LONDON (Alliance News) - W Resources PLC Monday said the improvements made to its La Parrilla tailings facility since a shutdown in August mean the plant is on track to hit its current production targets and the company will upgrade those targets after October.
The Spain and Portugal-focused tungsten, copper and gold company, said the La Parrilla facility, based in the Extremadura region of south west Spain, has been producing tungsten concentrate on a continuous basis since coming back on line following an eight-day shutdown in August.
W Resources said there is scope to further improve plant availability at the site along with the proportion of upgraded concentrate feed generated per tonne of tailings. The company believes this can be achieved in the second half of 2014 and into 2015.
The company has also announced a three-stage programme to further improve the performance of the plant. They include a switch to low-cost Spanish grid-supplied power at the plant, from high-cost diesel at present, which will save an estimated EUR400,000 per year.
The group is also planning to produce a separate tin concentrate via the installation of an electrostatic separator and said it will improve the feed systems in order to ensure a steady feed to the concentrate plant and to improve overall recoveries.
Chief Executive Michael Masterman said that based on the current production performance indications for La Parrilla, there is scope for the company to further increase production beyond the current 25 tonne a month targets. He said this would be reassessed in October.
The company also said it has signed contractual off-take agreements with a large European tungsten consumer and is now shipping the product to this unnamed customer on a regular basis. The company did not reveal the financial details of the agreement, but said it was broadly in line with the European APT price for tungsten.
W Resources shares were down 8.2% to 0.675 pence on Monday.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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