Tungsten West's Plymouth Tungsten Mine Moves Closer to Full Production

Tungsten West Plc, an AIM-listed company, which bought the world's third-largest tungsten resource - Plymouth Tungsten Mine - for £2.8 million in 2019, said it will spend £45 million to upgrade and refurbish the mine's processing plant.

Tungsten West has taken delivery of critical equipment, including seven German-made XRT ore sorters, that will be part of the upgraded equipment the company plans to install at the front end of its processing plant. After extensive testing work, the company commissioned Norway-based Tomra to supply the seven units, including a backup unit.

Once production begins again at Plymouth, the XRT ore sorter will significantly improve and streamline operations, minimizing plant downtime, increasing recovery rates, and providing a range of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) benefits. The Hemerdon mine contains a large ore body (approximately 300m x 200m) with granite covered with tungsten-bearing quartz veins.

Rather than just crushing the rock to 8 millimeters and separating the tungsten, as its predecessor Wolf Minerals did, Tungsten West took a more efficient approach. It will take a "fist-sized" 80mm block and scan it with an X-ray laser. The air jets will then separate the tungsten-containing rock those that are barren.

Max Denning, CEO of the company, said, "We are very excited about breaking ground at Hemerdon this week, which marks an important milestone in the restart of the project. Securing access to critical minerals for the UK and Western Hemisphere."

Tungsten West has signed an Engineering Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) contract with Fairport Engineering Ltd, which is advancing the design and construction of the processing plant.

UK-based Fairport was established in 1982 and has grown to become one of the country's leading bulk material handling and processing specialists. Once the rock has been crushed, the waste granite is sold as aggregate for the construction industry and the company now has a distribution agreement with leading construction materials supplier, GRS Roadstone.

Mr. Denning said, "We are very pleased with the progress on-site, especially with the addition of Fairport to carry out the detailed design and construction of the project. We look forward to working with Fairport to bring Plymouth Tungsten Mine back into full production and significantly improve the processing route by introducing the XRT ore sorting and upgraded processing equipment. The Company has assembled a strong project and operations team and we are now progressing with confidence."

Tungsten West Ltd is a mining development company focused on the restarting of the world-class Hemerdon Tungsten-Tin mine located in South Devon, UK.

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