LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Tungsten West released a development and economic plan for the restart of mining operations at its Hemerdon tungsten and tin project in Devon on Friday, ahead of a full feasibility study, which was currently underway.
The AIM-traded company said the fully-permitted and "shovel-ready" mine could begin production within 12 months of securing financing.

Hemerdon is projected to produce around 20% of the global supply of primary tungsten outside China, with an estimated total restart funding requirement of $93m.

The project benefited from about $300m of prior capital investment, including significant open pit pre-stripping.

Discussions with potential financing partners were ongoing, with fundraising expected to conclude by the end of 2025.

The plan outlined a base-case mine life of 11 years, followed by four years of stockpile processing and 12 years of premium aggregate sales, with further expansion potential under the 'Hemerdon Futures' programme.

Tungsten West forecasted a post-tax internal rate of return of 29.3%, a net present value at a 7.5% discount of $190m, and total post-tax cash flows of $456m.

The board said the restart would include new crushing and ore sorting infrastructure, processing module enhancements, and refurbishment of the existing mineral processing facility.

Environmental measures such as noise mitigation enclosures and low-noise mining equipment would also be introduced.

Pre-production commissioning would proceed in phases to reduce startup risk, with capacity to process 3.5 million tonnes of ore annually and potential to scale up to 500,000 metric tonnes of tungsten trioxide per year.

"The publication of the plan serves as reflection of our strong intent and focus to restart mining operations and tungsten production at Hemerdon," said chief executive officer Jeff Court.

"At full capacity, Hemerdon is expected to produce over 20% of the global non-China supply of tungsten and will significantly strengthen the developed world's supply chain for this critical metal.

"This plan offers a clear, staged and manageable approach to bring Hemerdon back into production."

Court said he was "looking forward" to the completion of the updated feasibility study, expected in the coming months, which would confirm the "attractive economics" and "strong investment case" for the project, bolstering the firm's position in ongoing conversations with a range of funding partners.

"I would like to thank our shareholders, loyal employees, internal and external consultants and all our stakeholders for their continued support."

At 1131 BST, shares in Tungsten West were up 11.11% at 5p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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