A record for Mt Carbine

August saw EQR hit 9040 metric tonne units (mtu) from Mt Carbine, with a new 24-hour period record of 571mtu.

The company is attributing the increased rates to improving ore grades and equipment upgrades at Mt Carbine.

“The record tungsten concentrate production in August … follows our strategy to establish EQR as a leading tungsten raw material supplier for a reliable and long-term supply of Western critical minerals into geopolitically relevant industries,” EQR chief executive officer Kevin MacNeill said.

“Our production expansion enables us to form strategic relationships with downstream customers, as recently shown with our collaboration with leading US tungsten manufacturer, Elmet Technologies.”

MacNeill thanked the leadership team and personnel at both Mt Carbine and the Barruecopardo tungsten mine in Spain for their hard work.

“We are confident there is further capacity for improvement in production by expanding mining operations at Mt Carbine and further enhancement of recovery rates through the plant at Barruecopardo,” he said.

“We look forward to reporting full data on grade, production and recoveries in our September quarterly report.”

In August, EQR announced it would be transitioning Mt Carbine to an owner-operator mining model in a bid to increase cost savings, operational control, and mining flexibility.

The new 24-hour owner-operator model was implemented during the month of August and is expected to help upskill EQR’s local workforce, increase monthly tonnes of tungsten mined, reduce overall unit costs and provide earlier access to the higher-grade vein packages.