The Northern Miner • VOL. 97 (October 31 -November 6, 2011)
Malaga makes headway in Peru
By Trish Saywell
Before Montreal-based Malaga (MLG-T) took over the Pasto Bueno mine in 2005, private owners in Peru had turned out nearly 6 million tonnes of tungsten ore — or 42,000 tonnes of tungsten concentrate — from just five veins they had identified on the property.
Malaga has identified 79 veins at Pasto Bueno, six of which are in production in the mine’s Huauraand Huayllapon zones on the northern part of the property, which make up nearly 15% of all the tungsten produced outside of China, the company says. In other words, explains Pierre Monet, Malaga’s president, Pasto Bueno has a lot of exploration upside, particularly in the Consuzo zone and in four prospective manto orebodies on the southern part of the property.
AMM • Sept. 29, 2011
Tungsten scarcity raising red flags
NEW YORK — The scarcity of tungsten in the international market is becoming an increasing concern, with a World Trade Organization (WTO) case in the offing against China due to its export restrictions on the material. (…) The British Geological Survey recently listed tungsten at the top of its list of "chemical elements or element groups which are of economic value" with the biggest supply risk for 2011, pegging it at 8.5 out of a possible 10 on its index. In particular, it noted China’s dominance in supply, which the survey said was about 83 percent of the world’s total, as a big factor in the metal’s ranking.
Tungsten Production Outside of China
by Michael Montgomery
(Interview of Pierre Monet, President of Malaga Inc.)
The price of tungsten has increased dramatically on tight export controls from China, the producer of approximately 90 percent of world supply. The price of tungsten APT is currently being quoted around $485 per tonne, up from $261 per tonne last October.
