W Resources has begun operations at its La Parrilla tungsten and tin mine in south-west Spain ahead of schedule and is working to ramp-up output of tungsten concentrates and tin by-product to 400 tpa over the next 6 months.
The company has developed an optimised fast-track open pit mine plan with a low strip ratio and has identified 3 higher grade zones for the initial stage of mining, with mineralisation open in most directions and at depth. Indicated and Inferred Resources at the site total 51 Mt at 0.096% WO3 and 0.0108% Sn for 48,960 tonnes of tungsten trioxide and 5,508 tonnes of contained tin.
The company is also installing additional infrastructure to expand production capacity to 2,500 tpa of concentrate by the end of 2017, with the option to increase output to 5,000 tonnes of concentrate with further investment in the future.
Michael Masterman, Chairman of W Resources, commented: “While there could be many ramp-up challenges over the coming months, we have a skilled and committed team in place to increase production and lay the groundwork for a substantial increase in production in 2017”.
Much like the Drakelands tungsten-tin mine in the UK, tin output is expected to be relatively minor on a global scale as production is a by-product of a tungsten-focussed operation. We calculate that tin produced from the La Parilla mine will not exceed 200 tpa even should the plant achieve targeted design capacity by the end of 2017.
