W Resources restarts La Parrilla after extended shutdown

Portugal and Spain-focussed tungsten, tin and gold miner W Resources said on Friday that, following its maintenance shutdown, production at the La Parrilla mine in Spain had now restarted.

The AIM-traded firm said there was no production in February, other than small quantities of work in progress that were reprocessed during early February.

It said the initial maintenance shutdown was scheduled for two weeks, and in that period further improvements were identified, delaying the restart.

The company said it was also forced to evaluate options over the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG), following a 425% increase in prices as announced last month.

During the extended maintenance shutdown, a series of improvements were carried out to streamline the efficiency and operation and overall recovery of the plant.

They included making reinforcements to the primary and secondary crushing structures, updating the safety control elements throughout the plant, installing sump pumps across the plant, preparing for the installation of a new bench of spirals, levelling and compacting areas for civil works for the installation of the new intermediate crushed ore stockpile and a new laboratory, and constructing additional infrastructure, building meeting rooms and updated staff changing facilities.

Further to the funding announcement on 2 March, the firm said the first tranche of funds from BlackRock Financial Management had now been received, and was partly deployed to secure deliveries of LNG to power the plant.

W Resources said it was monitoring the LNG price and looking to accelerate plans to have a second electricity power line connected to the mine, as well as investigating access to solar energy, which would reduce its reliance on LNG.

“W realises the importance of recommencing production at the La Parrilla mine and looks forward to resuming shipments of tungsten concentrate, an event welcomed by our customers, staff and stakeholders alike,” said chairman Michael Masterman.

“The war in Ukraine is creating unprecedented pressure on energy prices, which the company has to navigate and is evaluating all alternative options available.

“Notwithstanding this challenge, demand for our tungsten and tin concentrate remains very strong and prices remain robust.”

At 1333 GMT, shares in W Resources were down 2.62% at 2.97p.