Tungsten West has begun processing ore at the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine in Devon, moving the brownfield restart from financing and construction into the first stage of production.
The company has started phased processing through the fines gravity circuit and is ramping activity while additional plant areas are commissioned. The restart remains a staged programme rather than an immediate move to nameplate output, with further commissioning expected to continue into the first quarter of 2027 before steady-state production is targeted later in the year.
The production milestone follows the £71 million National Wealth Fund investment package agreed in August. That financing combined a £36 million equity investment with a £25 million committed debt facility and a further £10 million uncommitted accordion, removing a major funding constraint as Tungsten West pushed the project towards restart.
Hemerdon is one of the world’s larger known tungsten resources and already contains substantial mining and processing infrastructure from its previous operating phase. Tungsten West acquired the asset in 2019 after the former operation ceased production and has since redesigned parts of the process route, carried out feasibility work and installed new or refurbished equipment intended to address earlier recovery and operating problems.
The current flowsheet places greater emphasis on rejecting waste and concentrating valuable material before it reaches later processing stages. Crushing, screening, ore sorting, gravity separation and related equipment have been incorporated into the restart programme to reduce unnecessary processing load and improve recovery economics.
That engineering work is central to whether the mine can sustain commercial output. Tungsten prices and government support improve the financial environment, but neither can compensate for weak plant recovery, excessive downtime or inconsistent concentrate quality. The ramp-up will therefore be judged on operating data rather than on the first tonnes moving through the circuit.
Tungsten West said phased processing activity had begun before the latest operational update, with commissioning scheduled to progress through to the first quarter of 2027. The company has also expanded the workforce around the restart, bringing engineering, processing, maintenance and operating capability back onto a site that has spent several years in redevelopment.
The strategic interest in Hemerdon has increased as governments reassess exposure to concentrated critical-mineral supply chains. Tungsten combines extreme hardness, density and heat resistance and is used in cutting tools, aerospace, defence, electronics and other applications where alternative materials cannot always deliver the same performance.
China introduced additional tungsten export controls in 2025, adding another layer of supply risk for users outside the country. Britain does not currently have an integrated domestic chain from mined ore through every stage of refining and component manufacture, but restarting Hemerdon creates a local source at the front end of that chain and gives downstream investment a more credible resource base.
The National Wealth Fund package also gives the UK Government an exclusive period in which to negotiate an offtake agreement for up to half of the tungsten production set out in the project’s 2025 feasibility study. Any agreement would be separate from the investment itself, but it could give domestic or allied users a more direct route to material if the mine reaches its planned production levels.
The distinction between initial production and stable output is especially important at Hemerdon because the site has operated before. Previous investment means roads, power, crushing and other infrastructure are already present, reducing the amount of greenfield construction required. The same history also raises the standard of proof: the redesigned process has to demonstrate that it can avoid the technical and economic problems that contributed to the earlier operation closing.
Commissioning will progressively expose the plant to higher throughput, different ore characteristics and longer operating periods. Maintenance intervals, recovery performance, water management and the interaction between refurbished and new equipment will become clearer as the restart moves beyond short campaigns and into sustained operation.
Once fully operational, the mine is expected to support around 350 direct jobs, with additional work across transport, maintenance, contracting and technical services in the South West. Nearby critical-minerals projects, including South Crofty, could also support a broader regional base of mining and processing skills if several developments reach production.
Hemerdon has now passed a milestone that financing alone could not provide: ore is moving through the plant again. The next stage is less visible but more important, requiring Tungsten West to turn phased commissioning into consistent recovery, saleable product and a production rate that supports the long-term economics on which the restart is based.
