LONDON (Alliance News) - W Resources PLC on Friday released a new mineral resource estimate that has resulted in a 16% rise in the amount of tungsten thought to be lying within the La Parilla project in Spain.
The miner said the updated resource, which was completed by Golder Associates, shows the total resource at the project now stands at 51.0 million tonnes of ore at 0.096% tungsten trioxide and 0.108% tin.
That has resulted in a 16% lift in the amount of contained tungsten trioxide and a 7% rise in the tungsten grade, whilst the amount of contained tin has increased by 29% with the grade rising 19%.
To put the new resource into perspective, the previous estimate from 2013 stood at 47.0 million tonnes at 0.090% tungsten trioxide and 0.910% tin.
Importantly, the new resource is not only larger but is more likely to be developed, as more of the resource is now classified as indicated rather than inferred. The old 2013 estimate was made up completely of inferred resources, but the majority of that has now been upgraded.
The new estimate shows indicated resources now stand at 36.0 million tonnes at 0.096% tungsten trioxide and 0.115% tin, with inferred resources now only 15.0 million tonnes at 0.095% tungsten trioxide and 0.92% tin.
One of the reasons the resource received a boost was thanks to a maiden resource at the La Parilla West deposit of 3.0 million tonnes at 0.158% tungsten trioxide, and W Resources said this could be expanded with further extension drilling.
Of the total resource, W Resources said 13.0 million tonnes at 0.101% tungsten trioxide can be fast-tracked, suggesting the company will initially focus on that area of the resource. The miner plans to upgrade its production and development plan for the project in the second quarter of 2016.
W Resources shares were down 3.1% to 0.610 pence per share on Friday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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