Tag Archives: W Resources

W Resources signs Régua haulage and crushing services contract with FPMI

Comminution of minerals, Industrial minerals, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining services, , , , ,

W Resources says it has signed a contract with FPMI to provide low cost haulage and crushing services to its Régua tungsten project in northern Portugal.

Under the contract, once mining has commenced, ore from Régua will be hauled 27 km to the existing FPMI crusher and crushed to a range of 5-10 mm. As part of the service contract, FPMI will use the waste ore for rehabilitation of its existing quarry providing local environmental benefits. The estimated crushing and haulage cost is around $40-45 per metric tonne unit (mtu) and W will pay €50,000 ($56,020) to expand access roads for haulage.

The Régua mine and processing circuit comprises near-horizontal adit mining using contract mining and a combination of open stoping and room and pillar; haulage of ore from mine face to FPMI crushing plant; crushing of ore to 5-10 mm using the existing FPMI crusher, and; processing the crushed ore through to tungsten concentrate using the existing La Parrilla concentrator plant, which will be moved to Régua and upgraded later this year.

Golder Associates, which completed the JORC compliant mineral reserves and resource estimate for Régua in 2015, is working on the updated estimate and has advised it will be completed no later than early-October.

The current resources is 5.46 Mt at 0.28% WO3, with the mine on-track and targeting first ore in 2019. The development of Régua (on top of the operating mine at La Parrilla) will increase W Resources tungsten production profile to over 3,800 t/y, the company says.

Michael Masterman, Chairman of W Resources, said: “Régua is a high-grade, low-capital cost tungsten mine development with significant scope to increase the resource base, which is currently underway. The haulage and crushing services contract with FPMI allows W to advance Régua to development with efficient capital deployment.

“Our aim is to bring Régua into commercial production with sensible capital deployment leveraging contract mining, haulage and crushing contracts, thereby keeping the capital costs of development low. The FPMI contract is an important step in achieving this objective.”

W Resources reaches new processing milestone at La Parrilla tungsten-tin mine

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W Resources has fed the first ore through its newly commissioned jig and mill plant at its La Parrilla tungsten-tin mine in Spain.

The move follows construction completion in April and commissioning of the conveyors, pumps, thickener, two mills and two jigs over the past month, the company said.

The plant takes ore crushed to less than 10 mm and increases the grade to be fed to the concentrator plant while rejecting waste mass, according to the company. This is achieved with high tungsten and tin metal recoveries, W said.

The jigged mine feed will now be fed through the existing concentrator plant, while the new large scale concentrator plant advances to construction completion in June and commissioning in July, according to the company.

Michael Masterman, Chairman of W Resources, said: “Great progress has been made by the team which keeps us on-track to ramp-up to design production capacity of 200 t/mth by the end of 2019.

“At this stage of construction, it is important to clarify that commissioning a metallurgical plant is not a turn of a key process. In the jig and mill plant alone there are two jigs, two roll mills, a thickener, reject disposal system, 10 screens and feeders, nine conveyors, five pumps, and over 50 motors which need to be started, aligned and tied into an integrated control system. The team has done an outstanding job commissioning the plant and achieving first jigged concentrate.”

The crushing circuit at La Parrilla, supplied by Metso Minerals’ Portugal division, is made up of a C130 jaw crusher and secondary cone crusher, both with vibrating grizzlies prior to size reduction, and two tertiary cone crushers in closed circuit with a double deck banana screen.

With a throughput of 350 t/h, the two alljig® jigs, provided by allmineral, provide grading, enrichment and cleaning of the pre-ground ore at La Parrilla.

Blast off at W Resources’ La Parrilla tungsten mine

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W Resources says the first T2 blast at the La Parrilla tungsten mine in Spain shot successfully on April 30.

The blast covered a mainly barren zone to prepare access to the 10 m benches closer to the run of mine pad and crusher plant in the Fast Track Mine area, the company said. This explosion continued to open up directly accessible ore to the mine operation.

Ore mined to-date at the operation, which is envisaged as a scalable project, starting at 2 Mt/y to produce some 2,700 t/y of tungsten concentrate and 500 t/y of tin concentrate, before an expansion to 3.5 Mt/y and beyond, has been free-dig or from the early blast area, W said.

“The immediate priority at La Parrilla is to complete the commissioning of the jig and mill plant, which is underway in parallel with the completion of the large-scale concentrator plant,” the company said.

Michael Masterman, Chairman of W Resources, said: “The first T2 mine blast at La Parrilla is a significant event for W Resources and kicks-off the commencement of hard rock mining operations.

“The explosive blast was completed successfully with the highest level of safety and supervision. The ore will be mined at low cost using a truck and shovel operation and transported via the newly constructed ramp to the new 350 t/h crusher plant where it will be crushed and then fed to the newly constructed jig and mill plant as part of the commissioning process.”

The crushing circuit at La Parrilla, supplied by Metso Minerals’ Portugal division, is made up of a C130 jaw crusher and secondary cone crusher, both with vibrating grizzlies prior to size reduction, and two tertiary cone crushers in closed circuit with a double deck banana screen.

With a throughput of 350 t/h, the two alljig® jigs, provided by allmineral, are expected to provide grading, enrichment and cleaning of the pre-ground ore at La Parrilla.

W Resources crushing ore at La Parrilla tungsten-tin mine

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Just over a week since confirming mechanical completion of the La Parrilla crusher plant, W Resources has fed the first mined ore into the circuit at its tungsten-tin operation in western Spain.

Michael Masterman, Chairman of W Resources, said: “First ore into new crusher was achieved on December 18, 2018, ahead of the January 2019 target and is a great credit to the team at La Parrilla.”

The crushing circuit at La Parrilla, supplied by Metso Minerals’ Portugal division, has been engineered to minimise creation of tungsten fines and is designed to process 350 t/h of ore, according to the mining company. It is made up of a C130 jaw crusher and secondary cone crusher, both with vibrating grizzlies prior to size reduction, and two tertiary cone crushers in closed circuit with a double deck banana screen.

La Parrilla is envisaged as a scalable project, starting up at 2 Mt/y to produce some 2,700 t/y of tungsten concentrate and 500 t/y of tin concentrate, before an expansion to 3.5 Mt/y and beyond.

W Resources signs off on Metso crushing plant at La Parrilla

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W Resources has confirmed the mechanical completion of the La Parrilla crusher plant, paving the way for commissioning of mined ore from the tungsten-tin deposit in western Spain next month.

The crushing circuit, supplied by Metso Minerals’ Portugal division, has been engineered to minimise creation of tungsten fines and is designed to process 350 t/h of ore, W said. It is made up of a C130 jaw crusher and secondary cone crusher, both with vibrating grizzlies prior to size reduction, and two tertiary cone crushers in closed circuit with a double deck banana screen.

This milestone follows delivery of the majority of the plant in September.

“The circuit has been designed for modular expansion to 700 t/h, requiring no modifications to the installed infrastructure in the future, and is currently configured to feed X-ray ore sorting going forwards,” W said. “The high level of automation in the design and robust wear liner packages will permit strong operational control and minimise maintenance requirements going forwards.”

Michael Masterman, Chairman of W Resources, said: “The crusher is the first of the three La Parrilla plants to be completed and it’s a great credit to the team to complete it ahead of schedule and on budget.

“We are looking forward to first mined ore into the crusher early in the new year which will contribute to an increase in production rates from La Parrilla in line with the planned ramp-up programme.”

La Parrilla is envisaged as a scalable project, starting up at 2 Mt/y to produce some 2,700 t/y of tungsten concentrate and 500 t/y of tin concentrate, before an expansion to 3.5 Mt/y and beyond.

Metso and allmineral equipment arrives at La Parrilla tungsten project

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W Resources is on course to hit its production goal at the La Parrilla tungsten project in the southwest of Spain, with crushing equipment arriving on site.

In a project update, the company said overall La Parrilla construction had accelerated during the summer months with construction completion of the crusher, jig and mill on schedule for the December quarter, and completion of the concentrator in the March quarter of next year – the same quarter it plans to start production.

La Parrilla is envisaged as a scalable project, starting up at 2 Mt/y to produce some 2,700 t/y of tungsten concentrate and 500 t/y of tin concentrate, before an expansion to 3.5 Mt/y and beyond.

W’s latest update said capital expenditure was tracking below budget, with engineering and procurement now both over 90% complete.

All major contracts have been placed, with 81.3% of the planned €27.1 million ($31.5 million) spend committed. The company also noted plant civil works were complete, concrete works for the crusher had been laid and works for the jig were underway.

Steel erection for the crusher was advancing quickly, the company said.

The primary Metso equipment for the 350 t/h crushing and screening circuit, which includes four HP300 cone crushers, a C130 jaw crusher, a VF500 vibrating feeder, MB352 rock breaker and MF2473 screen, were on site for “just in time installation”, W said.

W noted that primary allmineral equipment for the jig is arriving on site and allmineral confirmed the jig project was on schedule.

With a throughput of 350 t/h, the two alljig® jigs (one, pictured arriving on site) will provide grading, enrichment and cleaning of the pre-ground ore.

The alljig process involves the feed material initially being fluidised with pulsed water, with the grains graded according to density. The jigs separate the specifically lighter scheelite-poor yield from the specifically heavier scheelite-rich ore from the stratified material bed, allmineral said.

The processing plant, with a capacity of 155 t/h connected to the pre-concentration stage through the alljig jigs, will ensure tailings are separated from the valuable material, thereby achieving a 65% WO3 recovery, the company said.

The fines produced in several processing stages are to be recovered in a separate circuit.