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Murray Ward
Viking Mines is charging ahead with fieldwork at its Linka project in Nevada, executing an aggressive surface asset evaluation ahead of a June quarter drilling blitz as global tungsten prices hit an eye-watering 90-year high.
The company is aiming to systematically quantify historical above-ground stockpiles, along with material contained in a significant tailings dam, which could fast-track early cash flow and a chance to capitalise on record-highs for the metal.
Surface stockpiles at Linka are now being tested to confirm the high-grade potential of the low-cost source, building on earlier results of 0.8 per cent tungsten trioxide collected during the company’s due diligence site visit late last year.
Simultaneously, a grid-sampling initiative at the Linka tailings dam is also underway to calculate its volume, tonnage and economic value as a further potential feedstock for immediate processing or toll treatment.
‘Viking has commenced a period of high activity.’
Viking Mines managing director Julian Woodcock
Notably, recent metallurgical success achieved a 53-fold upgrade of Linka’s primary ore to a premium 63.6 per cent tungsten trioxide concentrate using a simple gravity separation process. If recoveries are also confirmed on the above-ground tailings and stockpiles, this material could serve as a low-cost supplemental feed for a future “Rapid-Start” using a modular plant.
Beyond these historical assets, the company’s geos are ground-truthing previously identified high-priority targets using 3D geological modelling and geophysics. This involves validating Viking’s initial interpretation of a significant 820-metre mineralised corridor and a major 800-metre extension at Linka.
Viking Mines managing director Julian Woodcock said: “Viking has commenced a period of high activity, transitioning from analysis into active project development.”
Linka sits in high-calibre tungsten country, 25 kilometres from the significant Pilot Mountain project. Pilot hosts a resource of 12.53 million tonnes grading 0.27 per cent tungsten trioxide, making it the biggest undeveloped tungsten project in the USA.
The company’s program could hardly be better timed, just as the global tungsten market continues to endure a severe supply crunch. Prices for ammonium paratungstate recently surged to historic highs of US$3185 (A$4485) per metric tonne unit (MTU), with one MTU equating to 10 kilograms of material. The sharp price increase has brought Viking’s Nevada assets sharply into focus as Western supply chains scramble for secure sources of tungsten.
Operationally, Viking is moving at a cracking pace. A second phase of field activity is already locked in for later this month to finalise trench sampling and drill hole layouts. The company has also moved to lodge a Notice of Intent with the Bureau of Land Management for a maiden drilling program, slated as early as June.
As the company moves to define the main prospect and awaits tailings results, the stage is set for a potential rapid-start modular plant to come into play.
With all the hard yards being done behind the scenes, Viking now looks to be speeding towards a potentially transformative June quarter drilling program that could redefine the scale of its Linka project in Nevada and put the company firmly on the path to early cash flow.
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