Tungsten producer EQ Resources plans to start open-pit mining at Mount Carbine from June after announcing today that it has secured the required environmental authority.

It will see the Far North Queensland site ramp up from its present operations, which have harnessed technology to extract the critical mineral tungsten from historical stockpiles.

Plant on site and operational teams were well geared to receive first primary ore from the Andy White pit, chief executive officer Kevin MacNeill said.

“The gravity circuit already today performs at design capacity as defined in our bankable study, with our two Tomra XRT ore sorters forming a vital part in the new-age processing circuit at Mount Carbine,” he said.

“The company has made substantial investment in recruiting locally and training a workforce to deliver on the production uplift.

“When in full operation, Mount Carbine is expected to employ and contract more than 150 people from nearby Mount Molloy and surrounding communities as far south as Mareeba.

“We are delighted to be building Mount Carbine into a responsible mine of the future and becoming a major tungsten producer, helping to fill the value chain in the western markets as China and Russia currently control about 87 per cent of global output.”

The first primary ore from the pit floor is expected to be about 0.32 per cent tungsten trioxide – a fivefold increase from the low-grade stockpile material currently being processed (at 0.075 per cent tungsten trioxide).

And Mount Carbine’s upgraded gravity circuit is designed for a fivefold increase in tungsten concentrate production.

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Early-stage site preparation and continuous improvements around the Mount Carbine processing plant have been underway as part of the project’s bankable feasibility study budget of $21.4 million.

EQ Resources said construction work would be continuing in coming months, with an extremely short payback period of 1.5 years from the time the open pit mining commenced.

The work has included readying the gravity plant and crushing circuit to handle a fivefold increase in the ore feed grade.

An additional four-compartment jig will duplicate the existing jig as well as eight additional shaking tables as part of the upgraded gravity circuit.

The XRT Sorter feed handling and crushing system has been upgraded as well as the electrical system around the entire site.

EQ Resources said a new Sandvik crushing plant was being manufactured to provide expanded crushing capacity in the front end of the process flowsheet.

As commissioning of that plant is scheduled for later in the year, the open pit ore will initially be processed using the existing crushing circuit supplemented with a portable jaw crusher.

EQ Resources will be bringing a reverse circulation drill rig to site to define the daily mine blocks for each panel as well as being used for continuous exploration drilling in the area.