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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/commodities/9216073/Devon-tungsten-mine-moves-towards-China-challenge.html

Devon tungsten mine moves towards China challenge
Wolf Minerals took a step towards its goal of turning a rusting Devon mine into a global player which could challenge the Chinese stranglehold on an in-demand metal.

The rising price of tungsten means the AIM-listed company is busy trying to get the Hemerdon Mine, which sits on the world's fourth largest deposit of the metal according to the British Geological Survey, back into production.

After announcing in early March that it had received approval for £55m in loans from a consortium of banks to develop the open-pit site near Plympton, Wolf on Thursday announced details of a deal that should provide another £20m of loan financing.

Under the offtake agreement – whereby companies offer funding in exchange for a share of what will be mined in the future – two tungsten producers, Austria’s Wolfram Bergbau und Hutten and the US’s Global Tungsten & Powders, have agreed to take 80pc of Hemerdon’s expected output of tungsten concentrate for at least five years.

Subject to board approvals, the two companies will lend £20m to Wolf.

Humphrey Hale, Wolf’s chief executive, said: “The signing of a long term offtake contract with two of the largest tungsten producers represents a significant milestone in the development of the Hemerdon tungsten mine.”