Tungsten Mining (ASX:TGN) has appointed Cutfield Freeman & Co to structure and execute a debt package for its Watershed Tungsten Project in Far North Queensland.
The appointment advances funding preparations for the 100%-owned project as Tungsten Mining targets a final investment decision (FID) in September 2026.
Cutfield Freeman will assess potential funding from commercial banks, private credit funds, Nordic and fixed-income bonds, export credit agencies, and government concessional sources.
The debt process will run alongside Tungsten Mining’s assessment of strategic investment, offtake-linked funding, government support, and commercial partnerships. The company aims to establish a funding package covering construction and ramp-up.
Chairman Gary Lyons says the mandate extends beyond arranging project debt.
“Our objective is not simply to secure debt, but to establish the optimum capital structure for Watershed,” Lyons says.
Cutfield Freeman is an independent mining finance adviser established in 2000, with experience across critical minerals projects and a team operating internationally and in Australia.
The appointment follows completion of the Watershed preliminary economic evaluation (PEE) in June. Based on the study’s assumptions, the PEE outlined a pre-tax net present value of $1.3 billion at an 8% discount rate, a pre-tax internal rate of return of 198%, and a nine-month payback period.
Tungsten Mining says it plans to progress funding activities alongside ongoing drilling and engineering work, with first production targeted for the first half of 2027.
The company notes the development timetable depends on completing the remaining studies, securing finance, and obtaining applicable approvals. The production target is also based partly on inferred resources, and there is no certainty that the targeted FID or production dates will be met.
Watershed already has an approved environmental authority, granted mining leases, and an Indigenous land use agreement.
Tungsten Mining is an Australian critical minerals developer with a portfolio of advanced tungsten projects supporting its strategy to produce low-cost tungsten concentrate.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Images: Tungsten Mining
