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Soon-to-be tungsten producer Wolf Minerals is on track and on budget to deliver its first shipment of contracted tungsten by Q3 2015.
Excellent weather conditions in the UK have contributed greatly to construction activity at the Hemerdon project. The company said that the initial phase of activity at Hemerdon, which included site preparation for the new processing facility and mine waste facility, has been completed. Further, the mine waste facility, a key component of the project, is nearly half complete, while the majority of the plant equipment has been delivered to the site. That has allowed for “immediate installation as the foundations or supporting steelwork becomes available.”
Development of the open pit at Hermerdon has continued over the last quarter, with excavation waste used in the construction of the mine facility. According to the company, there is no overburden to remove in order to access the ore body. So far, Wolf has stockpiled 60,000 tonnes of ore at the mine, and that material will provide the initial feedstock for the processing plant.
“We are delighted with the level of activity and progress achieved to date at the Hemerdon Project site,” said Managing Director Russell Clark, adding that “[c]onstruction remains on schedule for the Project to be completed on time and on budget in the third quarter of 2015. The next key steps will be completing the erection of structural steel and buildings at site, the commencement of electrical installations as well as the continued installation of the processing plant equipment and the construction of the mine waste facility and associated infrastructure.”
Wolf reported that over the latest quarter it was able to satisfy all the conditions required to draw down from the project’s £75-million senior debt finance facilities. Clark noted that meeting those requirements was a major milestone for the company, as was Wolf’s ability to meet all the conditions and continue to advance the project.
“This has been another highly successful quarter for Wolf,” Clark said in a company statement, also stating that given its recent successes, Wolf is forecasting “an on time, on budget delivery of the Project with first concentrate contracted for deliver in the third quarter of 2015.”
But before the company reaches that point, it still has a lot of work to do.
Looking ahead to the final quarter of 2014, Wolf plans to continue moving the project forward with an added focus on construction. The company will also be looking at completing the final geotechnical drill holes to assess if steeper final pit walls are feasible “and if so deliver increased ore reserves and mine life.”
On the back of the news on Monday, Wolf Minerals rose 5.66 percent.
Securities Disclosure: I, Vivien Diniz, hold no investment interest in any of the companies mentioned.
Editorial Disclosure: Wolf Minerals is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.