PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Tungsten miner EQ Resources has reported a new monthly record of concentrate production at its Mt Carbine project, in Queensland, following the completion of an upgrade to the power line to the site.

The upgrade has allowed the XRT Sorter at Mt Carbine to operate on a 24-hour basis.

EQ Resources told shareholders on Monday that a successful debottlenecking strategy and Early Works investment targeting the crushing, screening and XRT sorting capacity contributed to the production of a record of more than 40 t of 50% tungsten concentrate in December, showing the positive impact of the continuous improvements at Mt Carbine.

EQ Resources and its joint venture (JV) partner, global metals group Cronimet, began re-commissioning the historical processing plant in 2020, with a further significant investment to upgrade the processing capacity at Mt Carbine early in 2021 as part of the staged development plan for the site.

The JV has also integrated advanced Tomra XRT ore-sorting technology into the crushing and screening flowsheet with the dual target of producing a tungsten concentrate and creating a barren green aggregate by-product stream from waste rock from the ore-sorting process. Extensive field-based test work was conducted throughout 2021, with a tenfold upgrade in the low-grade ore achieved consistently over production trials.

“Mt Carbine is ramping up production into a firm market for tungsten concentrates and a strong, stable price for the major end product ammonium paratungstate, currently around $325/MTU, compared with $230/MTU a year ago,” said EQ Resources CEO Kevin MacNeill.

“We are expanding our production and expanding our team at Mt Carbine as we create a sustainable mine for the future. We are delivering concentrates for the global market and re-purposed waste rock as by-product aggregates for the local market.

“With the early works being completed in the coming weeks, we see ourselves right on target with the production upgrade towards some 90 t of concentrate per month.”