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Located in the province of Ciudad Real, in Castilla-La Mancha, El Moto is the first new mine to be developed from the ground up in the region in decades. Led by the company Abenójar Tungsten, the project entered construction in May 2026, followed by the development of the underground access ramp in July. First production is currently targeted for the first quarter of 2029.
Once operational, the mine is expected to create around 400 direct jobs, in addition to indirect employment among local contractors and in transport, maintenance and services. Based on current reserves, El Moto has an estimated mine life of 18 years, with scope for extension through already identified resources.
Engineering a lower-impact mining operation
At El Moto, mining will take place entirely underground, from around 50 metres below the surface down to a maximum depth of approximately 350 metres.
As part of the project’s engineering works, SYSTRA Subterra was appointed to develop the detailed design of the tailings storage and co-disposal facility, drawing on its expertise in mining and underground infrastructure engineering.
For a mining engineer, seeing a new mine take shape from the ground up is a very special moment. El Moto is an ambitious project with strategic importance for Europe’s tungsten supply, and we are proud to contribute our expertise. I would like to congratulate the Abenójar Tungsten team and everyone involved in bringing the project to this important milestone.
José-Miguel Galera, CEO of SYSTRA Subterra
Focus: sustainable methods
The mine is designed to reduce its surface footprint and water use: part of the material left after ore processing is reused to fill excavated areas underground, a process known as paste backfilling, while the remaining tailings are filtered and stored in a drier form at the surface, known as dry stacking. Water recovered during the process is then reused, helping to avoid the need for a conventional slurry tailings pond.
A strategic project for Europe
In March 2025, El Moto was designated an EU Strategic Project under the Critical Raw Materials Act, as part of the European Commission’s first selection of projects aimed at strengthening and diversifying the European supply of strategic raw materials.
Tungsten is used in applications ranging from industrial tooling and energy to electronics, aerospace and defence. It is identified by the European Union as a strategic raw material, at a time when Europe remains heavily dependent on supply chains outside the continent.
At steady state, El Moto is expected to produce approximately 4,227 tonnes of tungsten trioxide (WO₃) per year in concentrate, alongside gold as a by-product.
SYSTRA Subterra’s mining expertise in Spain
El Moto is also part of a broader portfolio of mining projects supported by SYSTRA Subterra in Spain, with the company working on 11 mines in 2026 alone. These include the Las Cruces copper mine near Seville — another of the seven projects designated as a priority by the EU — as well as the Cabanasses mine near Barcelona, one of the EU’s most strategic potash deposits. With planned annual production of between 1 and 1.5 million tonnes of potash, the mine is expected to cover around one-third of European imports.
Photo credits : ©Abenójar Tungsten
