Viking nails 76% tungsten recoveries in Nevada
Brought to you by BULLS N’ BEARS
Andrew Todd
Viking Mines has kicked another goal at its Linka tungsten project in Nevada, USA, delivering an impressive 76 per cent recovery to produce a high-value 56.9 per cent tungsten oxide concentrate in its latest round of metallurgical testwork.
The result represents a major step-change for the project, delivering a 27 per cent uplift in recovery from its recent 59.8 per cent figure just two weeks ago.
Importantly, the figures exceed Viking’s own eventual production targets of achieving greater than 70 per cent recovery and a saleable concentrate grade above 50 per cent tungsten oxide.
The company says the testwork substantially de-risks the project’s pathway to production just as Viking prepares to kick off a big maiden 63-hole drill campaign at the past-producing mine – the first drilling on the site in more than 40 years.
Management believes the testwork continues to prove that a high-grade, marketable tungsten concentrate can be produced using a simple, low-capital flowsheet. The favoured process would lean heavily on proven gravity and flotation technologies for a potentially low-cost, premium product.
The latest work combined a gravity concentrate grading a stellar 66.6 per cent tungsten oxide with a flotation concentrate grading 48.2 per cent tungsten oxide to produce the final blended product.
‘These results feed directly into the conceptual processing study underway with Mineral Technologies.’
Viking Mines managing director and chief executive officer Julian Woodcock
The ability to produce a premium product through simple physical separation is a serious competitive advantage.
Adding to the flow sheets’ credentials, modular plant designs are readily available for such a project and could slash permitting and construction timelines while tungsten prices remain sky-high.
Viking Mines managing director and chief executive officer Julian Woodcock said: “We’ve deliberately kept the flowsheet simple, using proven gravity and flotation technologies, which we believe positions Linka for a low-capital development Project. These results feed directly into the conceptual processing study underway with Mineral Technologies, which will provide our first capital and operating cost estimates.”
Viking announced the acquisition of its portfolio of six tungsten projects in Nevada late last year. The historic projects once stood as the region’s premier tungsten operation, producing a combined 123,000 tonnes at 0.54 per cent tungsten oxide in its heyday.
Alone, Linka historically churned out about 65,000 tonnes of ore at an average grade of 0.5 per cent tungsten oxide before it was shuttered in 1956.
The project’s re-emergence comes at a strategically critical time for the United States. With a near-total reliance on imports for tungsten, Washington has moved to secure its supply chains from a non-China reliant network.
Given the US shortage, Viking has partnered with global engineering firm WSP to fast-track Linka environmental and regulatory permitting.
The timing looks pretty sharp, with the commodity’s price continuing to flirt with all-time highs. Tungsten has been easily one of the best commodity performers of the past 18 months, rocketing to record prices of more than US$3000 (A$4270) per metric tonne unit (MTU), where one MTU equates to 10 kilograms – up more than 10 times in the last 5 years.
Viking is advancing a savvy two-track strategy at Linka. While its maiden drill campaign aims to define a new project resource, the company believes it may also deliver additional upside by using the historical surface stockpiles for early processing.
Recent sampling of one stockpile delivered grades of up to 1.1 per cent tungsten oxide, confirming it is mineralised and could provide a near-term, low-cost feed source.
With permits for its maiden drill campaign now in hand and a metallurgical pathway that is looking increasingly robust, this newly acquired project is looking more and more like a potential producer in the making.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au