JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed tungsten developer W Resources has secured financing and offtake arrangements to start up its La Parrilla tungsten mine, in Spain.
US-based chemicals, metals and plastics firm ICD Alloys and Metals provided a forward sales facility for $1.2-million, with $200 000 paid to W Resources to date.
W Resources and ICD Alloys and Metals have also reached a nonbinding in-principle agreement to provide equipment finance for the La Parrilla crusher for $2-million, which is expected to be operational in early 2017.
“The customer and equipment financing facilities enable us to move forward on this important phase of the project and allow us to start up at low operating costs and with installed crushing capacity sized to the full 2 500 tungsten concentrate development," says W Resources chairperson Michael Masterman.
As part of the financing, tungsten sales will be contracted to one of the largest US tungsten processing companies.
Initial mining, plant commissioning and tungsten concentrate production and sales to customers will take place in the fourth quarter of the year, using the existing on-site plant and facilities, at an initial rate of 400 t/y.