Tungsten West, the firm behind plans to reopen a disused tin mine in Devon, has completed the fundraising for it to start full production following an agreement with the Government\u2019s National Wealth Fund for a proposed investment of up to \u00a371m.<\/p>\n
The Plymouth-based\u00a0firm has already produced tungsten and tin concentrate over the past month at its Hemerdon site in Plympton.<\/p>\n
It now plans to undertake final completion testing in preparedness to start production within the next few weeks.<\/p>\n
It also said today it was well advanced with significant offtake negotiations with a major down-stream tungsten refiner.<\/p>\n
Tungsten West has already recruited more than 100 people to work on the site, which is says has the capacity to supply around a fifth of the world\u2019s supply of primary tungsten outside of China.<\/p>\n
By the time production starts it will have a head count of 350.<\/p>\n
John Healey, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said the investment would supply vital minerals to British defence, energy and aerospace businesses – and keep “good, well-paid jobs” in the UK.<\/p>\n
“We are living in a more dangerous world, which is why backing British industry is more important than ever before,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what this deal does. We are tapping into one of the largest deposits of tungsten in the world, right here in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the investment was \u201call part of this Government’s commitment to drive growth in every postcode, back British business and keep our country safe.”<\/p>\n
Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, added: “This is our Critical Minerals Strategy in action: doubling down on projects like Tungsten West’s, which will boost our economic resilience, strengthen supply chains and drive good growth in the South West and across the UK.”<\/p>\n
Jeff Court, CEO of Tungsten West, described the Hemerdon mine as a world-class, low-cost and long-life tungsten and tin resource in the UK.<\/p>\n
“It is extremely important to us that we prioritise UK requirements for this critical metal to support domestic demand, including strategic initiatives across defence and next generation energy,” he added.<\/p>\n
“Hemerdon will be a long-term creator of economic benefits for the South West, including the generation of a significant number of direct and indirect jobs.<\/p>\n
“Through the support of the UK Government, we are ensuring that critical minerals produced at Hemerdon will underpin the UK’s national interests for the long term.”<\/p>\n
The proposed investment includes an equity investment of \u00a336m via the subscription of 100m new ordinary 1p shares in Tungsten West at a subscription price of 36p per share. This will result in National Wealth Fund holding approximately 7.42% of the voting rights of the enlarged issued ordinary share capital.<\/p>\n
It funding will also include a debt financing facility of up to \u00a325m plus a non-committed \u00a310m accordion facility.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0mine was operational for three years until 2018 under a previous operator.<\/p>\n
Driven by Chinese export restrictions, reduced quotas and high demand, tungsten prices have surged by more than 500% in some cases.<\/p>\n
A feasibility study carried out for the business and released last August was based on a market price for tungsten of $400 per metric tonne unit and tin at $32,500. At the end of March this year these prices had soared to $2,995 for tungsten and more than $46,000 for tin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chancellor of the Exchequer says investment will help keep ‘good, well-paid jobs’ in the UK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":272345,"featured_media":22146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120782,128805,127687],"coauthors":[137101],"class_list":["post-45479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-infrastructure","category-regeneration","tag-devon","tag-featured-story","tag-south-west","tag-top-story"],"yoast_head":"\n