JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Barruecopardo tungsten project in Salamanca, north-west Spain, is proceeding at a rapid pace and is on schedule for commissioning in the third quarter of next year.

Construction activities are under way, with several contracts having been awarded, Ireland- and UK-listed explorer Ormonde Mining reported on Tuesday.

Spanish company Cerezo has been awarded the dams’ construction contract. The contractor mobilised to site in early July and construction of the main dam is under way.

Spanish company Copisa has been awarded the civil works contract for the construction of the foundations required for the process plant and associated infrastructure. The contractor will mobilse to site early next month.

In the meantime, construction of site facilities is continuing with contractors sourced from local areas around the mine.

Ormonde said that about 50 people were working on the project, including a majority from Barruecopardo and adjacent towns.

The project entered an “accelerated construction and implementation phase” in June this year, which led to Ormonde lifting a previous deferral of Priority 1 and Priority 2 equipment. The ordered equipment is now being manufactured and Ormonde has placed orders for the remaining outstanding Priority 2 equipment, including spirals, tables, the main plant feed screen and thickeners.

Orders for Priority 3 equipment with short lead times are being prepared for placement.

The project is being advanced at a time of rising ammonium paratungstate (APT) prices. Since the January 2016 low of $162 a metric tonne unit (mtu), prices have been gradually improving on better economic conditions in Europe and the US and supply disruptions from the world’s largest producer, China. Tungsten prices are currently trading at about $285/mtu to $300/mtu.

“With the APT price continuing to climb steadily, indications are that the decision to accelerate construction at the project has been a timely and appropriate one, with the stage now set for the project to commence commissioning in the third quarter of 2018 against a backdrop of a much improved tungsten price environment," commented Ormonde MD Steve Nicol.

The Barruecopardo tungsten project is fully permitted and fully funded through a $99.7-million funding package agreed with Oaktree Capital Management in 2015. Ormonde has a 30% interest in the project and Oaktree holds the balance.

The initial nine-year openpit mine will produce 260 000 mtu of tungsten trioxide at steady state.