Global Tungsten Market to Reach 91 Thousand Metric Tons by 2012, According to New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

October 28, 2008

Consumption of tungsten in hardmetals/cement carbides is the largest and is expected to increase further. The global tungsten market is projected to reach 91 thousand metric tons by the year 2012.

San Jose, CA (PRWEB) October 28, 2008 -- Though tungsten demand is persistently growing owing to rapid development in national defense, civil and war industries throughout the globe, increase in supply shortage has become a major growth dampener for the distinctive metal. Prices increased sharply in recent years. End users largely depend on China, which represents over 85% of worldwide tungsten supply. The leading global producer of tungsten is China followed by Russia, Canada, Austria, Bolivia, and Portugal. China supplies a major portion of tungsten to the US. China is also the largest stockpile for tungsten in the world accounting for over 55% of world reserves. Of late, China significantly reduced exports of tungsten due to its growing domestic requirements and restrictions on exports of certain metals, which included tungsten. Therefore, growth of tungsten market depends largely on new discoveries and explorations.

Asia-Pacific (including China & Japan) represents the largest and the fastest growing tungsten market in the world and is projected to cross 45 thousand metric tons by the year 2010, as stated by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. Among end-use sectors, chemicals represent the fastest growing market for tungsten with a compounded annual rate of over 8% during the 2001-2010 analysis period, while hardmetals/cement carbides end-use segment represents the largest market and is projected to reach 48 thousand metric tons by the year 2010. Read full report here

Ormonde reports high grade results in Spain

Tue 28 Oct 2008

Shares in Irish mining company Ormonde advanced after it reported 'very encouraging results' from the first infill cross section at its Barruecopardo Tungsten Project in Salamanca, Spain.

The group, which completed drilling at the project's first infill cross section, said high grades were revealed.

"This intersection has an estimated true thickness of 16 metres, and includes the highest individual one-metre sample grade recorded at the Project of 7.8% WO3," the company said in a statement.

Commenting on the drilling results, managing director Kerr Anderson added, "The infill drilling continues to impress us, with these new results including some truly spectacular tungsten grades."

New use of Tungsten carbide, potentially lowers the cost of ethylene glycol production by 50 times

A China-US team has developed a new catalyst to directly convert cellulose, the most common form of biomass, into a useful chemical.

The chemical, ethylene glycol, is widely used in products from polyester fibres to antifreeze for cars.

Once industrialised, the improved catalyst will lower the cost of ethylene glycol production. Additionally, as the raw material is not a food crop, it will not compromise food security, say the researchers.

Currently ethylene glycol is mainly produced from crude oil - whose reserve is rapidly reducing - and cellulose, commonly found in crop straws and wood waste, is considered a better alternative.

Researchers find new use of bio mass

A China-US team has developed a new catalyst to directly convert cellulose, the most common form of biomass, into a useful chemical.

The chemical, ethylene glycol, is widely used in products from polyester fibres to antifreeze for cars.

Once industrialised, the improved catalyst will lower the cost of ethylene glycol production. Additionally, as the raw material is not a food crop, it will not compromise food security, say the researchers.

Currently ethylene glycol is mainly produced from crude oil - whose reserve is rapidly reducing - and cellulose, commonly found in crop straws and wood waste, is considered a better alternative

But converting cellulose into ethylene glycol is a slow process involving several expensive agents, including platinum-group metals.

The new catalyst, comprising the chemical compound tungsten carbide and nickel, will greatly simplify the process and allow 100 per cent conversion of cellulose, says Jingguang Chen at the US-based University of Delaware, a co-leader of the research team.

Chen adds that this combination increases the proportion of ethylene glycol to 61 per cent from 27 per cent using tungsten carbide alone.

Zhang Tao, head of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics in China and another co-leader, says the new catalyst could potentially lower the cost of ethylene glycol production by 50 times compared with platinum-group metals.

But two key problems remain before commercialisation is possible, the researchers say.

Firstly, the catalyst needs high temperatures and pressures to work. "It will be costly for such a high-pressure industrial process," says Chen.

The other issue concerns the purification of final products. "We still require further work on the separation of all the alcohol by-products," Zhang says.

Wang Zhongying, a senior official with the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, says that although it is too early to draw conclusions on the prospect of this catalyst, such research is "strategically significant" for any country in the face of fuel shortage and increasing food demand.

The research was published online in Angewandte Chemie International Edition last month

Adex's Fire Tower at 13.48mt of 0.33% WO3, 0.21% MoS2 I

Adex Mining Inc. has completed an updated National Instrument 43-101 mineral resource estimate for the Fire Tower zone (FTZ) tungsten-molybdenum deposit at its wholly owned Mount Pleasant mine property in New Brunswick, Canada. The resource estimate includes an indicated resource of 13,489,000 tonnes, as well as an inferred resource of 841,700 tonnes.

"Upgrading the FTZ resource estimate to National Instrument 43-101 indicated status was a necessary prerequisite to advancing the FTZ to the feasibility stage of development," said Kabir Ahmed, president and chief executive officer of Adex. "Having efficiently and effectively achieved this important milestone, we look forward to continuing our fast-track approach to mine development at Mount Pleasant."

The resource estimate, completed by SRK Consulting (Canada) Ltd. using an updated Gemcom model, was conducted in conjunction with the preparation of an independent NI 43-101 technical report currently being completed by Watts, Griffis and McOuat Ltd. (WGM), all under the supervision of Trevor Boyd, PGeo, the company's geological consultant. Details of the resource estimate are shown in the attached table.

 

Read the full release on the Company Website www.AdexMining.com

 

Golden Predator gets air quality permit for Springer tungsten facility

Golden Predator Mines Inc.'s wholly owned subsidiary, the Springer Mining Co., has received the new Class II air quality operating permit AP1061-2442 for the Springer tungsten facility in Pershing county, Nev. This permit was issued by the Bureau of Air Pollution Control, a branch of the Nevada division of Environmental Protection.

The company also wishes to report that the notice of proposed action for the draft water pollution control permit NEV2007108 was posted in the Lovelock Review-Miner newspaper. The regulatory 30-day public comment period will end at 5 p.m. on Nov. 8, 2008.

The notice of proposed action for the draft reclamation permit was posted in the Lovelock Review-Miner newspaper last week. The regulatory 30-day public comment period is expected to end at 5 p.m. on Nov. 15, 2008, for this permit. This leaves the water pollution control permit and the reclamation permit as the only permits outstanding at this time for Springer. All other required permits are in hand.

Steve Vanry, president, observed: "Receipt of the environmental permits for Springer is moving along smoothly. As each of these permits is granted, the property progresses toward satisfying regulatory requirements and moves ever closer to being fully permitted and operational."

www.GoldenPredator.com

Playfair Mining Ltd.: Grey River Tungsten Deposit Expanded

Oct 23 2008
 Playfair Mining (TSX VENTURE:PLY)  Drilling has successfully defined a significant down plunge zone of tungsten mineralization extending the #10 Vein Deposit at depth and to the north. Drill Hole 122 yields a highlight intercept of 1.13% WO3 over 2.4 metres.  Read the full release

Tungsten producer tops fastest list for second year

October 22, 2008

On the desk of North American Tungsten CEO Stephen Leahy there's a framed quotation from U.S. president Calvin Coolidge that goes to the heart of his company's success.

It begins: "Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence."

Persistence, Leahy says, is his middle name. Acquiring an aging but major world-class asset in the 1990s, the Cantung tungsten mine north of the Arctic circle, keeping it when cash was tight and commodity prices flat, and then experiencing all the tribulations of bringing a junior mining company into production, required a deep belief in what he was doing and the determination to see it through.

"It's quite an ordeal," he says.

That ordeal has paid off for Leahy, chairman and third largest shareholder. North American Tungsten has made the No. 1 spot on the Vancouver Sun's Top 100 list of fastest-growing companies for the second year in a row, an unprecedented feat.

In 2007, North American Tungsten's Cantung mine in the Northwest Territories was fully operational for the first time. Production was up 20 per cent, sales revenues increased 15 per cent, operating cash flow climbed 300 per cent and the junior mining company came close to being profitable, cutting losses to $1.2 million from $2.7 million in 2006.

[...]

Tungsten has exceptional properties: a high melting point that makes it useful for filaments in incandescent lights, a near-diamond hardness needed in the manufacture of high-grade drill bits and saw blades, and a density higher than lead, yet without lead's toxicity. Read the full story

First sales for Queensland Ores

QUEENSLAND Ores shipped its first load of tungsten concentrates from the Wolfram Camp Mine in Far North Queensland yesterday.

Kennametal gets $1.6M grant for armor development

Specialty toolmaker Kennametal Inc. of Unity received a $1.6 million federal grant from the Defense Department Thursday for research and development on a state-of-the art medium-caliber tungsten ballistic that will penetrate armor. Kennametal will do the research and development at its technology center in Unity, while the tungsten penetrator will be manufactured at the company's Irwin plant.  http://www.kennametal.com

Advanced Technologies for the Bio Mass Turning - uses Tungsten Blades

Advanced Technologies for the Bio Mass Turning
The Self Propelled Turning Machines series SCV grants effective and strong biomass turning in windrows, since the product is turned through a horizontal rotor mixer, made of wear resistant steel and equipped with Tungsten blades. This allows for the chopping of long fibres and breaking of clods and material blocks.

StrataGold increases Mar-Tungsten Deposit indicated resource by 44% and provides metallurgical test results

VANCOUVER, Oct. 16, 2008 StrataGold Corporation (SGV-TSX) ("StrataGold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that a new independent National Instrument (NI) 43-101 Mineral Resource estimate by SRK Consulting (US) Inc. ("SRK"), has increased the Indicated Resource of the Mar-Tungsten Deposit by 44%. http://www.stratagold.com

 

 

100 Tungsten Inert Gas TIG welders needed for Guam manpower pool

Friday, October 17, 2008

 

A Saipan-based alien workers group is working with a company that is in need of more than 100 Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welders for Guam.

Irene Tantiado, president of the United Workers Movement, NMI, said they are now collecting the resumes of alien workers who are interested in applying for this position.

"Only workers who meet the basic, common and core competencies required for this category will be included in the pool," said Tantiado.

For reference, the competency requirements for this category may be found at www.tesda.gov.ph (go to downloads, competency-based Curriculum and look for Tungsten Arc Welding).

Interested parties must also indicate in their resumes the actual years of experience.

"We expect that all the information provided are true and accurate," Tantiado said.

Other in-demand categories are pipe fitters, sheet fitters and carpenters.

All resumes may be emailed to irenebdi@yahoo.com or mailed to Irene N. Tantiado, United Workers Movement, NMI, P.O. Box 504703, Saipan, MP 96950 not later than Nov. 15, 2008.

Tantiado emphasized that United Workers Movement, NMI is not collecting any fee from workers who are submitting resumes. If anyone has any information about people who are claiming to be part of our organization and collecting money, call Irene at 285 7717 or email her. (PR)

North American Tungsten Cancels Private Placement and Strategic deal with Hunan Nonferrous Metals

North American Tungsten Corp.Ltd. or NTC (NTC.V ) announced that it has cancelled private placement of 13.4 million units as part of Strategic Alliance deal with Hunan Nonferrous Metals.

Effective June 2, 2008 the company cancelled exclusivity clause under deal with Hunan Nonferrous to engage in negotiations with additional potential strategic partners. Further, NTC subsequently closed both $5 million brokered flow through financing and US$3 million Convertible Debenture financing. North American Tungsten said that European APT remains stable at $250 to $255 per metric tonne unit.

Beijing trims 2% off tungsten export quota for 2009

Singapore 15 October 2008 09:31

Beijing has cut the country's tungsten export quota by 2% or 300 tonnes in pure metal for 2009, in the mildest revision seen in years.

Export quota cuts have ranged from 500-900 tonnes in the past few years, with the steepest 900-tonne cut for this year, market participants confirmed.

This takes the 2009 tungsten export quota to 14,600 tonnes for licensed tungsten producers and exporters, a volume that will probably be more than enough, according to market participants.

"Most the companies will fail to use up this year's quota. By August, some will have used 80% at most, while others 40-50% at least. Next year, the overall prospect is not great. I do not think quota cut will be a problem for anyone," a Beijing-based trader said.

Another trader in south China agreed.

"All of us have been hit hard by the higher export taxes this year, and financial crisis will probably bring us another bleak year, so we are not worried at all about whether the quota is insufficient," she said.

However, market participants agreed that the tungsten export market should be considered "fortunate" in a non-ferrous industry where several other metals are seeing tumbling prices.

"It at least shows that demand and supply in this particular market are more or less balanced, so the supply side is not ready to jump yet," the Beijing trader said.

Despite a persistently quiet week, China's tungsten concentrate prices have remained at 86,000 yuan ($12,588) per tonne and ferro-tungsten at $34 per kg fob, and ammonium paratungstate (APT) offers are still above $250 per mtu fob.

The new 2009 Land Rover Discovery 3

"Attention to detail continues with the revised 'tungsten' coloured side vent, & 'tungsten' door handles "

Initial Resource Estimate Completed for Portugal Tungsten Prospect

 

Published on 14th October 2008

 

The Regua tungsten deposit, in northern Portugal, contains an estimated 1,26-million metric tons of tungsten trioxide, the owners of the project reported on Tuesday.

ASX-listed Tamaya Resources said in a statement that its 82%-owned subsidiary Iberian Resources reported its first JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate for the project.

Indicated and inferred resources of 3,42-million tons (grading 0,37%) tungsten trioxide, were defined at a cut-off grade of 0,10% tungsten trioxide.

The company said that the maiden resource established a strong and viable tungsten project, with considerable potential to add additional resources through further drilling.

The stated resource was based on the results of diamond drilling of 31 holes for a total of 4630,70m, all of which intersected scheelite mineralisation.

"There is excellent potential to significantly extend the resource, as shallow mineralisation beneath previously trenched areas was not targeted during the recent drill campaign. The mineralisation is also still open laterally and at depth," Tamaya stated.

Tamaya added that it was particularly encouraging that a significant tungsten resource was established at a time of increasing concerns within Europe over Tungsten supply, since China was no longer a significant exporter of tungsten.

The Regua tungsten project (16km2) is located on the southern bank of the Douro River Valley, 400km north of Lisbon and 95km east of Porto.

Iberian's 100% Portuguese subsidiary, Iberian Resources Portugal Recursos Minerais Unipessoal LDA is the sole owner of the mineral concession through an exploration contract with the government of Portugal.

There were no operations on site, and the property has not been previously mined. In the 1980s Rio Tinto produced a conceptual mining and processing scenario, with the delineation of resource estimates, which predated the development of the JORC code.

Corrosion-restant Coriolis Mass Flowmeter

Date: 15/10/2008

Krohne has launched a new Tantalum version of its OPTIMASS 7300 Coriolis mass flowmeter, to handle the highly aggressive and corrosive fluids found in the chemical industry.

The past decade has seen Coriolis flowmeter technology become the accepted standard in many chemical industries.

However, one area where the technology was challenged was the measurement of highly aggressive and corrosive fluids. This was due to the commercial availability of a suitable measuring tube material to handle these chemicals.

Generally, the wall thickness of Coriolis measuring tubes are significantly less than the associated process piping, which will tolerate a higher rate of corrosion before failing. This is an area where wetted material selection for a Coriolis meter is critical.

Tantalum has been used by some Coriolis manufacturers in the past, but the twin bent tube designs made these expensive. This was due to the flange, flow splitter as well as the measuring tubes all being made from Tantalum.

It was not until the advent of the single straight tube design, that the material looked more attractive, due to the design now only needing the measuring tube and the raised face of the process flange to be made from Tantalum. This brought major cost advantages over the equivalent bent tube designs, but was not easy to achieve as Tantalum does not have the same tensile strength as Titanium which is traditionally employed..

The Tantalum used by Krohne is an alloy called Tantalum Ta10W, which is made up of 10 per cent Tungsten and 90 per cent Tantalum. Krohne have found that it is the ideal material for use in its OPTIMASS 7300 mass flowmeter as Tungsten provides the additional tensile strength required to handle the stresses associated with straight tube technology.

Volatile market prompts Vital slowdown

Subiaco-based explorer Vital Metals Ltd said it will reduce the pace of work on the feasibility study on its Watershed project in an effort to conserve cash in the current financial climate.

Largo Continues to Report Encouraging Results From Northern Dancer Project, Yukon

Oct 9, 2008 - 17:31

- Seven of nine holes reported deposit grade or higher over wide widths

- Hole LT08-109 cut 276.00 metres grading 0.11% WO3 and 0.042% Mo including 53.00 metres grading 0.32% WO3 and 0.053% Mo and a molybdenum-rich zone at the bottom of the hole (78.66 metres grading 0.079% Mo and 0.02% WO3)

- Hole LT08-116 cut 306.07 metres grading 0.11% WO3 and 0.028% Mo including 100.07 metres grading 0.14% WO3 and 0.049% Mo.

Marubeni eyes investment in Russian tungsten project - Oct-7-2008

Reuters reported that Japan's Marubeni Corporation is studying a project to restore a major tungsten and molybdenum deposit in Russia's North Caucasus region together with Russian firm Wolfram Co.

Mr Pyotr Sukharkov first deputy general director of Wolfram said that restoring production at the Tyrnyauz Tungsten and Molybdenum Mining and Concen trating Plant, which closed early this decade, would require investment of about USD 120 to USD 130 million. He added that "The plant simply could not compete as tungsten prices fell and the market was flooded with tungsten. Now, the situation is different. Tungsten prices are higher and we believe this project has the right to exist."

The Tyrnyauz plant is located in the Russian republic of Kabardino Balkaria in the Caucasus Mountains. The republic's government owns the majority of the project and Wolfram Co has a 25% share.

In 2007, Russia lifted an import duty on tungsten ore and concentrate in a move that allowed Wolfram to secure more raw materials from abroad, chiefly from Canada, Brazil and Africa.