Group 6 Metals has reignited King Island’s mining industry with first tungsten concentrate produced from its Dolphin mine.
It comes as construction of the company’s processing plant nears completion, where performance testing is taking place to achieve 400,000-tonne-per-annum processing capacity.
“Production of first concentrate at the Dolphin tungsten mine is another significant milestone for Group 6 Metals and is a credit to the hard work and dedication of our site team and contractors,” Group 6 managing director and chief executive officer Keith McKnight said.
“The process plant has been running 24-hours a day for the past week, processing lower grade commissioning ore. The team will now turn their focus to performance testing to increase throughput, grade and recovery.”
Group 6 said tungsten has a growing demand profile in the years to come as construction and defence industries increase their uptake, while emerging battery and technology applications will also be an end market.
“The tungsten price has remained strong over the past 12 months supported by increased demand, supply disruptions from two of the largest producers in China and Russia and global inflationary pressures which has led to higher prices for raw materials, including tungsten,” McKnight said.
First tungsten concentrate production is the culmination of over a decade of development from Group 6, which was formerly known as King Island Scheelite and GTN Resources before that. The Dolphin mine has been closed since 1992.
The company raised $27 million in a share placement in early May and launched a share purchase plan (SPP) targeting up to $5 million. The SPP closes on Thursday June 22.
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