tin shortage

In the Australian today....

Tin shortage looms

STOCKS of tin at London Metal Exchange warehouses are at a two-year low and one of China's largest tin smelters is closed for five weeks' maintenance.

The price at the LME tested $US22,600 a tonne on Thursday. Not quite as spectacular as nickel, up 10 per cent in eight days due to the Indonesian export ban, but that could be temporary. The looming tin shortage, by contrast, is not going away.

Not surprising, then, that Trafford Resources (TRF) saw a leap in traded volume on news of tin intersections west of Whyalla. It reported 12.3m at 1.1 per cent tin with 1.3m at 4.8 per cent, and the company added it was confident it had a significant, near-surface high grade tin deposit.

Trafford helpfully compared its intersections with the 14.6 million tonne resource in Morocco owned by Kasbah Resources (KAS): "Recent intercepts reported by Kasbah Resources are lower grade than those reported here by Trafford." Yes, but Kasbah's Achmmach project has the critical word "advanced" attached to it and looks like being the world's next new tin mine.

Also, Japan's Nittetsu Mining thought it worth paying $7.5m for just a 5 per cent slice of the action.

Meanwhile, Stellar Resources (SRZ) is attracting European attention to its Heemskirk tin project in Tasmania which will, according to the pre-feasibility study, produce 4327 tonnes of tin a year, or 1.5 per cent of global mine supply. A private Luxembourg company last week took a $2.6m placement. Last year, a German private investor bought 18.4 per cent of the junior when fellow tin hopeful Gippsland (GIP) sold down its stake.