Tungsten West’s $97M Hemerdon funding: project restart lens for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Tungsten West has secured up to $97 million (£71 million) in equity and debt from the UK’s National Wealth Fund to restart full production at the Hemerdon tungsten‑tin mine in Devon, with the NWF entitled to nominate one non‑executive director to the board. Hemerdon, a historic World War I and II tungsten supplier, has already produced test concentrates this month and aims to restart commercial output in 2026, creating about 350 direct jobs. Tungsten West is also negotiating offtake with a major downstream tungsten refiner, and its shares jumped 17% to 50.25 pence, valuing the company at about £627 million.
Technical Brief
- Up to $97 million (£71 million) is structured as a combined equity and debt package from NWF.
- Shareholder agreement grants the National Wealth Fund a right to nominate one non-executive Tungsten West director.
- Hemerdon has already produced tungsten and tin concentrates in recent weeks as part of final plant testing.
- Bloomberg notes previous restart attempts were constrained by cost overruns, volatile tungsten pricing and funding gaps.
- Market reaction: Tungsten West’s share price rose 17% to 50.25 pence on the funding announcement.
- At 50.25 pence, implied market capitalisation is about £627 million (~$855 million), improving future capital-raising options.
- Government statements explicitly link Hemerdon output to UK defence, energy and aerospace supply chains for critical minerals.
- Hemerdon’s historic role supplying tungsten during both World Wars underlines long-term strategic value of reactivating the orebody.
Our Take
The Hemerdon restart financing comes on top of earlier 2026 commitments in our coverage, including a large Komatsu mining fleet via McHale Komatsu and a new-build crushing, screening and ore sorting plant with Duo Group and Gekko Systems, signalling that Tungsten West is already locking in key capex items ahead of full ramp-up.
With Hemerdon in Devon and Cornish Lithium’s Cross Lanes project in nearby Cornwall both receiving UK Government backing in 2026, our database suggests a deliberate clustering of public support around critical minerals (tungsten, tin, lithium) in south-west England rather than one-off project funding.
The UK Government’s use of the National Wealth Fund for a tin and tungsten asset contrasts with its separate £28M competition for long-duration energy storage, indicating that critical mineral supply (Hemerdon) and grid-scale storage are being treated as parallel pillars of the same industrial strategy rather than competing for the same pot of support.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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