Vancouver – Strongly bullish on tungsten’s outlook, North American Tungsten (NTC-V, NATUF-O) has initiated feasibility studies on its large Mactung project located near MacMillan Pass on the Yukon-Northwest Territories border.
As North America’s sole producer of the specialty metal, the company eyes development of its second mine pending positive review of economics and technical aspects.
Mactung is widely regarded as one of the largest undeveloped high-grade tungsten skarn deposits in the world. Mineralization occurs as disseminated scheelite in a limestone-hosted calc-silicate skarn.
Earlier this year North American Tungsten boosted its estimates at the deposit with indicated resources of 33 million tonnes grading 0.88% WO3 plus a further 11.9 million inferred tonnes at 0.78% WO3 contained within four mineralized zones. A 0.5% WO3 cut-off grade was used by the engineering firm, deeming that appropriate for Mactung’s location and cost profile.
Additionally, higher-grade sections were identified within the resource. About 22.2 million indicated tonnes and 4.6 million inferred tonnes average above 1% WO3.
A total of 29 million MTU’s (metric tonne units) of contained tungsten (WO3) is estimated in the indicated resource with a further 9.2 million contained MTU’s projected within inferred resources. One MTU is equal to 10 kg of WO3 per tonne, or 7.93 kg of pure tungsten, and is the standard weight measure used in the industry.
Tungsten remains in a two-year average price of about US$250 per MTU.
Discovered by Amax in the early-1960s, about $26 million was previously spent on Mactung in exploration, several hundred metres of underground development and engineering studies from the 1970-80s. A historic resource of 30 million tonnes grading 0.94% WO3 was tabled in 1982, almost leading to a production decision but was shelved due to deteriorating tungsten prices at the time.
Mactung is located about 160 km northwest of North American Tungsten’s Cantung mine that restarted production in late-2005 and is the western world’s largest supplier of the specialty metal.
Cantung output for fiscal 2007 was 286,031 MTU’s of tungsten concentrates.
From 1962-1986 Cantung accounted for about 10% of the world’s total tungsten production.
Having a very high melting point and hardness second only to diamond, tungsten is primarily used as filaments in lights bulbs, in electronics and as a hardening alloy in steels.
With 122.1-million shares outstanding, North American Tungsten posts a $186-million market capitalization at its recent $1.52 trading level. The stock has a 52-week trading range of 50-$1.64.
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