Tungsten mine plan closer to reality following latest fundraising by owner

Tungsten West, the Devon firm hoping to reopen the world’s second-largest tungsten mine in the county, has taken another step towards realising its ambition.

The Plymouth-based firm, which is focused on restarting commercial operations at the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine in nearby Plympton, has raised £900,000 through its convertible loan note facility.

The finance, along with £15.3m previously raised through the facility, will be used to continue to pay for the studies required to build what the firm called a robust plan and economic model to reopen the mine, which was operational for three years until 2018 under a previous operator.

With the demand for strategic metals, including tungsten and tin, increasing rapidly due to their critical use in new technology, Tungsten West believes it can go some way to meeting this need by restarting production at Hemerdon.

It said the studies were now substantially completed and the full feasibility study, if required, will be published over the next few months.

This will lead to a financing round later this year which will enable the company to ramp up towards restarting tungsten and tin production in the second half of next year.

The latest finance forms the second part of its tranche G fundraising announced in January.

The Hemerdon tungsten-tin mine, formerly known as Drakelands Mine or the Hemerdon Ball or Hemerdon Bal Mine, includes a partially developed open pit, a complete processing plant, an integrated mine waste facility, workshops, administration offices and all associated mine site infrastructure.

Tungsten West CEO Jeff Court said: “I would like to thank our key stakeholders who have continued to support the company as we move towards restarting mining and processing operations at Hemerdon.

“As a result of the export restrictions imposed by China, the price of Ammonia Paratungstate in Rotterdam has reached $400 per metric tonne unit (mtu).

“Whilst these restrictions are in place, the price of tungsten is expected to continue to rise, further underpinning the value of Hemerdon as a strategic resource.”

He said the firm was well placed to capitalise on these increasingly favourable market conditions, providing a Western tungsten supply that could help satisfy demand across domestic and international markets once production restarts in late 2026.