WOLF Minerals has this week hailed another major milestone on the road to full production at its huge £130m ­tungsten and tin mine near Sparkwell.

The Australian ­company operating the Drakelands Mine has announced it has now begun to produce tungsten concentrate from ore mined at the site.

Wolf said its goal of opening the first new metal mine in the ­country for 45 years is now a reality.

The news comes as commissioning of the new plant continues following a setback caused by a faulty ­component in its ‘dense media ­separation’ ­section.

Due to a manufacturing fault, the ‘exciter bars’ of two vibrating screens broke and had to be remade and replaced.

The problem means there will be a slight delay in the handover of the plant from engineering, procurement and construction contractor GR Engineering Services to Wolf.

The handover, which can only take place once the entire plant and all the equipment within it is running at its intended capacity, is now expected in September, not August as originally intended.

However, things are continuing smoothly in other areas of the plant, with commissioning of the crushing/scrubbing and ‘fines’ – where fine-powdered ore is processed – sections completed, and the refinery section now in the final stages.

Wolf managing director Russell Clark said: ‘Overall, commissioning activities are going well and the operating teams have learnt how to manage the plant in different conditions.

‘Commissioning is a time when all processes and equipment are fully tested and performance established.

‘By its very nature, it’s not unusual to encounter a number of challenges along the way, and our teams are working together ­successfully to address these.

‘It’s particularly pleasing that the plant is operating as expected and we’re successfully upgrading the ore to produce product that meets our customers’ specifications.

‘We’re very pleased to announce that, as part of the commissioning process, we have now produced tungsten concentrates to the required specification.

‘We look forward to shipping our first ­tungsten concentrates to Global Tungsten and Powders in the USA, and to Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten in Austria.’

Drakelands will exploit what is believed to be the world’s third-largest deposit of tungsten, the value of which has rocketed recently as a result of its use in mobile phones.

Mining has taken place at the site as far back as the mid-19th century. Although ­permission was granted to extract tungsten there in 1986, the mine largely lay dormant until Wolf Minerals acquired the mineral rights in 2007.

A consultation is in progress on the possibility of extending the southwestern boundary of the mine pit by an extra 120 metres following the discovery of even larger deposits of the valuable metal.