'Critical' tungsten mine calls for government help

A mining company has called for government support to help it extract one of the world's largest critical mineral supplies.

Hemerdon Mine, on the outskirts of Plymouth, Devon, holds the second largest deposit of tungsten in the world, its bosses have said.

Tungsten West took over the mine in 2019 after the previous operator Wolf Minerals ceased production a year earlier.

Head of operations Marica Lyndon said the company was already in talks with the Labour-led government about what support could be available for the future.

Tungsten West lost more than £10.3m to March 2024, as it worked to get the mine back into production.

Ms Lyndon said the company had had to rely on private sector funding which had been "frustrating in the past".

She said: "We’re really interested as to what the new government brings to the table because this is really vital, not just to the UK, but to the western world.”

Ms Lyndon added that the company was confident the mine could be producing tungsten by the second quarter of 2026 and could expand its current workforce.

“We’re looking at about 250 people that we will have here on site, and that’s just direct employment," she said.

"So actually what we will bring here to Plymouth and the surrounding area is a huge increase to the labour market."

Tungsten is used in electronics, robotics, medical devices and aerospace.

It is described by the government as a mineral "with high criticality for the UK"

More than 80% of global demand is currently met by China, but the Hemerdon deposit could see the UK become a major player in the global market, mine bosses said.

In Cornwall, two mining companies have already secured millions of pounds of public money from Cornwall Council and the government to help them test equipment to extract lithium for use in batteries in electric vehicles and electronic devices.

Last year, Cornish Lithium received almost £24m from the UK Infrastructure Bank, and British Lithium said it had received around £5m of public investment.

The government said minerals such as like tungsten and lithium “remain critical for the UK".

It said: "We look forward to launching a new critical minerals strategy next year, which will set out how we will boost domestic production and secure vital supplies from abroad and the South West [of England] will play a key role in this."

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