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Murray Ward
Viking Mines has secured a vital approval from the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM), giving it the go-ahead to collect a 1,000-short-ton (907-tonne) bulk sample from its Linka tungsten project in Nevada. The move is a significant step in the companyโs strategy to fast-track its American tungsten assets towards production.
The approval allows Viking to begin unlocking value from historical surface stockpiles at the past-producing mine, paving the way for toll treatment processing and offtake discussions with US-based refineries. The development comes as the tungsten scene in Nevada is heating up, with rising prices and a renewed focus on US domestic supply chains for critical minerals fuelling a revival of historic assets across the state.
The bulk sample will be collected from stockpiles that have already been shown to carry significant grade. Previous sampling of the material by Viking returned an average grade of 0.4 per cent tungsten trioxide from 41 samples, with individual grades hitting a high of 1.1 per cent. Applying that average grade to the 907-tonne sample suggests it could contain approximately 363 metric tonne units of tungsten trioxide.
The immediate goal for Viking is to process the bulk sample through a third-party toll treatment facility to produce a high-grade tungsten concentrate. This concentrate will then be presented to potential offtake partners, specifically ammonium paratungstate (APT) refineries within the United States.
โA sample of this scale allows us to move beyond bench-scale testwork and produce meaningful quantities of concentrate.โ
Viking Mines managing director and chief executive officer Julian Woodcock
Viking Mines managing director and chief executive officer Julian Woodcock said: โReceiving this approval from the BLM is another important step in our strategy to unlock near-term value from the surface assets at Linka. A bulk sample of this scale allows us to move beyond bench-scale testwork and produce meaningful quantities of concentrate for assessment by potential offtake partners in the United States.โ
The companyโs confidence in this strategy is underpinned by recent, highly successful metallurgical testwork. Using X-ray Transmission ore-sorting technology from industry leader TOMRA, Viking proved it could upgrade the low-grade stockpile material by more than 400 per cent. Testwork on a sample with a feed grade of 0.45 per cent tungsten trioxide delivered a remarkable 4.1-fold uplift, producing a concentrate grading an impressive 1.83 per cent tungsten trioxide. The results essentially provide a proof of concept for turning what was once considered waste into a valuable, high-grade plant feed.
However, the stockpiles are just one part of a bigger play. While the company works to monetise its surface assets, it has also kicked off the first drilling program at the project in 40 years, targeting a much larger, in-situ resource.
And the early signs from the rig are encouraging. The maiden program has already intersected multiple, wide zones of visual tungsten mineralisation, with geologists spotting the key tungsten-bearing mineral, scheelite, lighting up under ultraviolet light in rock chips. Key visual intercepts include a 12-metre continuous interval from just 40m downhole and another combined 13m of mineralisation from a shallow 9m depth.
While visual estimates are no substitute for assays, the results could point to significant untapped potential at the high-grade brownfields site, which encompasses three historic mines. The Linka Mine itself has a history of producing high-grade ore, with records showing grades of up to three per cent tungsten trioxide.
With the BLM approval now in hand, Viking has a clear pathway to test the commercial viability of its stockpiled material. And with the drill rig also turning and hitting wide, shallow mineralisation for the first time in four decades, the company is attacking its Nevada tungsten play on two fronts. As the US government continues to incentivise the development of domestic critical mineral supply chains, having a product ready for American refineries while chasing a bigger prize at depth could be a potent combination.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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