Initial production from the new tungsten mine that Irish- and UK-listed Ormonde Mining is building in Salamanca, Spain, is set to enter the market by the end of the year.
The Barruecopardo mine is being built at a time of rising demand and prices for ammonium paratungstate (APT), with prices having risen from the January 2016 low of $162 a metric tonne unit (mtu) to between $350/t and $354/t currently.
Ormonde expects demand for APT to remain strong when the project comes on stream at the end of the year.
Initial commissioning of certain installations is set to start in July and August, and the process plant is expected to begin commissioning by the end of September, the company reported on Tuesday.
The initial nine-year openpit mine will produce 260 000 mtu of tungsten trioxide at steady state.
The Barruecopardo tungsten project is funded through a $99.7-million funding package agreed with Oaktree Capital Management in 2015. Ormonde has a 30% interest in the project and Oaktree holds the balance.