Tungsten West Ltd announced a JORC mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 328Mt at 0.12% WO3 [tungsten oxide] and 0.03% tin at its Hemerdon project in the village of Plympton in Devon.
MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE
The MRE, effective of 7 December 2020, was prepared by Mining Plus UK in accordance with the JORC Code 2012.
Inclusive of the reserve estimate, the resource is more than double that of the previous operation.
The Hemerdon deposit, for measured, indicated and inferred categories, is 323.9Mt at 0.12% WO₃ and 0.03% Sn, reported at a cut-off grade of 0.065% WO₃ Eq (equivalent*) for the granite and 0.079% WO₃ Eq for the killas.
Tungsten West said in a statement that the MRE also includes 0.9Mt at 0.21% WO₃ and 0.05% Sn in previously mined stockpiles at the site and is classified within the measured category.
Additionally, Mining Plus has prepared an inferred MRE for the tailings from the former operation of 3.2Mt at 0.18% WO₃ and 0.02% Sn.
The combined MRE for Hemerdon shows that the mine is among the world’s largest CRIRSCO [Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards] compliant tungsten resources.
ORE RESERVE ESTIMATE
The ore reserve estimate (JORC 2021) for Hemerdon is 63.3Mt at 0.18% WO₃ and 0.03% Sn, reported above an ore reserve cut-off grade of 0.098% WO₃ Eq (equivalent*) for the granite and 0.134% WO₃ Eq for the killas.
Tungsten West added that the ore reserve included 0.9Mt of existing stockpiles remaining from the previous open pit mining operations between 2015 and 2018.
The company noted that the measured and indicated mineral resources included those mineral resources modified to produce ore reserves.
Ore reserve reporting has an effective date of 1st March 2021.
*WO₃Eq = WO₃ + (Sn*0.534) for granite WO₃ + (Sn*0.171) for killas and based on economic and metallurgical parameters at the time of reporting.