UK's Hemerdon Tungsten-Tin Mine Resumes Production

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 15, Tungsten West announced that the Hemerdon tungsten-tin mine in Devon, UK, has resumed production. Ore has now re-entered the processing system, and the project has transitioned from the construction and commissioning phase to the production ramp-up phase. The company plans to continue commissioning each production circuit and complete full project commissioning in the first quarter of 2027, after which it will transition to the steady production phase.

The Hemerdon project adopts a phased restart plan. Tungsten West had previously started commissioning of the fine gravity separation circuit and downstream processing facilities in the third quarter of 2026, with the coarse gravity separation circuit planned to continue in the fourth quarter. The company's latest annual results materials from September show that the fine gravity separation circuit has begun actually processing ore, and the full production system remains on schedule for full commissioning in the first quarter of 2027.

After acquiring the Hemerdon mine in 2019, Tungsten West redesigned the original ore processing flowsheet. The latest plan includes a new crushing, screening and ore sorting front end, additional gravity separation equipment, and modifications to the existing mineral processing plant. Hemerdon had previously received more than US$300 million in infrastructure investment, including crushing systems, power facilities, roads and site facilities.

According to the resource data published by the company, Hemerdon hosts approximately 327 million tonnes of JORC-compliant ore resources, with a tungsten content of approximately 39.7 million metric tonne units. The existing development plan is expected to support approximately 17 years of primary ore processing, after which stockpiled ore can continue to be processed; combined with the subsequent Hemerdon Futures plan, the mine's overall operating life can be extended to more than 40 years.

Funding for the project restart has also recently been supplemented. In August, the UK National Wealth Fund agreed to provide Tungsten West with support of up to £71 million, including £36 million in equity investment, a £25 million loan, and an uncommitted additional loan facility of up to £10 million. The company had previously completed approximately £43 million in equity financing and obtained a US$25 million short-term bridge loan to support the mine's return to initial production.

Following the resumption of production at Hemerdon, the company is advancing arrangements for subsequent tungsten concentrate sales. Tungsten West stated that it is currently in long-term offtake negotiations with a large downstream tungsten smelting enterprise. The company aims to achieve steady production in the second half of 2027.