Tungsten West PLC (AIM:TUN) said it has boosted the ore reserve at its Hemerdon project in Devon to 101.2mln tonnes grading 0.14% tungsten trioxide (WO3) and 0.03% tin.
Simultaneously, the resource was boosted to 351mln tonnes of ore at 0.12% WO3 and 0.03% tin.
The upgrades will underpin the updated feasibility study that Tungsten West is currently working on.
The Hemerdon deposit is now estimated to be the second-largest reported CRIRSCO standard tungsten reserve globally, as well as the second-largest reported CRIRSCO standard tungsten resource globally. CRIRSCO is a globally-recognised set of reporting standards.
"The increase in both the ore reserve and mineral resource at Hemerdon further highlights the world-class nature of the deposit we have in Devon, which now hosts the second largest tungsten reserve and resource, globally,” said Mark Thompson, Tungsten West’s executive vice-chairman on a statement.
"The lift in both the ore reserve and mineral resource is a reflection on the work that has been undertaken this year as part of our cost-saving initiative and improvement to operating efficiencies across the business. This will also be realised in our updated feasibility study, a summary of which we expect to release shortly," he added.
The ore reserve includes 0.6mln tonnes of existing stockpiles remaining from the previous open pit mining operations undertaken by Wolf Minerals between 2015 and 2018.