Construction of Ormonde Mining plc's (LON:ORM) Barruecopardo tungsten mine in Spain is making good progress and on track for commissioning in the third quarter of 2018, the junior reported.
Half-year results showed a net loss of €132,000 in the six months to June, with sales of €375,000.
READ: Ormonde now powering ahead with development at Barruecopardo
More importantly, over the period, the price of tungsten rose by 12% US$217 per mtu (metric tonne unit) and has since shot up to US$300-315 per mtu, an increase of around 60% year to date.
Ormonde expects the supply and demand fundamentals to remain supportive "due to steady growth in global industrial demand; a clampdown on Chinese mines on environmental grounds and enforcement of production quotas; and scarcity of tungsten concentrates from mining operations outside of China."
READ: Ormonde Mining now just a year away from tungsten production at Barruecopardo
The firm's chairman,Michael Donoghue, said: "The half year period to June 2017 was an extremely significant one for Ormonde, with the key decision taken by the Project partners, towards the end of the period, to advance the Barruecopardo Tungsten Mine into an accelerated construction and implementation phase.”