Michael Masterman, Chairman of W Resources PLC LON:WRES said: “La Parrilla is a very capital efficient project that can be quickly scaled to significantly higher production rates at low incremental expansion costs. Plans remain on track to complete the FTM in 2016. Within this design we have embedded the expansion capability to double capacity to 2,600 tpa through oversizing of the crusher and jigs circuit. The scalability of the project adds significant flexibility, NPV and optionality to La Parrilla. Development work is progressing on track and financing discussions for the first phase are advancing.”
W Resources Plc (AIM:WRES), the tungsten, copper and gold exploration and development company with assets in Spain and Portugal, has given DirectorsTalk an update on design and development planning for the La Parrilla Tungsten Project following completion of the initial engineering work in Germany.
Metallurgical testing, plant design and expansion planning work has advanced with engineering consultants MBE Coal & Minerals Technology GmbH which has confirmed the La Parrilla plant can be executed in three phases:
1. Initial production will start with the Fast Track Mine (“FTM”) at 1,300 tonnes per annum (“tpa”) of concentrate, at an estimated cost of US$16m. The FTM is on track for first production in late 2016
2. The FTM will then be scaled up to 2,600 tpa at the low incremental cost of US$6.0m
3. The final Full Mine will incorporate ore sorters and duplicate the processing plant expanding the capacity to 5,000 tpa
The wide availability of crushing equipment in Europe has enabled W to design the initial FTM plant with higher installed equipment capacity whilst simultaneously achieving substantial cost savings. This allows the Company to install larger capacity from day one that will allow production to be ramped-up by increasing the run hours of the installed equipment. Minor modifications are required to ensure sufficient surge capacity between the jig and concentrator plants remains available during the ramp-up phase of the project. The final expansion to 5,000 tpa of concentrate requires duplication of the pre-concentration and final concentration circuits.
The proposed three-stage configuration allows for low-cost incremental expansion to supply the expected steady growth in the European, US and Middle East markets.
