Ji Wenlin, director of ministry’s general office said that this action will put a stop on all exploration and mining operations without licence to operate.

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Shenzhen, the Chinese city that accounts for 60 per cent of China’s total annual exports, is witnessing declining demand for tungsten.

In 2007, the latest year for which industry data is available, it shipped $23 million worth of tungsten carbide powder and alloy jewelry. Last year, Shenzhen was estimated to export just $18.4 million worth, a reduction of 25 per cent. There are a few factors that have caused this, one being the global market slump.  Perhaps, though China’s efforts to control the tungsten industry are backfiring on its own local businesses.

China has an overwhelming monopoly on the market; an estimated 85 per cent of world tungsten thirst is quenched by China.  China has taken steps in the past to make sure that they are in control of this metal prized for its hardness, and used in military applications.  China has been accused of dumping; flooding the markets with tungsten as global suppliers come online; and, when China feels its stranglehold on the industry is strong enough, and they have been accused of price gauging. Now, with the entire world in a slump, and not enough demand on the domestic market, the country should been keen to export all they can.

Company news

Sultan Minerals Inc. has received the 12-month environmental base study completed by tWardrop Engineering Inc. The study was carried out over its Jersey-Emerald property, located 10 km south of the community of Salmo in southeastern BC. The report represents another milestone in Sultan’s efforts to expedite the re-opening of this historic tungsten and lead-zinc producer. The report documents an aquatic environmental baseline study conducted for Sultan in and around the Jersey-Emerald property from August 2007 to July 2008. The study was conducted in support of a proposal for future certification under the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act to provide a basis for assessing the potential effects of the project on the aquatic environment. The study included sampling stations located over and adjacent to the historic mine.In May 2007, a NI 43-101 scoping study completed by Wardrop demonstrated that the Jersey-Emerald Tungsten deposits could support a potentially commercial 1,100 t/day mining operation at a tungsten APT price of $244/MTU. The price of tungsten has since remained relatively stable with the current average price being $246/MTU for APT concentrate as of December 10, 2008. The report suggested that the economics of the operation would be substantially improved by expanding the tungsten resource with additional diamond drilling in order to justify a 2,000 t/day operation. Sultan has since completed approximately 20,000 meters of diamond drilling in 87 diamond drill holes and is awaiting results of an updated tungsten resource estimate the updated NI 43-101 compliant resource report is expected to be available in early January. Assays are pending for samples from a program of trenching and surface prospecting recently completed over the south end of the Jersey-Emerald property. A large tungsten and lead-zinc soil anomaly centered 3.0 km south of the historic mine suggests there is good potential for additional new discoveries on this 9,300 hectare property.

North Bay Resources has signed a contract with Hidalgo Mining International Inc. to engage in a joint-venture for the development of North Bay’s Gold Hill Project in British Columbia, Canada. Terms of the agreement call for Hidalgo to commit up to $1.25 million USD over three years for developmental drilling and surface ore recovery. North Bay and Hidalgo will each own 50 per cent of the Gold Hill Project and will equally share any and all net revenue, including any near-term profits generated from surface ore recovery operations. The Gold Hill mine’s past production averaged over 29.47 grams per tonne gold and 54.11 grams per tonne silver, while production figures from the Silver Dollar and the Lucky Boy workings averaged 9.39 grams per tonne gold and 335 grams per tonne silver. More recent exploration has outlined an extended strike length of over 2600 meters, with reported assays from underground workings grading as high as 57.81 grams per tonne gold and 3790 grams per tonne silver. Recent drilling programs on properties immediately adjacent to the north and the west of Gold Hill in the 2007-2008 exploration season intersected significant levels of tungsten and molybdenum.