Tungsten West (AIM:TUN) has agreed terms with the National Wealth Fund, a wholly owned UK Government entity, for a proposed investment of up to £71 million to complete the funding package for restarting production at its Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine in Devon.
The AIM-listed miner is working to bring Hemerdon back into full production after producing tungsten and tin concentrate last month, with final completion testing underway ahead of a targeted production start within the third quarter.
The package splits into a £36.0 million equity investment through 100 million new shares at 36p each, a 7.5% discount to the 20-day volume-weighted average price, giving the NWF approximately 7.42% of the enlarged share capital, alongside a debt facility of up to £25 million plus a non-committed £10 million accordion.
Proceeds will fund the restart and repay the short-term loan facility announced on 21 May.
The UK Government has also secured a window to negotiate an offtake agreement for up to half of Hemerdon's tungsten output as set out in the 2025 Feasibility Study.
The NWF gains the right to nominate a non-executive director and board observer rights until that appointment, under a relationship agreement that runs for as long as it holds at least 50 million shares.
"Hemerdon is a world-class, low-cost and long-life tungsten and tin resource in the UK", said Jeff Court, chief executive of Tungsten West.
The restart is expected to create 350 direct jobs in the South West of England.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Tungsten West has secured £71m in equity and debt from the UK Government's National Wealth Fund to complete funding for Hemerdon's restart, with the package splitting £36m equity (7.42% stake) and £25m debt plus a £10m accordion facility. The deal also grants the government negotiating rights over up to half of Hemerdon's tungsten output and board representation, clearing a material funding gap ahead of the targeted Q3 production start and full commissioning in Q1 2027.
The government backing removes near-term refinancing risk and validates the project's strategic importance to UK supply chains, though dilution of 7.42% and board-level government involvement introduce governance complexity. Execution risk remains on the Q3 production timeline and ramp to nameplate capacity.
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