Tungsten West says it has broken ground at its Hemerdon tungsten-tin mine in Devon, England, with the first sod turned for the installation of the TOMRA X-ray Transmission (XRT) sensor-based ore sorters.

This event, the company says, marks another major step in the company’s upgrade and refurbishment plans for the project’s processing plant.

Hemerdon is, Tungsten West says, the third largest tungsten resource globally, as well as being a previously producing mine that was operational from 2015-2018. Tungsten West purchased the Hemerdon Mine in 2019, and has since completed a bankable feasibility study that demonstrated an extensive reserve of approximately 63.3 Mt at 0.18% W and 0.03% Sn, as well as 37.4 Mt of saleable aggregate material. The company estimates that the life of mine is currently 18.5 years with the opportunity to extend this through future investment.

As announced earlier this month, the company took receipt of important long-lead equipment items, including the seven XRT ore sorters, which will make up part of the upgraded equipment the company plans to install into the front end of the processing plant. The XRT ore sorter will substantially improve and streamline operations once production restarts, minimising plant downtime, increasing recovery as well as a host of ESG benefits, it said.

After significant test work, Tungsten West engaged TOMRA to supply the seven units that are required to treat the run of mine throughput. This consists of six duty units and one standby unit. Orders and deposits for these units were placed in 2021 and the units have now been delivered to the UK and await final transfer to Hemerdon where they will be installed in the front end of the processing plant.

Additionally, the company is pleased to announce the appointment of James McFarlane as Managing Director of Tungsten West. McFarlane previously held the position of Technical & Operations Director of the company.

Max Denning, Tungsten West CEO, said: “We are extremely excited to have broken ground at Hemerdon this week, marking an important milestone in the project’s restart. Ensuring the UK and the western hemisphere have got access to two key critical minerals has never been more profound. We are also delighted to announce James as our new Managing Director; his extensive experience will prove invaluable in the company’s development as we move closer to first production at Hemerdon.”