(Alliance News) - Cornish Metals Inc on Tuesday said that the first of two submersible pumps have now been installed to target depth in the New Cooks Kitchen shaft at the South Crofty mine in Cornwall.

The UK-focused mineral exploration and development company said it has installed the pump to 360 metres. It added that installing the pump was an important milestone in plans to start dewatering the South Crofty mine later this summer.

The pumps are specialist high-head 950 kilowatt vertical submersible pumps manufactured by KSB SE & Co. KGaA in Germany, controlled by variable speed drives to enable the 25,000 cubic metres per day pumping rate to the mine water treatment plant.

"A big 'proper job' well done to the team at South Crofty for achieving this milestone in less time than planned. This pump installation is a technical exercise and the team did a fantastic job, completing the task safely with no incidents. We anticipate the second pump to be installed by the end of July," said Chief Executive Officer Richard Williams.

Work on the mine water treatment plant has continued with 95% mechanical completion, and work is now focused on the electrical and instrumentation installation.

Cornish Metals anticipates that the plant commissioning will be completed later this summer, with mine dewatering to commence immediately thereafter.

Cornish Metals shares were trading 5.6% lower at 10.38 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

By Holly Beveridge, Alliance News reporter

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