(Alliance News) - Tungsten West PLC on Thursday said its revenue fell in its latest financial year, but promised its flagship Hemerdon mine will "soon" commence production.

Tungsten West shares nosedived by 29% to 2.67 pence each in London on Thursday.

The mining company, which is focused on restarting production at the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine in Devon, England, said pretax loss narrowed to GBP10.8 million in the year ended March 31 from GBP13.0 million a year prior.

Revenue decreased 7.0% to GBP626,460 from GBP673,509. Cost of sales fell by 51% to GBP2.0 million from GBP4.0 million, but administrative expenses rose 27% to GBP10.2 million from GBP8.0 million.

The results follow a turbulent year which saw Tungsten West pausing work at Hemerdon so it could "evaluate alternative approaches to restarting mining operations," which Chair David Cather said was necessary due to "material inflationary pressures and uncertainty over costs."

"Despite this being a difficult decision, the group prevented an unsustainable level of capital commitments and exposure to potentially unviable high operating costs," Cather added.

Tungsten West now needs to secure a mineral processing facility permit before it can obtain the necessary funding to finish rebuilding Hemerdon's plant and to commence production.

Financial 2023 also saw the resignation of co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Max Dennings in July 2022, followed by fellow co-founder and acting CEO Mark Thomson in March. Tungsten West hired current CEO Neil Gawthorpe in late March.

Chief Financial Officer Nigel Widdowson also resigned in August.

Looking ahead, Cather claimed he is "confident that Hemerdon mine will soon be producing tungsten and tin...aiding the supply of future alternative clean energy sources."

Tungsten West added it will aim to secure the necessary permits and construction funding in the coming 12 months, which CEO Gawthorpe said will mark a "pivotal phase".

"Successfully achieving these milestones will pave the way for recommencing construction, ultimately leading to the revival of mining activities at the project and in the South-West region," Gawthorpe added.

By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter

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