W Resources Plc plans to produce a separate tin concentrate at its Parrilla tailings project via electrostatic separation, as part of a series of efforts to improve performance.
The La Parrilla project, situated 310km southwest of Madrid in the Extremadura region of southwest Spain, consists of a tungsten mine and tailings facility and has been producing tungsten concentrate since August. In June 2013 the mine resource was estimated at 46.92 million tonnes at 0.09% WO3. At a production rate of 330,000 tpy of ore an expected 450 tonnes a year of tungsten trioxide (WO3) will primarily be produced. However, it is anticipated that installation of an electrostatic separator will allow 26 tonnes of tin a year to be recovered from the tungsten concentrate, which contains 7% Sn. The 0.01% Sn grade at Parrilla means tin is only produced viably as a by-product and thus annual tin output is likely to remain low.
Other performance enhancing measures include improving the feed delivery system to maintain a steady feed and improve recoveries and halving energy prices by an estimated US$520,000 by utilising low cost power from the Spanish grid instead of relying on diesel fuelled generators.
