Bygoo Tin Project
Bygoo Tin Project
Sn
The Bygoo Tin Project is located near the township of Ardlethan in the Riverina District of New South Wales. The project covers an area of 1,500km2 surrounding the historic Ardlethan Tin Mine (excised from the package) the most prolific producer of tin on the Australian mainland until the collapse of the tin market during the mid-80’s. There has subsequently been minimal exploration across the Bygoo area, creating an exciting modern exploration opportunity.
The Tin Market
Tin is a high value metal that currently trades at about 3.5 times the copper price. Just over 50% of global tin production is used in solder, the connection material used in circuit boards and other electric components. For this reason, tin is often considered a ‘technology metal’, increasingly important to support growing demand for electrification and computing, including electric vehicles, solar panels and data centres. Understandably, tin is on the US critical minerals list and the strategic mineral list in Australia.
A large portion of global production has environmental (subsea dredging) and social (artisanal mining, conflict regions) concerns. Australia contrasts as an attractive destination for tin investment, being a safe first-world jurisdiction with high environmental and social standards.
Project Highlights
- Advanced, high-grade exploration project in a prolific tin producing region.
- Surrounds the Ardlethan tin mine which produced 48,000t of tin until 19861
- Kelpie Deposit – Maiden Resource Estimate (MRE): Inferred 3.94Mt @ 0.5% Sn for 19,300t of contained Sn within an open pit constraint provides the foundation for a viable mining project
- Exploration Target at Kelpie shows the potential to increase the deposit significantly, defined in a range of 12-20 million tonnes (Mt) grading 0.35-0.50% Sn
- The Kelpie Deposit represents only 5% of the approximately 20km prospective granite horizon in the project, with almost no effective drill testing, providing scope for new discoveries
- Metallurgical test work has produced marketable tin concentrates at high recoveries with potential for further optimisation through ore-sorting technology.
- Provides excellent leverage to increasing global demand, in a first-world jurisdiction with high environmental and social standards.
Figure 1. Bygoo Tin Project location, New South Wales.
Kelpie Deposit – Maiden Resources Estimate
A Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) was announced in September 2025 at the Kelpie Deposit (formerly Bygoo North Prospect), prepared by Cube Consulting Pty Ltd (Cube). The MRE utilised a large database of historical and recent drilling containing 275 holes for over 20,000m of drilling.
Caspin is continuing to drill and invest considerable time to build a geological model for the deposit. The deposit has been estimated within an optimised pit shell, demonstrating reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction.
TABLE 1: Kelpie Deposit Mineral Resource Estimate
| Category | Cut-off Grade (%) | Tonnes (Mt) | Grade (% Sn) | Contained Sn (kt) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inferred | 0.15 | 3.94 | 0.5 | 19.3 |
The deposit is currently in three distinct parts, although the Company believes this is largely an artefact of the distribution of drilling that mineralisation is continuous along the entire granite contact horizon. This concept forms the basis of the Exploration Target (see Figure 2) and will be the focus of future drilling programs.
The Mineral Resource Estimate is reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012). A summary of the material used to estimate the resource is detailed in the ASX Announcement, dated 5 September 2025.
Figure 2. 3D oblique view of tin mineralisation within the Kelpie Deposit and surrounding Exploration Target.
Very large Exploration Target shows potential for growth
In conjunction with the maiden MRE, the Company also reported a substantial Exploration Target at Kelpie that shows the potential to increase the deposit significantly. An Exploration Target has been defined in a range of 12-20 million tonnes (Mt) grading 0.35-0.50% Sn, representing an opportunity to more than double the Kelpie MRE. The tonnage range represents the untested volume of extensions along the prospective granite contact with an assumed grade range consistent with the Kelpie Deposit MRE.
TABLE 2: Kelpie Deposit Exploration Target
| Tonnage (Mt) Low | Tonnage (Mt) High | Sn Grade (%) Low | Sn Grade (%) Height |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 20 | 0.35 | 0.50 |
The potential quantity and grade of the Exploration Target are conceptual in nature. As such, there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource, and it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in a Mineral Resource. The Exploration Target has been prepared in accordance with the JORC Code 2012.
Excellent Metallurgical Results
The Company undertook two-stage test work program on a sample of core from the Kelpie Deposit, delivering very high recoveries and attractive concentrate grades (refer to ASX release of 19 January 2026).
First-stage gravity separation: evaluating the amenability of high-density tin-bearing minerals such as cassiterite to be separated from less dense silicate-based gangue minerals, using simple wet screening techniques. The amenability of cassiterite to be liberated by these techniques is an important economic factor for the success of the project.
Second-stage tin flotation: designed to recover the minor fraction of very fine cassiterite from slimes, middling and reject streams (from the gravity circuit), that were unable to be recovered during the gravity test work. This enables the Company to evaluate a maximum recovery flowsheet and various alternative economic scenarios.
The final combined concentrate of 53.6% Sn is comprised of the four concentrate streams from the gravity test work program, combined with the optimal flotation regime concentrate, representing 83.8% of tin recovered from the original feed. The Company believes these results are very competitive with existing mines in production or development. Further, a gravity-only flowsheet appears to be a viable option for a simpler, low-cost plant design, delivering high-grade concentrate at very good recovery.
The program allows the Company to now undertake a marketing and off-take study, expecting the concentrate to be highly desirable, considering the attractiveness of the grade and the origin from a safe, first-world jurisdiction..
Ore Sorting results show potential to upgrade Kelpie Tin Deposit
Parallel to the metallurgical test work, two samples (high-grade and low-grade) of Kelpie mineralisation were sent to TOMRA in New South Wales for first inspection ore sorting testing. Results of this test work were very positive with upgrades of 3 to 6 times feed grade (refer to ASX release of 24 September 2025).
The two samples from drillhole BDD001 were sent to TOMRA Ore Sorting Solutions (TOMRA) test facility in Castle Hill, Sydney, NSW. The two samples comprised a high-grade sample (1.12% Sn) and a low-grade sample (0.19% Sn). Samples were delivered pre-screened to 6.7 – 26.5mm and then scanned by X-Ray Transmission (XRT). XRT measures the atomic density of particles in the rock, enabling the very dense cassiterite minerals (SnO2) to be identified from the much lighter silicate minerals which dominate the host rock.
The Company is very encouraged by the potential upgrade from feed grade and mass rejection of waste for both samples. For the high-grade stream, the upgrade from 1.12% Sn was approximately 3 times, with 71% mass rejection, to 3.33% Sn. For the low-grade stream, the upgrade from 0.19% Sn was approximately 6 times, with 92% mass rejection, to 1.16% Sn. Recoveries were 88% and 50% respectively. Recoveries are approximate and indicative due to the small amount of sample material and heterogeneous nature of Kelpie tin mineralisation.
This is a very good result given it is the Company’s first-ever test of this technology on Kelpie mineralisation. It should be noted that the low-grade feed is very close to the resource cut-off grade of 0.15%. As a general rule, recoveries will decrease with lower grades, so this likely represents the most difficult mineralisation at Kelpie to sort. Importantly, the grade for the waste stream was 0.10% which is below the resource cut-off.
Regional Potential
Beyond the Kelpie Deposit and Exploration Target area, the entire Ardlethan Granite contact is prospective for greisen-style mineralisation, striking over 20km on its eastern margin, which includes an exciting developing target at Ardlethan East. This eastern contact has been the focus of most historic exploration and prospecting with hundreds of small workings and diggings, indicating extensive tin occurrences.
Figure 3. Regional geology and exploration targets at the Bygoo Project showing that the Kelpie Deposit and Exploration Target represent only a small part of the project’s prospectivity2.
Second Exploration Front at Ardlethan East
The Ardlethan East area is highly prospective, located within a short distance of the Ardlethan Mine which produced over 31,000t of tin in concentrate until 1986 from both open pit and underground mines. Significant alluvial production also occurred from the Yithan Lead which cuts through the prospect area. Key structures that facilitate mineralisation at Ardlethan continue into Caspin’s tenure at Ardlethan East. The area is prospective for both breccia-style (Ardlethan-style) and greisen-style (Kelpie-style) mineralisation, which may be potentially subcropping, or concealed under shallow lithological cover.
Initial soil geochemistry results from the Ardlethan East area, have identified several tin and pathfinder anomalies. Early-stage exploration at Ardlethan East is a key part of the Company’s strategy to recognise the full potential of the Bygoo Tin Project with over 20km of prospective strike, which the Company believes can host multiple, large, high-grade, open pit deposits. With the effectiveness of soil geochemistry demonstrated, combined with magnetics, gravity and increasingly with IP, the Company is now looking to expand coverage across the Bygoo Project area.
Figure 4. Ardlethan East tin in soil geochemistry, highlighting new anomalies (magenta contours) and rock chip results..
Figure 5. Caspin drilling at the Ardlethan East Prospect, March 2026 nearby the excised Ardlethan Tin Mine.
Bald Hill Prospect
Historical exploration at the Bald Hill Prospect at the southern end of the Ardlethan Granite and 17km south of Kelpie, returned significant tin results from only three holes drilled, demonstrating the potential for further significant discoveries of tin mineralisation across the project area:
- 9m @ 0.49% Sn from 26m, including 1m @ 1.42% Sn from 28m (BHRC001)
- 20m @ 0.30% Sn from 26m, including 1m @ 1.61% Sn from 20m (BHRC002)
- 17m @ 0.16% Sn from 23m (BHRC003)
No further work has been conducted at Bald Hill since these holes were completed in 2018.
For further information refer to the ASX Announcement, dated 24 January 2025.
For the latest news and information on the Bygoo Project please view our latest Announcements:
- PATERSON R G 1990 – Ardlethan Tin deposits: in Hughes F E (Ed.), 1990 Geology of the Mineral Deposits of Australia & Papua New Guinea. The AusIMM, Melbourne. Monograph 14, v2, 1357-1364.
- The potential quantity and grade of the Exploration Target are conceptual in nature. As such, there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource, and it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in a Mineral Resource.