W Resources begins tin and tungsten production at La Parrilla

Spain and Portugal-focussed tungsten, tin and gold mining company W Resources has started the production of tungsten and tin concentrate for sale at its flagship La Parrilla mine, it announced on Thursday, which it described as an important stage in the T2 ramp-up phase.

The AIM-traded firm said the milestone set it on track towards achieving its target two million tonnes per annum run-of-mine, to produce 2,700 tonnes of tungsten trioxide concentrate.

It said that, with the new concentrator complete, it was now producing tungsten and tin concentrate in line with the La Parrilla standard concentrate specifications.

Initial tungsten concentrate grades met the shipment criteria levels, and would continue to improve as the plant reached steady-state production.

W Resources said the first shipment shipments to customers from the new concentrator were scheduled for December.

The plant was currently running on day shifts, and would move to 24-hour operation in December, which would allow a “significant increase” in throughput.

Mining and crushing operations were fully operational, and at 1515 on 25 November, the company completed its latest blast at La Parrilla of 90,000 tonnes of ore and rock, providing “significant inventory” of ore feed.

That, the board said, was the largest blast to date.

“We have now reached this significant milestone at La Parrilla as we commence commercial tungsten and tin production and have achieved stable operating plant performance,” said chairman Michael Masterman.

“We are pleased with initial concentrate production grades, which we anticipate will continue to improve as we move up the ramp-up curve and transition to 24-hour plant operations in December.”

At 1610 GMT, shares in W Resources were up 6.88% at 0.34p.