VKA to drill US tungsten project just as Trump bans exports
BREAKING NEWS:
The US has just banned the export of tungsten scrap - yep, even the waste has to stay inside US borders now.
(source)
This comes after there were reports China had a recycling network taking American waste material and shipping it back to China…
Literally people meeting up in car parks and buying scrap tungsten with the sole purpose of shipping it back to China, here is the article:
(source)
And our take on the report:
See our coverage on this report - VKA - China quietly buys America's tungsten scrap
Tungsten is used in fighter jets, ammunition, including Tomahawk, Patriot and Precision Strike missiles..
And US stockpiles running low (even having to call off strikes because of it), having been reported just a day ago to having used up “virtually all of its long range precision missiles”:
(source)
So the sudden urgency makes sense…
AND it looks like our US tungsten Investment Viking Mines (ASX: VKA | OTC: VKALF) will have the right tailwinds as it drills its project for the first time…
VKA’s project is a previous tungsten producer dating back to between 1941 to 1956, before mining stopped because the US government suspended its tungsten buying program. (source)
VKA acquired the project in December last year and in the time following has seen the price of tungsten climb multiples.
Since then, VKA has acquired historical data and digitised it all - now days away from drilling the project for the first time in decades.
We think that any strong drill results, from a project in Nevada, USA right now could bring with it a lot of market interest. (Check out why in our latest VKA note here: VKA to start drilling for tungsten in the US any day now...?)
Especially from a project that can show a realistic pathway to rapid restart of production, which is exactly what VKA’s been preparing for - check out the concept design for a processing plant on the project:
(source)
A part of that “rapid restart” plan is to process some of the old stockpiles on VKA’s ground and today, VKA announced more assays from the stockpiles grading up to 1.8% tungsten…
(that's on the leftover material that was mined back in 1941 and 1956)
Samples from the historical mill area averaged 0.5% tungsten.
For context on those grades - EQR capped at $1.6BN and one of the more popular ASX tungsten stocks produced with average grades mined in the prior quarter of just 0.11-0.16% at Barruecopardo. (source)
VKA also resampled six historical trenches along the ~820m mineralised trend between the old workings, returning up to 1m at 1.3% WO3 at surface.
(source)
These are first-pass grab samples, so systematic sampling is still needed before VKA can put representative grades and tonnages on the dumps.
What’s next for VKA?
🔄 VKA’s first drill programme at US tungsten project
Here are the milestones we are tracking for the drill programme:
- ✅ Earthworks
- ✅ Drill rig mobilisation to site
- 🔄 Drilling starts - (any day now based on recent VKA announcements)
- 🔲 Assay results (should start to land in August/September)
🔄 VKA’s rapid restart plan
We also want to see VKA progress its rapid mine restart strategy.
Here are the milestones we are tracking on that front:
- ✅ Assay results from stockpiles + tailings dam
- ✅ Processing study results
- 🔄 Metwork optimisation (Ore sorting + flotation testwork).
🔄 US engagement
This is more of a corporate milestone we want to see VKA hit.
It’s hard to predict when any of these might happen, but we are hoping VKA can attract some sort of US government funding to help finance its project AND/OR attract strategic interest from inside the US.
