Tivan strengthens Speewah mine plan with major Indicated resource upgrade

Speewah resource confidence rises after 14,025m drilling program

Tivan Limited (ASX:TVN) has converted much more of its Speewah fluorite resource into a category that can support mine planning, with the Indicated portion rising 37% to 37.9 million tonnes. The upgrade is the central result of an SRK Consulting estimate backed by 14,025 metres of Stage Two drilling completed between May and October 2026.

The total JORC 2012-compliant resource now stands at 45.0 million tonnes grading 7.8% CaF2, containing 3.5 million tonnes of fluorite. That is a 4% increase in tonnage from the February estimate. The detailed comparison in the filing records a 6% fall in average grade and a 2% decline in contained CaF2, despite the company’s summary description that grade and contained material remained broadly consistent.

The high-grade component comprises 8.6 million tonnes at 22.3% CaF2, containing 1.9 million tonnes CaF2, using a 10% cut-off. The company says Speewah remains one of the largest high-grade fluorite resources globally, with the resource upgrade reflecting closer-spaced drilling and greater confidence in geological continuity, grade distribution and tonnage.

Indicated material clears the path to Ore Reserve work

For a developer, the classification change matters more than the modest movement in the headline tonnage. Indicated Resources provide the geological confidence needed for mine planning and are a prerequisite for estimating Ore Reserves, subject to mining, metallurgical, economic and other modifying factors. Tivan says the updated estimate will feed revised mine planning and production scheduling for its Definitive Feasibility Study, which is aimed at an operation producing acid-grade fluorspar above 97% CaF2 for export.

The result follows a two-year drilling campaign that has increased total Indicated tonnes from 23.2 million to 37.9 million. Tivan’s Executive Chairman Grant Wilson said the mining plan is now based on 100% Indicated material and that the company is moving toward a Final Investment Decision next year (ASX:TVN). The total resource, however, still includes 7.1 million tonnes of Inferred material, largely in lower-grade or thinner domains outside the proposed mine pit optimisation.

Strong infill hits support the updated geological model

The infill program produced several broad, high-grade intersections, including 76 metres at 21.6% CaF2 from surface, with 22 metres at 39.0%; 61.2 metres at 18.1% from surface, including 19 metres at 32.4%; and 59 metres at 14.9% from 100 metres, including 21 metres at 34.0%. These are downhole intervals, not necessarily true widths, and the company reports assays above its 2% CaF2 reporting threshold.

Stage Two comprised 110 infill holes for 12,401 metres, eight metallurgical holes for 704 metres, six exploration holes for 600 metres, three sterilisation holes for 171 metres and eight geotechnical holes for 148 metres. The campaign also included the further Speewah grant funding reported in recent company coverage as part of the project’s development funding backdrop, although the present filing does not quantify or update that funding.

Pilot plant work and Ore Reserve estimate remain ahead

The resource update is not an Ore Reserve, a financing decision or a construction commitment. Metallurgical core from eight PQ diamond holes is being prepared for a more comprehensive pilot plant program, intended to validate the process plant design and generate material for further handling, filtration, product marketing and tailings work. The company says a maiden Ore Reserve estimate is anticipated during 2026, while the DFS continues across mining, processing, infrastructure and approvals.

Exploration upside remains outside the current estimate, particularly along strike and at depth and across the Southern Veins and Dingo Vein. The Dingo drilling produced only limited significant fluorite intersections, including 4 metres at 2.5% CaF2 and 3 metres at 4.6%, making it a less immediate resource catalyst than the Indicated conversion. The next meaningful reassessment of Speewah will come when the Ore Reserve and DFS show how much of this geological confidence survives dilution, recovery, costs, approvals and the capital required to build the first proposed Australian fluorite project.