(Alliance News) - Tungsten West PLC on Wednesday celebrated another milestone at the Hemerdon project, as the Environmental Agency granted a permit to operate its mineral processing facility.

Tungsten West is a London-based miner focused on restarting production at the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine in Devon. Its shares were up 38% at 5.85 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon.

This was the last permit Tungsten West needed to progress the Hemerdon project. Now it has been received, the firm can proceed with financing discussions.

It comes as Tungsten West continues to make "substantial progress" on its updated feasibility study, which should be complete in the second half of this year. The main focus of the study is optimising the capital expenditure needed to restart operations.

Looking ahead, the firm plans to focus on maximising tungsten and tin recovery through the mineral processing facility, with the intention of targeting 3.5 million tonnes per annum throughput, following a ramp-up period.

"The awarding of this permit reflects Tungsten West's commitment to ensuring that Hemerdon can operate in line with global best practices and without harm to our local communities or the environment. We look forward to continuing our work towards delivering the UK's latest critical minerals mine at a time when the UK is fully focussed on security of supply of these materials," said Interim Chief Executive Officer Alistair Stobie.

By Holly Beveridge, Alliance News reporter

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