Tungsten Mining (ASX: TGN) has appointed specialist mining finance firm Cutfield Freeman & Co to support the proposed commercialisation of the Watershed tungsten project in Queensland, taking another step forward with the planned development.

Perth-based Cutfield Freeman & Co will advise on debt funding for the project, which already has an approved environmental authority, granted mining leases and an indigenous land use agreement in place. Those approvals and agreements provide the project with a clearer framework for the next phase of work, as Tungsten Mining continues lining up financing alongside technical studies.

Chairman Gary Lyons said the appointment advances Watershed toward a final investment decision targeted for September 2026. The engagement follows completion of the project's preliminary economic evaluation, which demonstrated a pre-tax NPV8 of $1.3 billion, a pre-tax IRR of 198% and a nine-month payback based on the assumptions set out in that study.

"Our objective is not simply to secure debt, but to establish the optimum capital structure for Watershed. Cutfield Freeman will work with us as we assess debt alongside strategic investment, offtake-linked funding, government support and other potential funding sources," Mr Lyons said.

"Importantly, this work is progressing in parallel with the technical and development workstreams already underway at Watershed at a time of ongoing strength in the tungsten market."

Cutfield Freeman has been engaged to assist the company with transaction planning, structuring and execution of a project debt package for Watershed. The debt process will canvass commercial banks, private credit funds, Nordic bonds, fixed income bonds, export credit agencies and government concessional funding sources. It will run in parallel with the company's assessment of strategic investment, offtake-linked funding and potential commercial partnerships, with the objective of delivering an optimised funding package for the construction and ramp-up of the project.

The appointment follows other recent progress at Watershed, where Tungsten Mining earlier this month announced the commencement of major reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling programs. Drilling is focused on areas of known mineralisation within the planned initial mining areas and on collecting the metallurgical and geotechnical information required to support mine planning, pit design and detailed engineering.

The RC program comprises 175 holes for approximately 15,000 metres and is expected to take approximately four months. The north-south holes will reduce drill spacing to a 20m-by-20m pattern across known high-grade mineralisation targeted for initial mining. The program will increase confidence in the continuity, geometry and grade distribution of mineralisation within these priority areas, and the results will support an updated mineral resource model and refinement of the mine plan, mining schedules and pit design.

The diamond drilling program comprises 75 holes for approximately 5,700 metres and is expected to take approximately three months. Its primary purpose is to collect representative metallurgical samples and geotechnical information for process design, detailed engineering, pit design and mine planning. The diamond core will also be logged and assayed to support the updated mineral resource model.

Shares in TGN were up 2.13% at 24.0¢, giving the company a market capitalisation of $328.1 million.