EQ Resources Ltd. has approved a AU$39 million expansion project at its Mt Carbine tungsten mine in Far North Queensland, positioning the site to become the central processing hub within a regional tungsten basin.
The expansion is designed to eliminate the mine’s current processing bottleneck by doubling crushing capacity from 1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to approximately 2 mtpa. Initial work is already underway, with full plant acceptance and performance testing targeted for March 2027.
The increased processing capacity will initially boost targeted production by 500 tungsten trioxide tonnes per year by unlocking the mine’s extensive low-grade stockpile.
Looking ahead, EQR plans to transform Mt Carbine into a regional hub-and-spoke operation, processing additional ore from its own resource conversions, the Wolfram Camp exploration site, and other regional deposits.
A highlight of the upgrade is the wholesale overhaul of materials handling. By streamlining and automating crushing, screening, and ore-sorting circuits into an integrated flow, the new design will slash material handling requirements by a factor of eight.
This dramatic reduction is expected to lower operating costs per tonne, decrease mobile equipment needs, and cut diesel fuel consumption, enhancing the mine’s structural resilience across commodity cycles.
The project will be rolled out in stages to minimise operational disruption, with detailed engineering continuing through June and procurement extending across the calendar year.
EQR plans to fund the capital expenditure entirely through current cash reserves and future operational cash flows, allowing the company to capture immediate value from a record-high tungsten price environment.
“Board approval to progress the Mt Carbine expansion project reflects EQR’s clear focus on optimising and developing our existing operating tungsten assets at a time when the world is desperately short of concentrate supply,” EQR Managing Director Craig Bradshaw said.
“This project is an important step in solidifying the position of Mt Carbine as a strong, resilient and strategically important tungsten producer.
“It supports near-term production growth in a strong price environment, while also improving the operating platform needed to remain competitive through the cycle.”