W Resources plc (LON:WRES), the tungsten, tin and gold mining company with assets in Spain and Portugal, announced today its audited financial results for the year ended 31st December 2019.
HIGHLIGHTS
La Parrilla, Tungsten and Tin, Spain
· Construction completed on this world class tungsten and tin project in September 2019.
· Initial production of the T2 stage production commenced in November 2019.
· Production in Q4 2019 built at a slower pace than anticipated due to early stage plant challenges, which continue to be resolved.
· Production in Q1 2020 was reported on 17 April 2020, recording an increase in tungsten metal production to 45.2 tonnes (combined tungsten and tin).
· Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the timing of the €5.3m Grant from the Junta de Extremadura is to be confirmed with the local Government needing to prioritise resources in response to the ongoing pandemic.
Régua Tungsten Project, Portugal
· Régua has significant synergies with La Parrilla as it has materially lower capital costs and will increase La Parrilla’s final concentrate production.
· Mining operations commenced in March 2020 and is currently paused due to the challenges presented by COVID-19.
COVID-19
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has meant that 2020 thus far has been a very challenging time for Spain and Portugal as it has for the rest of the world. Our priority has remained the health and safety of our personnel and we continued to work hard at both our operational sites in Spain and Portugal to review and maintain our priorities on this matter in relation to our staff and contractors.
In order to mitigate against risk of further impacts on production as a result of this pandemic, W has secured additional funding to ensure the Company has a strong buffer in these unprecedented times.
Chairman of W Resources, Michael Masterman commented: “Whilst 2019 was a very challenging year with the core priority being completion of the La Parrilla plant and commencement of production and ramp-up, La Parrilla is in operation and is starting to reap the benefits from the substantial plant improvement programme executed over the last 3 months. The bulk of the operational plant improvements have been installed and are now operational. We are of the view that the plant can progressively increase both recoveries and utilisation to increase production to design capacity.”
