The London-listed firm which needs to extract one of many world’s largest tungsten deposits from a web site in Devon is in talks with traders to boost tens of thousands and thousands of kilos from a share sale.
Sky Information has learnt that Tungsten West is near finalising the phrases of an equity-raise geared toward offering further financing for the tin and tungsten venture at Hemerdon in Devon.
Business sources urged the capital-raising, which is prone to safe between £40m and £50m of latest funding, was prone to be confirmed this week.
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The fundraising comes as international demand for vital minerals soars amid rising geopolitical tensions.
Tungsten is a key mineral utilized by producers in a wide range of industries, most notably in defence, power and automotive.
China is at the moment answerable for producing about 80% of the world’s provide of tungsten, however export controls have raised profound considerations in Western economies, notably the US.
Solely this week it emerged that the US deliberate to speculate $12bn in stockpiling vital minerals similar to uncommon earths, copper and lithium.
Tungsten West believes that over time it will possibly produce roughly 1 / 4 of the world’s non-Chinese language tungsten.
The mine was final operational in 2018 beneath a special proprietor
The corporate floated on London’s junior AIM market in 2021 with the goal of restarting tin and tungsten manufacturing on the Devon web site.
In an replace to the inventory market earlier this week, the corporate mentioned it was making good progress on elevating debt finance for the venture.
“The structural shift within the tungsten market that we now have seen because the finish of 2024 displays the ever rising want to offer vital mineral diversification and provide chain resilience to Western economies,” Jeff Court docket, the chief government of Tungsten West, mentioned within the assertion.
“Within the comparatively quick time since releasing the Up to date Feasibility Research, tungsten costs have elevated over 200% and tin costs over 70%.
“As the corporate is absolutely leveraged to market costs, the Challenge’s economics have vastly improved, underlining the significance of advancing the Challenge quickly.”
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Shares in Tungsten West closed on Wednesday at 29.9p, an increase of near 13%.
It has a market worth of simply over £205m.
The worth at which the brand new shares could be issued was unclear.
Tungsten West declined to touch upon Wednesday night.
