Wolf Minerals into administration

Long-running efforts by tungsten miner Wolf Minerals to stay afloat have failed, with the company’s directors appointing voluntary administrators.

Ferrier Hodgson’s Martin Jones and Ryan Eagle will be appointed administrators.

The Perth-based company said it has been unable to satisfactorily conclude discussions with its key financial stakeholders and therefore was not in a position to meet its short-term working capital requirements.

As a result, it has ceased operations at its Drakelands open pit mine in the UK.

The company had a standstill agreement with its existing senior lenders that was due to expire on October 28.

It had been seeking longer-term funding solutions while it continued to ramp up production at the mine.

The company spent $230 million developing the mine and commenced production in 2015 but has been hit by a series of operational problems.

The problems came to light in October 2016, when the company said it had been faced with underperformance of the processing plant, coupled with finer tungsten ore than originally expected.

“In addition to these challenges, the tungsten price has remained lower than anticipated despite a constrained supply of tungsten concentrate globally,” Wolf said in a statement.

Its financial backers have included private equity group Resource Capital Funds.