Hemerdon is a past-producing tungsten-tin mine located in Devon, the UK. Tungsten West, a new mining development company, is the 100% owner of the property.
The company is working to restart Hemerdon. As part of its efforts, in June 2024, it secured a permit from the UK’s Environment Agency for the Mineral Processing Facility (MPF), the last of the key permits required to further progress the project.
In May 2025, Tungsten West completed the development and economic plan to restart mining operations at Hemerdon, with operations expected to commence approximately 12 months from securing funding.
The project restart is based on an 11-year life of mine, followed by four years of stockpile reclaim and an additional 12 years of premium aggregate sales.
There are plans to expand the mine to target identified resources at Hemerdon, known as ‘Hemerdon Futures’, which could significantly improve project economics and extend the operational life to over 40 years, with potential for regional growth.
The estimated total financing requirement to restart mining operations at Hemerdon is $93m, leveraging approximately $300m of previously invested capital.
Hemerdon Mine Location
The Hemerdon mine is located around 7miles northeast of Plymouth, near the village of Plympton, in Devon, England.
The site still has a partially developed open pit, a complete processing plant, an integrated mine waste facility, workshops, administration offices and ancillary mine site infrastructure.
Geology and Mineralisation
The Hemerdon deposit is centred on a sub-vertical, NNE-SSW striking granite dyke, over 100m wide, from the Early Permian period. This is hosted by Devonian metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks.
Mineralisation is primarily associated with moderately to steeply NW-dipping greisen-bordered quartz-ferberite± cassiterite sheeted veins. The size of the resource and the dyke host are unique in Southwest England.
Hemerdon Mine Reserves
The measured mineral resources at Hemerdon include 43.4 million tonnes (Mt) with a tungsten trioxide (WO3) concentration of 0.17%, amounting to 7.1 million metric tonne units (Mmtu) of WO3. Additionally, the resources contain 0.03% Sn, which corresponds to 14.5 kilotonnes (kt) of Sn.
The indicated mineral resources consist of 120Mt with a WO3 concentration of 0.13%, resulting in 15.7Mmtu of WO3, and 0.02% Sn corresponding to 30.2kt of Sn.
The inferred mineral resources comprise 163.1Mt with a WO3 concentration of 0.11%, amounting to 17.0Mmtu of WO3, and 0.02% Sn, corresponding to 40.3kt of Sn.
The combined proven and probable reserves amount to 70.7Mt, with a WO3 concentration of 0.15% and an Sn concentration of 0.03%.
Mining and Processing
Mining activity at the location will be carried out to the extents of the Stage 3 open pit, excluding Hemerdon Futures, for a primary period of 11 years, with an additional 4 years for stockpile reclaim and 12 years for premium aggregate sales.
Future expansions to Stages 4 and 5 through the Hemerdon Futures project could extend the project’s life to over 40 years.
Tungsten West has focused on mitigating risks from previous operations and optimising processes from earlier feasibility studies. Key improvements include targeting fresh granite ore in pit design for better quality, increasing flexibility in ore sourcing with more smaller excavators, and enhancing run-of-mine blending and stockpile handling for a stable feed.
The plan adds a new front-end crushing and screening facility with standard crushers, and a buffer crushed ore stockpile is included to minimise downtime. The removal of a redundant scrubber reduces excess fines, while new ore sorters and In-line Pressure Jigs (IPJs) improve head grade and reduce throughput.
Material not processed further will be sold as premium aggregates.
The existing fines circuit will be refurbished with an ultra-fine recovery module, and the MPF facility components will be revamped.
The project will seek to reduce reliance on Dense Media Separation units by using ore sorters and IPJs and implements noise mitigation measures as per the MPF Environmental Permit issued in June 2024. Sunken crushing units and low-noise equipment are incorporated to minimise the impact on the local community.
Contractors Involved
The feasibility study for Hemerdon Mine is being prepared by AMC Consultants (UK). The company is supported by several other entities including Lycopodium (ADP) on mineral process design, Mining Plus on the Mineral Resources and AMC on the Ore Reserves.
