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Stellar Resources (ASX:SRZ) has inked an MOU with Australian Hualong – a Chinese national-owned Australian miner – to see if the latter can’t help get Stellar’s Heemskirk Tin Project (HTP) off the ground.
The HTP has already been subject to a prefeas study which proposes as one pathway to full development the utilisation of nearby mining infrastructure assets ultimately the assets of other owners.
While the MOU inked between Stellar and Hualong on Tuesday is non-binding – and by extension, if you wanted to be cynical, just maybe a bit of a nothing announcement – that discussions are underway does suggest an enthusiasm on Stellar’s side to get things moving in 2025.
Long story short, Hualong hold permits on properties adjoining the HTP project area envelope.
(Fun fact: Heemskirk is an area on Tasmania’s west coast nearby the former mining town of Zeehan which these days has a population under 1,000.)
Stellar has its eyes particularly on the now-spent Comstock mine, a lead-zinc deposit now fully tapped, but on-site tailings storage assets, water supply, grid connection, and other key infrastructure is present.
Between the lines, Stellar is clearly hoping it can strike a mutually beneficial deal with Hualong to utilise those assets. Why build when you can buy?
And that CapEx saving is clearly what the MOU is really about. Stellar has a market cap of $37M and had only $3.8M in cash at the end of September.
Independent consultants are working in the background to assess whether or not using the Comstock assets really does represent the best way forward to a world where the HTP gets up and running. A recent scoping study has pointed to an underground project – well known for being very expensive developments.
“Our prefeasibility and baseline environmental studies are progressing well and as part of those studies we will explore all options including both reusing existing infrastructure and or building a standalone plant, so we are pleased to have signed an MOU over Comstock,” Stellar MD Simon Taylor said.
“The Licences are contiguous with the Stellar Project and has potential synergies with existing haul roads, waste dumps and tailings facilities.”
SRZ last traded at 1.8cps.
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