Another record month for tungsten

EQ Resources (EQR) has increased production across its tungsten operations, marking another record month for the company.

The Mt Carbine mine in Queensland and Barruecopardo mine in Spain increased their total September output by 15 per cent on the previous month, and 31 per cent on the previous quarter.

This accounted for 20,721mtu, a unit used to measure tungsten concentrate (WO3), where one mtu is equal to 10kg of WO3.

The expanded production in September represents an overall 51 per cent increase of tungsten output on an EQR Group level, compared to the average monthly output recorded in the fourth quarter of the 2023–24 financial year.

The company credited the increase to improving ore grade at Mt Carbine and the successful implementation of recovery-enhancing upgrades at Barruecopardo.

“Production continues to ramp up at Mt Carbine since we re-entered the Andy White open pit in June of last year, while our teams at Barruecopardo have been implementing and installing a capital-lite continuous improvement program since EQR assumed ownership of the mine in January,” EQR chief executive officer Kevin MacNeill said.

Both operations saw daily production records improving to 641mtu at Mt Carbine (previously 571mtu) and 518mtu at Barruecopardo (previously 497mtu).

“We are pleased, and our people are proud to be a growing supplier of metal as critical to the global economy as tungsten,” MacNeill said.

“We are actively pursuing cooperation and funding opportunities not only domestically but also through US and EU agencies.”

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