Tungsten West PLC (AIM:TUN) said it has carried out a limited restart of the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine in Devon to process legacy ore at the site.
Tidying up this material is part of the process of recommencing full production at the Plymouth-based mine, said the junior, with the process expected to generate revenues of more than £400,000.
Just over 50 tonnes of ore was processed, it added, with the material shipped in four lots to an offtaker at the end of May.
Tungsten West said the process involved restarting the dry section of the refinery at the plant.
A cost-savings programme is also ongoing, said the statement, with a 42% reduction in headcount and payroll via redundancy and resignations planned.
Project capex for the front-end rebuild has also been scaled back while refurbishment work within the plant has halted until the permitting and funding processes are complete.
Neil Gawthorpe, chief executive, said: “This small-scale production of tungsten and tin is a mere indication of what can be achieved once the mine is fully re-opened.
“The success of the recommissioning of the dry section of the refinery has also provided us with valuable insight into the future operating parameters.”
Under its previous owners, the mine was operational between 2015 and 2018 before the project went into receivership.
Tungsten West then bought the mine out of receivership in 2019 for £5.4mln.