Tungsten West advances Hemerdon restart with TOMRA Mining sorting technology a key component of the redesigned plant
Original announcement by globalminingreview on
- Company
- Tungsten West
- Ticker
- Unavailable
- Exchange
- Unavailable
- Region
- Devon, England
- Primary commodity
- Tungsten
- Secondary commodities
- Tin
- Document categories
- Metallurgy, Other
- Extracted
- 2026-09-15 15:48:10 UTC
Analysis by Minestarters Atlas
Minestarters Atlas analysis
Summary
Tungsten West is implementing TOMRA Mining's XRT sorting technology, featuring OBTAIN Deep Learning, at its Hemerdon tungsten mine in England. The redesigned plant aims to ramp up to full production in early 2027 by using sorting to reject 70% of material as aggregate, thereby concentrating the mineralised fraction for downstream processing.
Reasoning: The announcement details a significant technological upgrade to the Hemerdon processing plant to facilitate a restart, which is a material development for the company's production timeline.
Positive factors
- Integration of advanced XRT sorting technology to improve feed grade
- Redesigned plant aims to reduce downstream processing volume by 70%
- Strategic positioning as a non-China tungsten source
- Use of AI/Deep Learning (OBTAIN) to increase sorter capacity
Facts used in scoring: 2
Classification and evidence
Mill Routeneutral
Processing via mill or concentrator (CIL, CIP, tank leach, flotation).
Why it applies: The plant redesign involves crushing, screening, sorting, pressure jigging, and dense media separation.
Evidence · text
“new primary crushing, screening, and a dedicated new sorting house, feeding into a system that also incorporates inline pressure jigs (IPJs) downstream”
Gravity Routeneutral
Gravity separation forms a material part of the flowsheet.
Why it applies: the document describes a gravity route ("dense media separation")
Single Domain Onlynegative
Testing limited to one composite or domain — representativeness not established.
Why it applies: only one composite was tested
Extracted facts
Stored fact records: 2. Some facts used in scoring do not have a stored record.
Metallurgical Results (2)
bulk test workHemerdon · tungstenView all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Hemerdon
- Commodity
- tungsten
- Region
- devon, england
- Reported Region
- Devon, England
Test Work
- Program Status
- detailed
- Test Type
- bulk test work
- Processing Route
- XRT ore sorting, pressure jigging, and dense media separation
- Sample
- 10-80 mm fraction from primary and secondary crushing circuit
Lab
- Consultant
- TOMRA Mining
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-15T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: The text describes the implementation of a specific sorting technology based on prior bulk test work.
Positive factors
- Bulk test work conducted to ensure performance parameters
Evidence · text
“Following significant bulk test work conducted with TOMRA Mining to ensure that sorter performance parameters reflect future plant feed”
Tags used in scoring
Gravity Routeneutral
Gravity separation forms a material part of the flowsheet.
Why it applies: processing_route matches the gravity signal
Byproduct Commodityneutral
The tested commodity is a byproduct rather than the primary economic driver.
Why it applies: the release describes a byproduct credit
bulk test workHemerdon · tinView all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Hemerdon
- Commodity
- tin
- Region
- devon, england
- Reported Region
- Devon, England
Test Work
- Program Status
- detailed
- Test Type
- bulk test work
- Processing Route
- XRT ore sorting, pressure jigging, and dense media separation
- Sample
- 10-80 mm fraction from primary and secondary crushing circuit
Lab
- Consultant
- TOMRA Mining
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-15T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Tin is mentioned as a secondary recovery target in the downstream concentrator.
Evidence · text
“direct the approximately 30% of incoming material – the mineralised fraction – to the downstream concentrator for tungsten and tin recovery”
Tags used in scoring
Gravity Routeneutral
Gravity separation forms a material part of the flowsheet.
Why it applies: processing_route matches the gravity signal
Byproduct Commodityneutral
The tested commodity is a byproduct rather than the primary economic driver.
Why it applies: the release describes a byproduct credit
How Atlas produces this analysis
Minestarters Atlas uses automated extraction to summarize mining announcements, identify reported measurements, and classify supporting evidence. Sentiment reflects the extracted narrative and classification rules; it is an interpretation, not a reported measurement. Evidence quotes and context are provided where available. Missing data, low-confidence results, and review flags indicate limitations. Check the original publisher announcement before relying on an interpretation.