Vancouver – The first tungsten concentrates have been shipped from North American Tungsten’s (NTC-V, NATUF-O) Cantung mine, on the Northwest Territories-Yukon border.
The open pit-underground operation is processing ore at the rate of about 1,000-tonnes per day. Expected annual output of 400,000 metric tonne units (MTU) of tungsten concentrate would represent around 7% of global tungsten production, and place Cantung back on top as the Western world’s largest supplier of the metal.
Cantung closed in late-2003, after its two customers, Sandvik Coromant and Osram Sylvania, terminated their off-take agreements, pushing the company into bankruptcy.
Tungsten prices have rallied significantly since its closure, rising from about US$47 per MTU (one MTU being equal to 10 kg of WO3 per tonne, or 7.9 kg of tungsten), to recent levels of around US$250-260 per MTU.
The company reports mineable reserves of about 784,000 tonnes grading 1.75% WO3 at Cantung.
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