22 Jan 2014 07:00
22 January 2014
W Resources Plc
("W" or the "Company")
La Parrilla Final Concentrate Grades Exceed Expectations
Market Strong and Off Take Discussions Underway
W Resources Plc (AIM:WRES), has finalised its concentrate specifications for production from the La Parrilla tailings project in South West Spain. Final test work at the ALS Chemex Vancouver labs supports a concentrate specification of 63% WO3 and 8% Sn (tin). The grade of WO3 of 63% is significantly higher than the target level of 50% WO3.
With production of tungsten tin concentrate imminent, discussions are underway with customers for sales contracts. It is expected 100% of the planned monthly production of 20-25 tonnes month will be sold to 1-2 customers providing a strong base for revenue and growth.
Tungsten prices remain high at USD38,000 per tonne and global demand remains strong.
Michael Masterman, Chairman of W Resources commented: "As we near production at La Parrilla Tailings next month we are delighted that the final analysis has delivered tungsten grades of over 60% and tin at over 7%, significantly exceeding our expectations. This is further endorsed by the positive response from potential customers, which we look forward to securing off take agreements within the coming months."
Enquiries:
W Resources Plc | Grant Thornton UK LLP |
Michael Masterman | Colin Aaronson / Melanie Frean / Jen Clarke |
T: +44 (0) 20 7193 7463 | T: +44 (0) 20 7383 5100 |
www.wresources.co.uk | |
SI Capital | Gable Communications |
Andy Thacker / Nick Emerson | Justine James |
T: +44 (0) 1483 413500 | T: +44 (0) 20 7193 7463 |
www.sicapital.co.uk | M: +44 (0) 7525 324431 |
About La Parrilla
The La Parrilla project site is situated in the Extremadura region of southwest Spain, in the Provinces of Caceres-Badajoz, approximately 310 km southwest of Madrid. The site is accessed directly from the highway along a 3 km asphalt road and is serviced by electricity and water. The project comprises a tungsten mine and a tungsten tailings project. JORC compliant historic mine resource, in the existing mine area, estimated by Golder Associates Pty Ltd in June 2013 is 46.9 million tonnes at 0.09% WO3, making it one of the largest tungsten deposits in the western world. Higher grade zones in the middle of and also adjacent to the existing pit were highlighted as part of the review. Further potential to increase the resource has also been identified in the extension exploration areas drilled in 2013 / 2014.
With the final approvals granted at the La Parrilla tailings project in January 2013, by the Mining Department of the regional authority of the Junta de Extremadura, the Company is targeting first production in Q1 2014. Annual plant feed will be 330,000 tonnes and annual production is anticipated to be 28,000 MTU Tungsten (W) and 26 tonnes Tin (Sn), which will deliver over €7million per annum in revenue at current tungsten and tin prices.
The price of tungsten has increased rapidly over the last 3 years by more than double. The La Parrilla tailings deposit and tungsten mine development offer a low cost, high margin resource development opportunity for W Resources.
Technical information in this report and on the W website has been prepared in accordance with the JORC Code and approved for inclusion by Mr Fernando de la Fuente, who is a "qualified person" in respect of the AIM Rules for Companies with over 39 years' experience in the Exploration and Mining Geology industry. Mr de la Fuente holds a B.Sc. in Geology and a MSc in Geology from the University of Granada in Spain. He is also a member of the Spanish College of Geologists (Number 49), the Spanish Society of Mineralogy, founder member of the Spanish Society of Geology, member of the Spanish Association of Applied Geology to Mineral Deposits, member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc., member of PDAC..
La Parrilla Tailings - Certified Product Specification
Chemical Analysis Dry Weight %
W % | WO3 % | Sn % | As % | S % | Fe % | Ag ppm | Ba ppm | Bi % | Cd % |
>50 | >63.05 | 7.96 | 1.085 | 0.91 | 0.4 | 1 | 8.9 | 0.014 | <0.001 |
Ce ppm | Co % | Cr ppm | Cs ppm | Cu % | Dy ppm | Er ppm | Eu ppm | Ga ppm | Gd ppm |
203 | <0.001 | 20 | 2.07 | 0.0 | 47.2 | 29.1 | 21.8 | 1.9 | 36.5 |
Hf ppm | Ho ppm | La ppm | Lu ppm | Mg % | Mn % | Mo % | Nb ppm | Nd ppm | Ni % |
106.5 | 10.1 | 78.1 | 3.28 | <0.01 | <0.01 | <0.001 | 8.9 | 117.5 | 0.002 |
Pb % | Pr ppm | Rb ppm | Sm ppm | Sr ppm | Ta ppm | Tb ppm | Th ppm | Ti ppm | Tm ppm |
0.002 | 27.5 | 2.7 | 33.6 | 59.6 | 0.1 | 6.88 | 3.77 | 3.2 | 4.01 |
U ppm | V ppm | Y ppm | Yb ppm | Zr ppm | Zn % | ||||
5.47 | 14 | 270 | 24.1 | 4280 | <0.001 |