Tungsten West (LON: TUN) has announced it has raised £1.8 million through Tranche C of its 2023 Convertible Loan Notes, adding to £5.15 million raised earlier in 2023, to restart production at its UK tin-tungsten Hemerdon mine.
The proceeds of the CLNs are to be used to support the company in its activities in permitting, updating the Hemerdon Feasibility Study, and other financing. The company anticipates it will require further funding to complete its main financing round and is considering the sale of certain assets.
Tungsten West continues to engage with the Environment Agency regarding its Mineral Processing Facility permit, with the company stating it has been working to significantly reduce low frequency noise from the facility. Noise and dust pollution were previously contributing factors to the mine’s 2018 closure under Wolf Minerals, alongside financial troubles. The company believes that it has provided solutions that will acceptably mitigate low frequency noise.
Tungsten West’s Chief Executive Officer, Neil Gawthorpe, commented “The Company has continued to progress towards securing the Mineral Processing Facility permit over the past few months whilst furthering its cost control measures, with focus on planning, permitting, capital raising, and ensuring compliance”.
On 06 December 2023, local authority Devon County Council approved Tungsten West’s application to raise the cap on bulk materials transport from the site, a program underway to provide income from the sale of secondary aggregates at the mine. Gawthorpe continued, “I am pleased to share [the local authority approval] for increased aggregate volume movements. This coupled with the positive results on the aggregates test work, lay the foundations of a robust aggregates opportunity alongside our core tungsten and tin business”.
The company expects to complete an updated Feasibility Study in the second half of 2024, which will lead to another round of financing, enabling the resumed production of tungsten and tin.
Our view: Additional financing will improve the outlook for the resumption of tin mining at Hemerdon – now targeted for H2 2025, pending Environment Agency approvals – and we eagerly await the completion of the updated Feasibility Study in 2024.
