Tungsten Mining has delivered good news on metallurgical testwork for its Watershed project in Far North Queensland as it powers towards its targeted 2027 start for production.

Multiple commercial-grade product samples have been dispatched to potential offtake partners after the testwork campaign produced saleable tungsten concentrate grading up to 65.9 per cent tungsten trioxide.

The company said the testwork confirmed the process flowsheet for the Watershed definitive feasibility study, which remains on
track for completion in October to allow the company to make a final investment decision by the end of the year.

Related: Early works underway for $274m tungsten development

Samples were sourced from diamond drill core, with a focus on the areas early in the mine plan at Watershed, about 130km north of Cairns.

They were processed through a flowsheet representative of the DFS design, consisting of ore-sorting, gravity and flotation.

Ore-sorting testwork was conducted at TOMRA, New South Wales using X-ray transmission technology, with all remaining metallurgical testwork completed at Nagrom in Perth.

Tungsten Mining plans to establish an initial processing facility at Watershed that is designed to produce a 50 per cent-plus tungsten trioxide product, with additional circuit being designed to be added on to improve recovery and allow production of a 65 per cent-plus product in the future.

“The company is engaging with potential offtake partners across Asia, Europe and North America, with testwork confirming that
Watershed can produce a high-quality saleable concentrate with low levels of impurities,’ Tungsten Mining (ASX: TGN) said in an update to the ASX.

‘Initial engagement has been encouraging, and the company anticipates strong demand for high-quality concentrate in a
market currently constrained by limited supply outside of China.

‘The company is investigating the allocation of future production across several markets to avoid reliance on any single customer or region.’