Tungsten mining company looking to secure funding

Tungsten West is trying to secure £2.8m of funding by the end of next month

A mining company looking to extract one of the world's largest deposits of the mineral tungsten has said it is confident it is on target to produce the metal by the end of next year.

Tungsten West, which runs Hemerdon Mine on the outskirts of Plymouth, Devon, reported a loss of nearly £14m over the six months to the end of September last year.

The company said it was trying to secure £2.8m of funding by the end of next month, but without it there was a "material uncertainty" over its ability to continue operating.

It has previously called on the government for support.

'Funding the business'

Bosses have said Hemerdon Mine holds the second largest deposit of tungsten in the world, which is used in electronics, robotics, medical devices and aerospace.

Tungsten West took over the mine in 2019 after the previous operator Wolf Minerals ceased production a year earlier.

Alistair Stobie, the firm's chief financial officer, said: "The hard part of all smaller natural resource companies is funding the business up until the point where it starts making cash.

"The truth of the matter is at that time we were very close to a deal with a group of funders, that had kept us going effectively since the middle of 2023 and aren't going to stop supporting us now.

"We still have to complete the legal paperwork but I have no doubt it'll be done."

The next step for the company is to produce an updated feasibility study, which is then hoped will help it raise further major capital from April.