Tungsten Mining has appointed investment banking and capital markets firm Jefferies as financial advisor as it progresses its Watershed tungsten project in Far North Queensland.

Jefferies comes onboard to provide advice in relation to potential strategic investors for the $274 million development, while Cutfield Freeman & Co will continue to lead the debt financing process.

“The appointment of Jefferies adds another important element to the funding strategy we are putting in place for Watershed,” Tungsten Mining (ASX: TGN) chairman Gary Lyons said.

“We have been clear that our objective is to establish the optimum capital structure for the project rather than pursue any single source of funding.”

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This was occurring in parallel with the drilling, engineering and early development activities already underway as Tungsten Mining continued to advance toward final investment decision, he said.

The Watershed project, about 130km north of Cairns, is located on granted mining leases and has a full mining environmental authority and an approved progressive rehabilitation and closure plan.

The tungsten project’s June 2026 preliminary economic evaluation demonstrated a pre-tax NPV of $1.31 billion and a pre-tax IRR of 198 per cent.