Property developer Quinten Villanueva teams up with investment banker to buy tin mine

Two Hobart men have formed a new business partnership after acquiring a tin mine together, outlining a bold plan to transform the operation into one of the biggest of its kind. THEIR STORY

A property developer and an investment banker have teamed up to buy a large tin mine in the state’s north-east, developing an ambitious plan to produce 1000 metric tonnes of the metal in just their first year of operation.

Goshawk Mining, a business partnership between Qapital Investments director Quinten Villanueva and Saxby Capital principal Bradley Saxby, has purchased the mine at Mount Cameron near Gladstone, with hopes of getting it back up and running by the end of next year.

Mr Villanueva and Mr Saxby intend to invest about $15m into the mine, which covers 132ha and has a production history dating back to the early 1870s.

Quinten Villanueva and Bradley Saxby have bought a tin mine at Mount Cameron in Tasmania's north-east. They are pictured here at the mine site. Picture: Supplied

“Tin is the forgotten ugly cousin of all the sexy minerals,” Mr Villanueva said.

“But it is one of the most critical components to manufacturing of renewables and to lead us into the electrified future. So without tin, you can’t have the soldering minerals in order to produce the solar panels, [electric vehicle] batteries, wind turbines, et cetera.

“It’s going to be one of those resources where every country is going to be scrambling to try and secure it.”

The Mount Cameron mine is one of the state’s largest alluvial tin assets and has produced more than 70,000 tonnes of the metal over its lifespan.

And Goshawk Mining wants to take it to another level.

“We want to make this one of the largest tin mining assets in the state, if not the largest,” Mr Villanueva said.

Quinten Villanueva and Bradley Saxby have bought a tin mine at Mount Cameron in Tasmania's north-east. They are pictured here at the mine site. Picture: Supplied

“It would be second only to the Renison mine.”

The mine is expected to create 20-30 new jobs in the region.

Mr Saxby said Australia was in the “box seat” to “exploit a surge in worldwide demand for these minerals and the interest and appetite for these Tasmanian assets has never been greater”.

“Renewables are the way of the future and Tasmania has the potential to be a big player in world demand for critical minerals,” he said.

The market price for tin is currently about $24,000 USD per metric tonne.

Originally published as Property developer Quinten Villanueva teams up with investment banker to buy tin mine