tin
mines.
During the next decade, technological changes will likely
affect tin consumption in its main applications of electronics,
solder, and tinplate. Miniaturisation, new assembly
technologies, and lower coating weights could reduce
consumption, but offsetting these are prospects for new
applications for tin chemicals, energy-related technologies
such as lithium-ion batteries, and steel alloys.
How do we use tin?
The largest single application for tin is in solders, which
accounts for about half of current world consumption. Solders
are used in light engineering applications such as plumbing
and sheet metal work for joining metals and pipes and also
joining electrical/electronic circuits. Tin bonds readily to iron
and therefore another major application is coating steel sheet
in the manufacture of tinplate, which accounts for about 16%
of world tin consumption. Tinplate is used for containers in
the form of tin cans for food products, drinks, oils, paints,
disinfectants and chemicals.
Tin in combination with other elements, most commonly
copper, forms a wide variety of useful alloys. Pewter is
85–99% tin with the remainder copper, antimony, bismuth
or rarely lead. Bearing metal also has a high percentage of
tin. Bronze is mostly copper with 12% tin, while addition of
phosphorus gives phosphor bronze.
Tin is also used as a negative electrode in advanced Li-ion
batteries. Tin fluoride is added to some dental care products
as stannous fluoride (SnF 2).
Of all the chemical compounds of tin, the organotin
compounds are most heavily used. Worldwide industrial
production probably exceeds 50,000 t. The major commercial
application of organotin compounds is in the stabilisation of
PVC plastics. Organotin compounds can have a relatively high
toxicity, and they have been used for their biocidal effects in
fungicides, pesticides, algaecides, wood preservatives, and
antifouling agents.
Where is tin found?
The only mineral of commercial importance as a source of
tin is cassiterite (SnO2), although small quantities of tin are
recovered from complex sulfides such as stanite, cylindrite,
frankeite, canfieldite, and teallite.
Most of the world’s tin is produced from placers, secondary
deposits found downstream from the primary deposits.
Primary deposits or lodes can occur within granite or within
pegmatite or aplite (dyke like rocks) or greisens associated
with the granite. Greisens are formed by alteration of granite
during the cooling stages of emplacement by fluids formed
as the last highly gas- and water-rich phases of complete
crystallisation of granite melts. This fluid is forced into the
interstitial spaces of the granite and pools at the upper
margins, where boiling and alteration occur. Primary tin
deposits also occur in rocks surrounding the margins of the
intrusive rocks as veins, disseminations, skarns or carbonate
replacements generated by tin bearing fluids derived from
the granite magmas.
Where is tin found in Queensland?
Mount Veteran
Mount Veteran, 13 km northeast of Mount Garnet, consists
of several tin deposits recently assessed by MGT Resources
Limited. The company estimated in 2011 an indicated
resource of 491,000 t at 0.5% tin at Summer Hill, an inferred
resource of 102,400 t at 0.34% tin at Dalcouth and an inferred
resource of 200,000 t at 1.68% tin at Smiths Creek, 15 km
west-southwest of the mill. Smith’s Creek is a 6–10 m wide
quartz-tourmaline pipe, which has been mined to 167 m and
has the potential to be mined to greater depth.
During 2013 the company conducted drilling at Dalcouth,
500 m from the mill, and this is the company’s first priority
open-pit mining target. Results have been highly encouraging
and are expected to lead to an upgraded resource estimate.
Collingwood
The Collingwood underground tin mine, 35 km south of
Cooktown, was commissioned in late 2005 by Bluestone Tin
(renamed Metals X Limited). The first commercial shipment
of concentrates was produced early in 2006, but the mine
was closed in May 2008. The identified mineral resources are
currently 643,000 t at 1.19% tin. The project is presently on
hold.
Mount Garnet
The Mount Garnet tin project is largely based on the Gillian,
Pinnacles and Deadmans Gully/Windermere tin and fluoritebearing wrigglite magnetite skarns. The main Gillian deposit
is 7 km west-southwest of Mount Garnet, and the Pinnacles
project and Deadmans Gully/Windermere prospect are 7 km
and 24 km east-northeast of Mount Garnet respectively. The
skarn deposits contain fine cassiterite closely associated
with iron oxides that have historically presented challenges
to recovery methods developed for coarse tin ore. Gillian will
be the first deposit to be mined at the Mount Garnet project
with the first processing of tin ore expected in late 2014.
Gillian has an inferred resource of 3.6 Mt at 0.65% tin and
27.95% iron, which includes a measured resource of 1.105 Mt
at 0.73% tin. The indicated and inferred resource at Pinnacles
is 7.035 Mt at 0.3% tin, 19.55% iron and 5.8% fluorine as
contained fluorite. The inferred resource at Windermere
is 2.04 Mt at 0.27% tin and 24.54% iron, and the nearby
Deadmans Gully prospect has an indicated resource of
444,000 t at 0.34% tin and 26.7% iron.
The company has also acquired the Jeannie River prospect,
90 km northwest of Cooktown, which has an inferred
resource of 2.24 Mt at 0.6% tin.
Baal Gammon
In the third quarter of 2011, mining activities commenced
at the Monto Minerals Limited Baal Gammon polymetallic
deposit, seven kilometres west of Herberton in north
Queensland. At the time Kagara Limited released an updated
resource estimate with Indicated Resources of 2769 kt at
1.0% Cu, 40 g/t Ag, 0.2% Sn and 38 g/t indium (In). Tin was
not being extracted, but Monto Minerals and Kagara Limited
were assessing the technical and commercial feasibility of
a tin extraction circuit. Mining operations recommenced at
Baal Gammon in the second half of 2013, with ore expected
to be treated at the Mount Garnet processing plant in the first
quarter of 2014.
In November 2011, Monto applied successfully for a
mining lease over the Confederation copper–tin prospect,
contiguous with the existing Baal Gammon Mining Leases
and within 800 m of the Baal Gammon mine. Monto
undertook drilling at the Confederation prospect in the first
half of 2012. Intercepts included six metres at 4.33% Cu,
1.25% Sn, 106 g/t Ag and 301 g/t In.
The Baal Gammon deposit forms part of Monto’s larger
Herberton tin project, centred on the historic tin mining
region around, and to the west of, Herberton. A regional (188
square kilometres) soil geochemistry survey of the project
area commenced in September 2012 and was about 30%
complete by mid-2013. A number of anomalies have been
identified.
Monto Minerals also reported near surface tin mineralisation
from its May 2013 drilling program at its Alexandra and
Dargo prospects at Mount Ormonde about seven kilometres
southwest of Baal Gammon, including six metres at 1.49% Sn
and five metres at 1.03% Sn. Follow-up drilling in June 2013
included two metres at 2.61% Sn. The company also reported
interesting poly-metallic anomalies including copper, lead,
zinc, arsenic, bismuth, tellurium, tungsten, tin and gold in
a deep drill hole at the Zig Zag prospect, also in the Mount
Ormonde region.
Exploration potential in Queensland
Queensland has several tin bearing provinces, particularly
the Carboniferous–Permian Kennedy Igneous Province in
north Queensland. If tin prices continue to rise, increased
exploration is expected to unearth new tin resources in this
region.
References
U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries,
February 2014:
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/tin/
index.html#mcs
Australian Mines Atlas, 2014: http://www.
australianminesatlas.gov.au/aimr/commodity/tin.html
Further information
GSQ hotline
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +61 7 3006 4666
Geological Survey of Queensland
Level 12, 61 Mary St Brisbane Qld 4000
www.dnrm.qld.gov.au
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Produced by Publication Graphics SGS, Geological Survey of Queensland September 2014.
© State of Queensland (Department of Natural Resources and Mines) 2014.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en
Produced by Spatial and Graphic Services, Geological Survey of Queensland
© The State of Queensland (Department of Natural Resources and Mines) 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en
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