Wolf Minerals
Wolf Minerals Limited was an ASX (WLF) and AIM (WLFE) listed speciality metals company focused on developing the Drakelands Mine tungsten and tin project, in Devon in the UK.
 | |
 The old main pit at Drakelands Mine | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| AIM: WLFE ASX: WLF | |
| Industry | Metals and Mining |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | Perth, Australia |
| Products | Tungsten, Tin |
| Website | wolfminerals |
The company listed on the ASX in February 2007 and later that year acquired the Hemerdon project, which they have since renamed Drakelands Mine. In 2011, it completed a Definitive Feasibility Study which confirmed the Hemerdon project's robust economics. With global tungsten demand forecast to grow by more than 50% between 2010 and 2015, Wolf is well placed to capitalise on tungsten's status as one of the European Union's 14 ‘critical’ metals.
The project is being developed as a low cost, large-scale open pit tungsten and tin mining operation, and will become the world's next major new tungsten mine. All required permits for the project are in place and production is scheduled to commence in 2015. The Hemerdon deposit contains one of the largest tungsten and tin resources in the world, and is rated by the British Geological Survey as the world's fourth largest tungsten deposit. A tin concentrate will also be produced, which will generate valuable additional revenues. The project is expected to create about 200 direct jobs and inject hundreds of millions of pounds into the Plymouth, Devon and UK economies over the next decade.
Wolf Minerals is focused on developing a major tungsten and tin mining operation in the UK. It is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange,after its IPO in 2007. It listed on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market in November 2011.
The company is developing the Drakelands Mine in Devon, United Kingdom, which is one of the oldest mines in the UK.[1][2]
Company history
Wolf Minerals was incorporated on 20 September 2006 as a metals exploration and development company. It commenced trading on the ASX on 15 February 2007 after raising $3 million in an IPO. The Company was the best performing IPO on the ASX for 2007. On 5 December 2007 Wolf signed an option and lease agreement for the mineral rights and the rights to mine the Hemerdon tungsten and tin project near Plymouth, in Devon, in the southwest of UK. The Hemerdon project remains the Company's core asset and it is focused on its development into a sustainable, large scale mining operation.
In May 2011, Wolf released a highly successful Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), which confirmed the project's robust economics and development potential as a major, new global source of tungsten supply. All required permits to develop the project are in place and major contracts to build and operate the mine have been awarded. Binding off-take agreements are also in place, and production is expected to commence in 2015.
In November 2018, it was announced that Pala Investments may provide funds for Wolf Minerals' Hemerdon Project after Wolf Minerals went into liquidation.[3] The company went bankrupt in 2018.[4]
The Hemerdon Project
The Hemerdon Tungsten and Tin Project is Wolf Minerals core asset. It is located near the Plymouth in the County of Devon, in the southwest of the UK.
Wolf has identified the Hemerdon project as a potential major new source of global tungsten supply. It acquired the project in December 2007 and has conducted extensive exploration programs and established a large JORC Resource inventory and completed a successful Definitive Feasibility Study, in 2011. The DFS identified Hemerdon as a highly economic potential producer of low cost tungsten, and was based on a two-stage open pit with an initial 10 year life, and a 3Mtpa concentrator with associated infrastructure. The open pit dimensions are 800m in length x 450m in width x 230m in depth. Wolf has awarded all major contracts for the project; the Engineering-Procurement-Construction (EPC) contract was awarded the GR Engineering Services Ltd (ASX: GNG) and the Mining Services contract (with the exception of Drill & Blast) was awarded to CA Blackwell (Contracts) Ltd. All permits required to develop and operate the mine are in place. Production is scheduled to commence in 2015, pending approvals. There is also the potential to extend the project beyond its initial 10 year mine life, with the extent of mineralisation beneath the pit and around the pit walls yet to be determined The mineralisation is characterised by sheeted greisen veining and stockworks containing wolframite and cassiterite. The vein system is hosted within a dyke-like granite body. The mineralisation starts from the surface and is contained within the steeply dipping granite body flanked by metamorphosed sediments.
Board and management
The Management and Board of Wolf have extensive technical and corporate experience in the minerals sector. Their collective skills and expertise has been a key driver in the success of the Company since its listing in 2007.
References
- Kavanagh, Michael (September 21, 2012). "Wolf moves closer to tungsten mining - FT.com". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
- Chambers, Matt (October 14, 2009). "Wolf Minerals howls for Hemerdon project in Britain". The Australian. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
- Telford, William (November 27, 2018). "Billionaire Russian oligarch bids to buy Plymouth tungsten mine". Plymouth Live. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
- "Wolf Minerals collapses". Mining Journal. October 10, 2018.