As North American Tungsten (NTC-V) gets ready to put its Cantung tungsten mine in the Northwest Territories on care and maintenance, the company had some good news about the mine life.
NAT has added to reserves at Cantung, which is located about 300 km northeast of Watson Lake, Yukon, upping the mine life to 2.5 years.
Probable reserves stand at 1.02 million tons grading 1.08% tungsten oxide, or about 1.11 million short ton units (STU), replacing mined ore and increasing it slightly. One short ton unit is equal to 20 lbs. of tungsten.
The reserve estimate is based on NAT’s forecast of a long-term base case price of US$205 per metric tonne unit (MTU), an operating cost of C$152.22 per ton milled and a cutoff grade of 0.80% WO3 for the life of mine. There are also known resources that could one day be mineable by open pit, the company says.
NAT admits that Cantung, an 1,100-ton-per-day operation, is a high cost producer though, noting the mine has been an on-again-off-again operation since mining first began in the early 1960s.
Last winter tungsten fell below the US$200 per MTU level, prompting the company to reconsider operations.
In late June NAT announced it would put the Cantung mine on care and maintenance, starting Oct. 15, 2009 due to increased product inventory and declining prices.
NAT shares were down half a penny today to 13.5¢ apiece on a trading volume of 917,000 shares.
Be the first to comment on "North American Tungsten boosts Cantung reserves"