Name: Drakelands mine.

Location: The Drakelands mine is located near the village of Hemerdon, in the UK, at the Hemerdon tungsten and tin project.

Holding and Controlling Company: Wolf Minerals.

Brief Description: The Drakelands mine is a recently constructed world-class tungsten and tin mine, located in the UK. It is one of only two mines outside of China, with production capacity greater than 3 000 t/y of tungsten concentrate.

Brief History: The Drakelands mine started commercial production in 2016 and is the first metal mine in the UK to start production in more than 45 years.

Products: Tungsten and tin concentrates.

Geology/Mineralisation: The tungsten deposit at the Drakelands mine is hosted in and around a dyke-like body of porphyritic granite, known as the Hemerdon Granite that forms a cupola to the extreme south-west of the main body of the Dartmoor Granite. The country rock around the Hemerdon Granite is upper Devonian slate (Killas), with minor basic volcanic rocks.

The northern part of the Hemerdon Granite is a north-north-east-trending dyke, about 140 m wide and dipping steeply to the east. It hosts a stockwork of greisen-bordered quartz veins, bearing wolframite and cassiterite, with minor tourmaline and sulphide minerals. The mineralisation has been demonstrated by drilling to persist to 400 m below surface.  

Reserves: Total proven and probable reserves as at March 25, 2015, were estimated at 34-million tonnes grading 0.18% tungsten trioxide and 0.03% tin.

Resources: Total measured, indicated and inferred resources as at 2016, were estimated at 143.5-million tonnes grading 0.15% tungsten trioxide and 0.02% tin.

Mining Method: Openpit.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: Ore removed from the Drakelands mine pit is stockpiled according to its mineralogical characteristics and grade in preparation for use in the processing plant.

Waste rock from the openpit is loaded by excavators onto dump trucks and driven on internal haul roads to the mine waste facility (MWF).

The MWF consists of a rockfill embankment progressively constructed from run-of-mine waste. Finer residues (tailings) are contained within this embankment and allowed to settle, with the excess water pumped back to the processing plant for recycling.

Ore is fed into the processing plant where it is crushed and ground to liberate the minerals from the rock, and then separated and upgraded using various gravity, heavy media, flotation and magnetic processes.

The processing plant produces about 5 000 t/y tungsten concentrate and 1 000 t/y tin concentrate.

Prospects: Opportunities to improve throughput and recoveries in the processing plant have been identified. Wolf is working to implement equipment changes and design improvements aimed at achieving continuous operation at capacity, and enhancing recoveries and general processing plant improvements.

Contact: Drakelands Mine.

Contact Details:
Wolf Minerals – Drakelands Mine
Tel +44 1752 393116
Email adminuk@wolfminerals.com
Website http://www.wolfminerals.com.au