W Resources Plc (LON: WRES), the tungsten, tin and gold mining company announced today an update on its flagship project La Parrilla in Spain and further detail on its projects in Portugal.
At La Parrilla, the mine is in the final stages of construction and following delivery of the Motor Control Centre (MCC) the team is completing the final electrical connections in the lead up to full commissioning of the large-scale Concentrator Plant.
As previously reported, the Mine, Crusher Plant and Jig and Mill Plant are already in operation and are geared up and ready to feed upgraded ore to the new Concentrator Plant. allmineral Aufbereitungstechnik GmbH & Co. KG of Germany is advancing towards final acceptance testing and signoff of the design capacity of the new 350 tonnes per hour Jig and Mill Plant. allmineral is upgrading the thickener underflow pump capacity and has made a number of changes, which are a usual part of the commissioning and ramp-up process to enhance the Jig and Mill Plant operational capacity. Ore fed to the Jig and Mill Plant is being upgraded to higher grades in line with expectations and plant throughput has been tested at design capacity.
Upgraded pre-concentrate from the new Jig and Mill Plant has been trucked to the existing La Parrilla Concentrator Plant and processed through to final tungsten and tin concentrate. Tungsten and tin concentrate stock has reached 19.8 tonnes (16t Tungsten and 3.8t Tin) in July, which is slightly lower than earlier guidance of 20t WO3 concentrate, reflecting the constraints on efficient pre-concentrate movement between plants and, in particular, due to the limitations of the old Concentrator Plant which was designed for tailings and not ore feed. Importantly, the operation of the old Concentrator Plant has provided critical information to enhance and fine-tune the performance of the new large-scale Concentrator Plant.
These enhancements are being incorporated in real time in the new Concentrator Plant, an example of which is that W has purchased 72 spirals from the Wolf Minerals Limited liquidator and expanded the spirals’ processing capacity at La Parrilla at very limited cost. The T2 remains within budget, including contingency.
The Company has also signed an amendment agreement with BlackRock Financial Management Inc. to capitalise the last two interest payments of the BlackRock term loan, which equates to US$1.29m, which will be added to the final loan balance, further freeing up liquidity. The next quarterly interest payment will fall due in November 2019.
In Portugal at Régua, development work continues to advance with road access construction underway and mining set to commence in the December quarter. Spirals purchased from the Wolf Minerals liquidator and equipment from the existing La Parrilla Concentrator Plant will be used in the Régua plant. Golder Associates Pty Ltd has advised it expects to complete a JORC update of Régua’s Reserves and Resource estimate in the December quarter.
As previously reported, there has been a substantial delay in SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd completing the Australasian Joint Ore Reserves Committee resource estimate for São Martinho and the final evaluation is still being reviewed. Once a satisfactory outcome has been agreed, the Company will provide a further update.
Michael Masterman, Chairman of W Resources commented:
“We are getting to the closing stages of construction at La Parrilla, with the mine, Crusher and Jig and Mill Plants commissioned and processing ore and the new large-scale Concentrator Plant set to start-up by September, following the completion of the important final commissioning stage.
Production from the old Concentrator Plant was below expectations in July, but importantly is greatly assisting with the enhancement of the new large-scale Concentrator Plant, which has been designed for full scale operation. We are close to finalising this process and the priority is that the commissioning is completed thoroughly. The team has delivered a fantastic mine, at low-cost and we very much look forward to first production from the new Concentrator Plant in the September quarter.”
