Tungsten West (LON:TUN), the mining company focused on restarting production at the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine (‘Hemerdon’ or the ‘Project’) in Devon, UK, is pleased to provide an update on its Project Financing initiatives and operational activities, against the backdrop of favourable market conditions for the Company’s primary commodities.
Highlights
- Debt funding progressing well, with a number of potential lenders advanced into term sheet stage
- Long-lead orders for key equipment and detailed engineering work advanced
- Onboarding of key Project resources to commence the refurbishment and start-up process
- Multiple offtake term sheets and letters of intent being progressed
- Uplift in Project economics calculated using recent tungsten and tin market pricing:
- The Project’s forecast Net Present Value 7.5% (‘NPV’) increases from US$190 million to US$1.7 billion
- The Project’s Internal Rate of Return (‘IRR’) increases from 29% to 197%
- Near term EBITDA estimates increase over fourfold
- Publication of updated Corporate Presentation
Jeff Court, CEO of Tungsten West, commented:
‘The structural shift in the tungsten market that we have seen since the end of 2024 reflects the ever growing need to provide critical mineral diversification and supply chain resilience to Western economies. The Project Updated Feasibility Study released in August 2025 demonstrated solid financial returns from the Company’s approach to restarting activities at Hemerdon with a greatly improved and robust mineral process flow sheet, plant modifications and access to high quality ore in the pre-existing open pit mine. In the relatively short time since releasing the Updated Feasibility Study, tungsten prices have increased over 200% and tin prices over 70%. As the Company is fully leveraged to market prices, the Project’s economics have vastly improved, underlining the importance of advancing the Project rapidly.
‘To this end, in addition to the well-advanced Project Financing, we have accelerated Project re-commissioning work, including ordering long-lead items and engaging key project resources for the refurbishment works. This work programme will have the Company producing tungsten concentrate within 12 months of funding. I look forward to further updating shareholders on our progress across these areas in due course.’
Project Financing update
Debt funding is progressing well, with a number of potential lenders advanced into term sheet stage. These are in addition to the Expression of Interest from the US EXIM bank previously announced on 28 August 2025. Timelines for these work streams are aligned with the Project Financing requirements. The Company will update the market on developments before the end of Q1 2026.
Operational activities
In parallel with ongoing Project Financing, Tungsten West is continuing momentum on workstreams required for project recommissioning. The Company has progressed long-lead orders for key equipment, detailed engineering work, and has begun on-boarding key Project resources to commence the refurbishment and start-up process whilst simultaneously advancing the operational pre-conditions required to recommence operations.
The Company’s efforts have been bolstered by buoyant tungsten and tin markets, which have further brought into focus Tungsten West’s ability to bring online a globally significant, fully permitted, shovel ready tungsten and tin resource, with high production levels forecasted for both critical minerals. Tungsten West is well positioned to capitalise on a relatively low capital cost and a short lead time to commercial production of less than 12 months from the commencement of construction. Commissioning activities and preliminary concentrate generation are targeted to begin within nine months of concluding Project Financing.
Further to this, the Company has progressed multiple offtake term sheets and letters of intent, in addition to holding advanced stage negotiations in relation to offtake agreements, accounting for over 300% of the Company’s peak production levels for tungsten concentrate.
Project economics update
Current market conditions have had a very favourable impact on the Project’s economics. The Company’s Feasibility Study released on 5 August 2025 was based on the market pricing of tungsten (APT) of US$400/mtu and tin at US$32,500/t. The prevailing market prices as of 28 January 2026 were US$1,313/mtu for APT and US$55,953/t for tin. The impact of this on the Project economics are summarised below:
- The Project’s forecast NPV7.5% increases from US$190 million to US$1.7 billion;
- The Project’s IRR increases from 29% to 197%; and
- Near term EBITDA estimates increase over fourfold
Corporate Presentation
The Company has updated its Corporate Presentation, including the updated Project economics for both the long-range commodity price forecasts and current spot levels, which is significant for Hemerdon given the rapid restart timeline that can be achieved post concluding the Project Financing process. The updated Corporate Presentation can be viewed here: https://www.tungstenwest.com/
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 596/2014 as amended by the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.
Ends
For further information, please contact:
Enquiries
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Tungsten West Jeff Court, Chief Executive Officer Phil Povey, Chief Financial Officer Tel: +44 (0) 1752 278500 |
Strand Hanson (Nominated Adviser and Financial Adviser) James Spinney / James Dance / Abigail Wennington Tel: +44 (0) 207 409 3494 |
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BlytheRay (Financial PR) Megan Ray / Rachael Brooks Tel: +44(0) 20 7138 3204 Email: tungstenwest@blytheray.com |
Hannam & Partners (Broker) Andrew Chubb / Matt Hasson / Jay Ashfield Tel: +44 (0)20 7907 8500 |
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