Tungsten West is advancing the restart of its Hemerdon tungsten mine in Devon, England, with six TOMRA Mining XRT sorters equipped with OBTAIN Deep Learning technology forming the core of the redesigned processing plant. The company is targeting full-scale production in the first quarter of 2027, with all sorter installations scheduled for completion through the fourth quarter of 2026. Hemerdon represents one of the most significant developments in the critical minerals sector outside China, particularly as tungsten prices rise and Western industry seeks alternatives to Chinese supply dominance.
China currently accounts for approximately 80% of global tungsten concentrate production, with domestic Chinese output declining due to tighter environmental regulations. Recent Chinese export restrictions have intensified government and industry focus on securing alternative sources. The UK government has designated tungsten as a critical mineral, making domestic production a strategic priority for supply-chain resilience.
Based on its reserve base, Hemerdon could account for approximately 4.1% of global tungsten production, representing a meaningful contribution to non-China supply that will support the broader European tungsten ecosystem. The mine holds one of the world's largest tungsten resources and will become the largest tungsten mine in the Western world upon reopening. Tungsten's industrial versatility stems from its unique properties: the highest melting point of all known elements at 3,422 degrees Celsius, extreme density, and exceptional hardness in carbide form.
These characteristics make it indispensable for mining and construction tooling, transport, aerospace, defence, energy, and electronics applications. Demand is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of between 2% and 5% through 2033, requiring a minimum of 26,000 additional tonnes by that date to meet projected needs. The processing plant redesign incorporates six TOMRA sorters processing the 10-80mm fraction from primary and secondary crushing circuits.
Material from the secondary crusher is classified via wet screen into three fractions: below 10mm directed to pressure jigging and dense media separation circuits; 10-30mm treated by three COM Tertiary XRT machines; and 30-80mm treated by three COM XRT 2.0 units. All six sorters operate in parallel within the new sorting house. The sorters are designed to direct approximately 30% of incoming material—the mineralised fraction—to the downstream concentrator for tungsten and tin recovery, with the remaining approximately 70% rejected as a premium aggregate by-product for the construction industry with close to zero incremental carbon footprint.
This processing configuration reduces the volume of material requiring full downstream processing, thereby lowering processing costs and environmental impact while maximising recovery of tungsten-bearing material. OBTAIN represents TOMRA Mining's latest advancement in ore sorting technology, featuring proprietary Deep Learning capability that introduces single-particle precision to high-throughput XRT sorting. The neural network system identifies the properties of each individual particle independently of operating capacity, resolving the fundamental challenge in high-throughput sorting where particles presented in clusters are read as single objects, leading to imprecise ejection decisions.
By algorithmically breaking down clusters, OBTAIN enables accurate particle-level decisions even at high feed rates. According to Jens-Michael Bergmann, Global Segment Manager Industrial Minerals at TOMRA Mining, OBTAIN delivers significant capacity benefits: the technology enables each sorter to process approximately 80% more material while maintaining the same quality and recovery rates. This capacity advantage proves especially significant for tungsten ore, where mineralisation primarily occurs as wolframite—as is the case at Hemerdon—or scheelite in discrete inclusions within host rock.
Accurate particle-level detection minimises tungsten loss to waste streams, a commercially significant outcome when high tungsten prices place a premium on every recovered unit. The environmental case centres on the sorting process itself. By directing approximately 70% of mined material to premium aggregate without downstream crushing, grinding, milling, or flotation, the system eliminates the substantial energy consumption and associated emissions that processing would otherwise generate.
This approach forms the basis for the aggregate by-product's close to zero-incremental-carbon-footprint credentials, with the primary environmental advantage arising from the significant reduction in energy expenditure and corresponding carbon emissions avoided through removal of processing requirements for rejected material. Hemerdon's restart timing aligns with heightened strategic attention to tungsten supply across Europe. Alongside existing operations in Spain and Portugal, a new generation of tungsten projects is progressing across the continent, collectively working to reduce exposure to Chinese export policy.
Tungsten West projects that with process improvements, environmental upgrades, and new TOMRA technology integration, Hemerdon will operate in the lowest quartile of the tungsten production cost curve globally, supporting its position as a world-scale, low-cost, and long-life tungsten asset in the Western world. The mine originally commenced operations in 2015 after construction in 2014, continuing production until 2018 when operations ceased. Tungsten West acquired the property in 2019 and undertook a comprehensive investment and redesign programme to bring it back into production on a more robust, environmentally compliant, and technically advanced basis.
An independent review of the redesigned processing flowsheet by external industry experts, followed by an updated feasibility study signed off by independent specialists, validated the new approach and underpins the current restart programme.
Source: im-mining.com