Caspin Resources Lifts Kelpie Tin Resource 45% to 28kt as Drilling Keeps Finding More
Key Takeaways
- Kelpie's contained tin rose 45% to 28kt (6.5Mt @ 0.43% Sn) since the September 2025 maiden estimate.
- A maiden Indicated resource of 1.4Mt @ 0.47% Sn now makes up 25% of the total, while the remaining 21kt is still Inferred.
- Errol's Zone returned Caspin's best intersection to date, 20m @ 2.11% Sn from 107m in hole BRC055.
- A 200m near-surface gap between Dumbrell's and Errol's Zones, plus four diamond holes awaiting assays, leave room for further growth.
- No economics or production timeline have been disclosed, and the estimate relies on a A$64,285/t tin price and 80% recovery.
Kelpie Mineral Resource Estimate lifts 45% to 28kt contained tin
Caspin Resources has released an updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Kelpie Tin Deposit of 6.5Mt @ 0.43% Sn for 28kt of contained tin. That is a 45% increase in contained tin since the September 2025 maiden estimate.
The deposit sits within the 100%-owned Bygoo Tin Project in New South Wales. Cube Consulting Pty Ltd prepared the estimate under the JORC Code (2012), the Australasian standard for reporting mineral resources.
The entire Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate is constrained within an open pit shell and is limited only by drilling. It also includes a maiden Indicated resource, which makes up 25% of the total.
| Category | Cut-off Grade (%) | Tonnes (Mt) | Grade (% Sn) | Contained Sn (kt) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicated | 0.15 | **1.4** | **0.47** | **7** |
| Inferred | 0.15 | **5.1** | **0.41** | **21** |
| Total | **6.5** | **0.43** | **28** |
Figures may not add up due to appropriate rounding.
Greg Miles, Managing Director
“This is a significant milestone for the Company on the pathway to demonstrating a viable, stand-alone, high-grade open pit tin development project. We have grown the resource by 45% in a short period of time, whilst also improving the confidence in the resource estimate…”
For you as an investor, the point is that the resource is growing and becoming more reliable at the same time. The company says this supports the case for a stand-alone, high-grade open pit tin development, although no economics have been disclosed.
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Drilling success and a refined geological model drive growth
Errol’s Zone discovery
Induced polarisation (IP) and gravity surveys early in 2026 gave Caspin an improved geological model. The company says this led to significant extensions to the resource and new discoveries such as the Errol’s Zone.
Results from that zone include Caspin’s best intersection at the project to date: 20m @ 2.11% Sn from 107m in hole BRC055.
Just 48 holes for 8,400m of drilling contributed to the update, which the company describes as a very economical discovery rate. The total dataset is about 30,000m.
How the resource was constrained
Cube defined the mining parameters for the pit shell. Engineering consulting firm Ausenco independently derived processing costs, based on a process flowsheet supported by Caspin’s recent metallurgical test work.
The pit-constrained estimate extends to approximately 200m depth, with mineralisation currently limited only by drilling to approximately 240m. Key reporting parameters were:
- Tin price of AUD $64,285/t
- Metallurgical recovery of 80%
- Overall pit slope of 45°
- Cut-off grade of 0.15% Sn
Initial metallurgical testing, announced 19 January 2026, indicated recoveries of approximately 59% from gravity only. Adding flotation lifted overall recovery to approximately 84%.
Tin resources explained: why Indicated and open pit matter
Under JORC, an Inferred resource has a lower level of confidence than an Indicated resource. The announcement notes that Inferred material must not be converted to an Ore Reserve.
- Indicated: drill spacing of 20m x 20m or less, estimated on the first pass and using data from a minimum of two drill holes.
- Inferred: drill spacing greater than 20m x 20m, up to 50m x 50m.
The open pit shell matters because resources must show reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. Here, the pit shell was used to constrain the reported resource.
Tin at Kelpie is hosted in predominantly coarse-grained, disseminated cassiterite (SnO2), the oxide mineral from which most of the world’s tin is extracted. Caspin’s analysis says the high density contrast between cassiterite and the greisen host rock supports gravity separation as the primary recovery process.
On the market side, the company notes tin currently trades at about 3.5 times the copper price. Just over 50% of global tin production is used in solder, and tin is on the US critical minerals list and the strategic mineral list in Australia.
A Mineral Resource is not an Ore Reserve. It does not have demonstrated economic viability.
Further growth potential: a 200m gap and down-plunge extensions
The Errol’s Zone discovery supported Caspin’s view that large gaps in the 2025 estimate reflected limited drilling beyond the historical mining areas. A 200m near-surface gap in effective drilling remains between the Dumbrell’s and Errol’s Zones, particularly beyond 100m below surface.
Four diamond holes recently completed at the Dumbrell’s and Stewart’s Zones are not in the estimate because assays remain pending. All four intersected strong greisen-style alteration zones.
One of them, BRCD082, stepped out approximately 80m down-plunge from the nearest drill hole on the Dumbrell’s Zone. The company says it is confident mineralisation remains open down-plunge across the deposit. No grades have been disclosed for these holes, so treat them as indicators rather than results.
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Next steps for the Bygoo Project
Caspin’s stated next steps are:
- Awaiting assays from the four new diamond core holes.
- RC drilling is due to recommence in November 2026.
- Expanding development-style activities, including further metallurgical test work and commencement of environmental baseline studies.
- Infill drilling in selected areas, plus new discovery work in the Greater Kelpie area.
- Drill and geophysical survey planning on the Ardlethan East and South Prospects, and the new tungsten target at the Taylor’s Hill Prospect.
A webinar on the update is scheduled for Tuesday 13 October 2026 at 12.30pm AEDT.
For context, the Ardlethan Mine, 7km south of Kelpie, produced 34,000t of tin from 1912 to 1986. The announcement discloses no production timeline or project economics, so the development case remains to be built.
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