The Company will lodge an environmental bond in the coming week and proceed to open the underground mine in conjunction with the mine safety authority.

Brian Wesson, CEO and President of Woulfe Mining says:

“This is a significant milestone for the Company in our aggressive mine development plan.”  “The speed with which the application was processed, we believe, is an indication of South Korea and Gangwon Province’s positive desire to see hard rock mining resume in a manner that compliments the needs of the local community and environment.”

For complete news release, click here.

For Woulfe`s company profile, click here.

Press release is quoted saying:

“This additional metallurgical work is the next important step in evaluating the Sisson Brook deposit which Geodex has successfully moved through the exploration stage into the development and economic study stages. The results are expected in the third quarter.”

Click here to access the entire Press Release

 

Woulfe Mining is focused on the redevelopment of the world class Sangdong tungsten and molybdenum mine in South Korea. Woulfe is in a unique position with what the Board considers to be “The” tungsten project in the world with its 25 km of underground development shafts, airways and infrastructure surrounding the mine site. When the mine closed in 1992, the process plant was removed but the area for the plant is contoured and the mine can be reopened giving the Company the ability to bring back into production in a relatively short space of time what is likely one of the world’s largest tungsten mines.

For complete news release, click here.

For Woulfe Mining’s company profile, click here.

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The ferro-tungsten market has been stagnant in recent weeks, with only a handful of transactions taking place. Last Friday, in China, inactivity translated into a dip in prices. Ferro-tungsten fell to $25.90 a kilogram, down from the recent rate of $28.00 per kilogram. One producer commented, “There has been a lack of buying activity and there’s no sign that we’ll see a recovery.” Tungsten prices in the United States remain unchanged, but market sources agree lack of purchases could drive down prices. Last October, the price of tungsten took a dive. As a result, in China, an estimated 80 per cent of producers curbed output.

With the promotion of major infrastructure projects around the world, the tungsten market could see a reversal back to previous trends.  The tungsten market is volatile, with a few key players controlling the market share.  In infrastructure development needs tungsten, then prices could be in for a wild ride; especially considering the level of output cuts in the industry.

China’s Jiangxi Ganzhou City has earmarked US $260 million to procure tungsten and rare earth products. Ganzhou will buy 10,000 tonnes of scheelite and tungsten products, and 10,000 tonnes of rare-earth ore to help metal firms struggling on the back of the commodities price collapse. Ganzhou, a city in eastern China’s Jiangxi Province, and the world’s largest tungsten making region, is building up its own tungsten and rare earth reserves. China’s State Reserves Bureau has been buying various metals, including copper, aluminum, zinc and nickel.

A new, large deposit of tungsten ore has been discovered in east China’s Anhui Province.  With a proved reserve of 96,200 tonnes, the finding in Qimen County is an important one for the country as only 144,000 tonnes of tungsten ore have been found between 2001 and 2007. China’s tungsten reserves are mainly in the provinces of Hunan, Jiangxi and Henan, which jointly account for 61.37 per cent of the total national reserve. China, along with Russia, Canada and the United States, is a major tungsten producer in the world. It holds 40.5 per cent of the world’s proved reserves.

Company News

Largo Resources Ltd. (TSX.V: LGO) has acquired a 70 per cent interest in the Northern Dancer property in Yukon Territory. Largo has the option to earn the remaining 30 per cent  interest in the property by making a cash payment of $5,000,000 or issuing the equivalent value in shares of the company within twelve months. Northern Dancer hosts widespread tungsten-molybdenum porphyry style mineralization. The updated mineral resource for the deposit at a cut-off grade of 0.06 per cent WO3 is estimated as measured mineral resources of 30.8 million tonnes grading 0.114 per cent WO3 and 0.030 per cent Mo, indicated mineral resources of 192.6 million tonnes grading 0.100 per cent WO3 and 0.029 per cent Mo. The measured and indicated mineral resource estimate contains 226.9 k tonnes of WO3 and 65.2 k tonnes of Mo. Inferred mineral resources were estimated to be 201.2 million tonnes grading 0.089 per cent WO3 and 0.024 per cent Mo containing 178.3 k tonnes WO3 and 48.9 k tonnes of Mo.

Zijin Mining Group’s profits increased by 20.32 per cent YoY, while it’s operating revenue grew by 11.32 per cent on an annual basis.  The company has attributed the rise in both net profit and operating revenue to increased output of its major products, as well as higher prices. Zijin Mining produced 57.32 tonnes of gold last year, 16.26 per cent higher than the previous year; it also produced 61,409 tonnes of copper in concentrate form increasing by 29.98 per cent from the previous year.  Due to production cutbacks after zinc prices plummeted in the second half of last year, its output of zinc in concentrate form decreased by 25.1 per cent year on year to 33,680 tonnes and its zinc ingot production dropped 11.18 per cent year on year to 101,437 tonnes.

By the end of 2008, Zijin Mining held a total of 701.5 tonnes of gold reserves, 1,700 tonnes of silver reserves, 9.64 million tonnes of copper reserves, 390,000 tonnes of moly reserves, 5.28 million tonnes of lead and zinc reserves, 100,000 tons of tungsten reserves, 151 tons of platinum and palladium reserves, 100,000 tonnes of tin reserves, 667,500 tonnes of nickel reserves, 168 million tonnes of iron ore reserves, 43.97 million tonnes of bauxite reserves, and 300 million tonnes of coal reserves. The company’s planned production for 2009 includes 4,556 tonnes of tungsten concentrate. In addition, Zijin Mining has also revealed its intention to acquire mineral resources due to currently low commodity prices.

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The bear market has influenced tungsten prices

By Leia Michele Toovey- Exclusive to Tungsten Investing News

Tungsten, like all other metals, has seen a large amount of its value lost in the 2008 market crash. 

Some stability though has been lent to tungsten metal due to the fact that China has a monopoly on the market.  China has curbed output to coincide with the price collapse, and this has lent some stability.  A minor metal that has received more attention recently, Research and Markets has announced the addition of the Tungsten Market Review report to their offering. This report focuses on the study of the global tungsten markets. It provides region analysis on tungsten production. It features major tungsten producers, prices, supply and demand conditions, international trade, etc. The review also includes future outlook of the world tungsten market.

Company news

Golden Predator Mines Inc. (TSX: GP) reports that David Cole has resigned from the board of directors and has accepted the position as a member of its Technical Advisory Board. Golden Predator is a tungsten and gold mining company focused on mineral development in Nevada and surrounding states. The company intends to augment its position in the domestic tungsten business through high grade gold development and production. Its current principal project is the Springer Facility, a 1,000 ton per day mine and mill complex built by the General Electric Company between 1979 and 1982. While it had a 13-year mine life at time of construction, GE only operated the facility for eight months when it ceased production in 1982 and placed Springer on care and maintenance due to falling tungsten prices. Golden Predator is in the process of re-commissioning the mill, and when completed, it will be the only operational tungsten mill in the United States

Happy Creek Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V: HPY)  has received promising results from a rock sampling program on its 100% owned Fox tungsten-molybdenum property, in British Columbia, Canada. The rock sampling was a follow up to drilling in 2007 that confirmed a large scale tungsten-molybdenum system approximately 1.5 kilometers by 500 meters in dimension. The first-ever, widely spaced drilling returned several potentially economic intercepts including 5.0 meters of 0.33 per cent WO3 (tungsten trioxide), 2.0 meters of 0.74 per cent WO3, and 1.7 meters of 0.51per cent molybdenum. On surface, blocks of this material have returned up to 12.778 per cent molybdenum and 5.65 per cent WO3. The 2008 exploration of the Ridley Creek area, located approximately four kilometers north of the Nightcrawler zone, comprised geology, prospecting and silt and soil geochemical surveys that detailed and expanded upon the positive 2007 soil and rock results. In addition to tungsten, rock sampling in 2008 also returned up to 0.19% molybdenum from quartz veins within the quartz monzonite intrusion. Tungsten, and the presence of molybdenum in quartz veins within an intrusion very similar in age to the Boss Mountain, supports the Company’s view that a porphyry style bulk tonnage molybdenum-tungsten deposit is responsible for the mineralization.

Brett Resources Inc. (TSX.V: BBR) is pleased to report drill results from eight holes on the Hammond Reef Property in Ontario, Canada. Highlights from these holes include hole BR-113 with 154 meters of 1.21 g/t Au. Brett’s President and CEO Patrick Soares commented, “Brett continues to build on its drilling success at Hammond Reef. Step-out drilling south-east of Mitta Lake verifies the resource block model which predicts that thick mineralized gold lenses plunge gently to the north-east. Southwest of Mitta Lake, drilling verifies the presence of thick gold mineralized lenses that start near surface and reach a depth of approximately 300 meters below surface. These results are also consistent with the resource model that indicated that 97 percent of the 4.8 million ounce resource lies within 300 meters of surface.” The Company filed its NI- 43-101 report with SEDAR.

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