Aim-listed W Resources on Tuesday confirmed that commissioning of the jig and mill plant at La Parrilla, in Spain, has begun.
The jig and mill plant will upgrade the La Parrilla ore, efficiently reject barren material, and prepare material for feed to the concentrator plant.
"The commencement of commissioning the La Parrilla jig and mill plant following construction completion is a very important milestone as we advance to full completion of the two-million-tonne-per-annum plant. We expect to be able to feed crushed ore to the jig and mill plant in late April and then process it through our existing concentrator plant. This will allow a significant increase in near term tungsten and tin production capacity and also allows us to ensure smooth autonomous operation of the jig and mill plant ahead of commissioning of the new large scale concentrator plant later this quarter,” explains W chairperson Michael Masterman.
The company states that the large scale concentrator plant has advanced over the last three weeks with 90% of all structural steel and primary equipment now on-site and being installed.
"The concentrator plant construction has accelerated rapidly following delivery of the bulk of the structural steel and is scheduled for mechanical completion this quarter. The contractor, allmineral Aufbereitungstechnik of Germany, is on a fixed price, fixed schedule contract and whilst there has been a delay in the delivery of steel which has had a negative impact on the schedule of the jig and mill and concentrator plants, there is no adverse impact on budget as the cost of the plants are fixed.
“Overall the project continues to track below budget including contingency," Masterman notes.