[Video] Wolf Minerals Begins Excavation Work on UK Drakelands Mine

Australian metals company Wolf Minerals has started excavation work for tungsten at Drakelands mine in Devon, said to be the first British metals mine in almost 50 years.

It will be exploiting one of the world’s largest stockpiles of tungsten, and is expected to produce 3,500 tonnes of tungsten concentrate each year, representing 3.5 percent of global need.

The metal is used to make super-hard steel with China producing 80 percent of the world’s supply. The project on the edge of Dartmoor is set to create 200 jobs for the local area and regenerates a mine which has history spanning back to the Bronze Age.

Work stopped there after the Second World War as demand for tungsten dropped as the need for ammunition tailed off. Rising prices now make tungsten mining viable once again.

See the video below made by Wolf Minerals.