AIM-listed Tungsten West’s Hemerdon mine in South Devon has entered production, with the first tungsten ore passing through its plant on September 11, 2026. This milestone was met on the heels of the UK’s National Wealth Fund (NWF) announcing an investment of up to £71 million ($95 million) in the company to support the construction, commissioning and processing costs associated with restarting production at the mine.
Hemerdon is a fully permitted, previously operated open-pit tungsten and tin mine, with one of the world’s largest known tungsten deposits. Its 2025 feasibility study defines a JORC-compliant mineral resource of 326.8 million metric tons (mt) containing 39.7 million metric ton units (mtu) of tungsten trioxide (WO₃). The ore reserve is 70.7 million mt containing 10.3 million mtu of WO₃.
Tungsten West acquired the mine in December 2019, following cessation of production by previous operator Wolf Minerals, and has since worked on a redesign and improvements to bring it back into production. One of the improvements is the use of six TOMRA Mining ore sorters to reduce the downstream processing load. Tungsten West will now progressively ramp up operations at Hemerdon towards its targeted steady-state production rate of 332,000 mtu of WO₃ per year, aiming for the end of Q1 2027.
The commencement of processing took place while Oliver Holbourn, CEO of NWF, was visiting Hemerdon. He said that through its recent investment, the public financial institution seeks “to unlock this strategic asset for the UK, secure a domestic supply of tungsten for our industry and bring jobs and opportunity to local communities.” The investment gives the UK Government an exclusive period to negotiate an offtake for up to 50% of Hemerdon’s projected tungsten production. Tungsten is classified by the UK Government as a critical and growth mineral.
Tungsten West has said Hemerdon could supply approximately 20% of global primary tungsten supply outside China once fully operational. Jeffery Court, CEO of Tungsten West, commented: “At a time when governments and industry are increasingly focused on security of critical mineral supply, Hemerdon has the potential to become one of the Western world’s most important sources of tungsten. Our focus now turns to safely ramping up operations and establishing Hemerdon as a reliable, long-term supplier of tungsten concentrate to the UK and its international partners.”
A 2025 British Geological Survey report on “Waste and scrap flows in the UK: assessing copper and tungsten” highlighted that the “UK has no current capacity to process tungsten ores and concentrates into tungsten-based forms or products.” A 2025 UK Critical Minerals Recycling and Midstream Processing Capability Assessment, produced by the Department for Business and Trade, stated that refining of the tungsten concentrate from Hemerdon could take place in either Austria or the USA.
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