Ormonde pleased with recent progress at Barruecopardo

Ormonde updated the market on the construction and commissioning of the Barruecopardo Tungsten Project in Salamanca, Spain on Tuesday, where it held a 30% interest, reporting that open pit mining of surface tungsten ore zones began in January.

The AIM-traded firm also confirmed that the crush and screen plant had been commissioned, using ore to produce the fine ore stockpile for feeding into the process plant.

It said the commissioning stages of the process plant had been advancing, and the first ore had now been introduced to the process plant.

That activity would continue during the coming weeks, including producing tungsten concentrates, which Ormonde said would lead on to a progressive transition from the commissioning phase into the gradual ramp-up of production at Barruecopardo.

It said key recent progress included the completion of commissioning of the crush and screen plant and the water treatment plant, with it now handed over to the operating team.

At the process plant, Ormonde said the installation of equipment and supporting structures was “materially complete”, with some “de-snagging” ongoing.

It also reported that dry commissioning and water commissioning was both complete in most areas, adding that, following some slippage in the schedule, commissioning had now progressed to the start of ore processing.

Ormonde said that ‘hot commissioning’ would continue during the rest of February and into March.

Initial open pit mining operations were underway in the north starter pit, with waste stripping of the east wall of the historic open pit also in progress, and installation of pumps ongoing in the water dams.

“Activities at Barruecopardo have been advancing well, with mining of ore for the process plant commencing in early January, and plant dry and wet commissioning mostly complete, with ore now being introduced to the process plant,” said Ormonde chairman and interim managing director Michael Donoghue.

“These are significant milestones for the project, and we look forward to seeing ore commissioning progress during the weeks ahead and the successful transition into the Project's production phase.”