EQ Resources has secured a $250,000 grant for advanced XRT ore sorting trials that could be the key to restarting tungsten production from the formerly abandoned Wolfram Camp mine.

The trials are a collaborative project involving the mining company as consortium lead, with project partners Tomra Sorting and The University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute.

“This funding is key to advancing our strategy at Wolfram Camp, as part of our Queensland Tungsten Cluster, enabling us to deploy cutting-edge technologies and expertise to unlock the site’s potential,” EQ Resources chief executive officer Kevin MacNeill said.

“By leveraging advanced ore sorting and geometallurgical techniques, we’re breathing new life into this historic asset while supporting Queensland’s critical minerals strategy.”

Image at top of page: Low-grade stockpile at the Wolfram Camp mine.

The company has already harnessed such technology with its operations at the Mount Carbine tungsten mine, about 100km north-east of Wolfram Camp.

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The $250,000 grant comes under the Queensland Government’s Mining Equipment, Technology and Services (METS) Collaborative Project Fund.

Tomra will provide its state-of-the-art industrial XRT (X-ray Transmission) sorters and support for the optimisation of sorting technologies.

Tomra’s pilot facility in Sydney will be used for preliminary testing, and onsite trials will ensure the XRT sorters perform optimally on the Wolfram Camp materials.

The Sustainable Minerals Institute will lead geometallurgical characterisation of Wolfram Camp stockpiles, focusing on tungsten and molybdenum deposits.

Situated 90km west of Cairns, Wolfram Camp is named for wolframite – an important primary ore of tungsten which miners have been extracting from the site since the 19th century.

The mine was abandoned in late 2018 and was part of the Queensland Government’s Abandoned Mine Lands Program before EQ Resources won a tender for resource exploration activities there.

Related: EQ Resources gets down to business at Wolfram Camp

EQ Resources said Wolfram Camp represented a unique opportunity to revitalise a historical mining region.

It would form part of a potential tungsten cluster the company has been advocating with the government.

“EQR aims to unlock this potential through comprehensive regional review and exploration programs, including new mapping, soil and geophysical surveys, high-resolution magnetic imaging and drill testing over 10,000m in the next three years,” the company said.

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