Cornish Metals Inc. (TSX-V/AIM: CUSN) (“Cornish Metals” or the “Company”), a mineral exploration and development company focused on its South Crofty Tin Project (“South Crofty” or the “Project”) in Cornwall, United Kingdom, is pleased to report that it has commenced a 14-hole / 9,000 metre (“m”) exploration drilling programme at the Wide Formation target in the Carn Brea South exploration area, located along the southern boundary of the South Crofty underground mine permission area (Figure 1).

The drill programme is designed to test the geometry and the continuity of tin mineralisation within the recently discovered Wide Formation target (see news release dated January 10, 2023).

Key Points

• The Wide Formation represents a high-grade tin target inferred to lie parallel to, north of, and beneath the Great Flat Lode (Figure 2);
• Discovery hole CB21-002 intersected 2.77m grading 0.99% tin (“Sn”) within a 12.14m wide zone of strong alteration and disseminated tin mineralisation;
• The alteration style in the Wide Formation, comprising pervasive tourmaline and quartz (termed “blue peach”), is similar in character to that associated with No 8 Lode, one of the most prolific tin producing lodes in the latter years of operation of the South Crofty mine;
• The drill programme will test an area measuring 2,500m along strike (northeast to southwest) and 500m downdip (north to south).

The Great Flat Lode district comprised a series of copper and tin mines that covered a strike length of approximately 5 kilometres (“km”).

Richard Williams, CEO and Director of Cornish Metals, stated; “We are very excited to start this drill programme, testing what we believe represents a new district-scale target that is only 500m – 1,000m south of the Tuckingmill Decline at South Crofty. It reflects the opportunity to make new discoveries close to the South Crofty underground infrastructure and, if the programme is successful, we believe there is potential to not only grow the Mineral Resource base, but also to potentially expand production rates if the project advances through to mine development.”

Geology and Mineralisation

The geology in the Carn Brea South exploration area is identical to that at South Crofty, comprising metasediments (locally termed “killas”) which overlie an intrusive granite body. The mineralisation of the ‘Wide Formation’ structure is predominantly blue tourmaline with disseminated cassiterite, hosted within a siliceous tourmaline altered granite. The cassiterite is mostly hosted within chlorite-rich, quartz-chlorite veins which overprint the interpreted earlier blue tourmaline lode structure. No mining has ever been carried out on the Wide Formation.