American National Carbide, a tungsten carbide supplier and high-end toolmaker, has expanded its tungsten carbide scrap recycling facility to handle up to 1 million pounds (1 Mlb) scrap carbide per year.

Tungsten carbide scrap recycling is extremely important for meeting global tungsten demand. Current estimates of supply from recycling for the global tungsten market are about 35%, which is significant because 10 years ago it was 10%. Given that the U.S. doesn't have any producing tungsten mines, it's a positive for the country. With an improved outlook for U.S. manufacturing coupled with the shale boom, tungsten consumption is likely going to increase, and recycling will play a role in offseting any supply shortfalls.

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Tungsten ranked second behind rare earths in the British Geological Survey's 2012 supply risk index based on a number of factors like location and concentration of production and reserves, but the report highlighted that tungsten (as well as rare earths) has lower recycling and low substitutability.

The supply risk for tungsten stems from China's role in the industry. China accounts for approximately 83% of global tungsten concentrate production and about 62% of global tungsten reserves. China became a significant player in tungsten production in the mid-1980s. By the late 1990s, it had flooded the global market with tungsten causing concentrate prices to plunge below most western producer's variable cost. As a result, the vast majority of western mines were closed.

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) –The initial focus of aspirant multi-commodity natural resource asset developer Premier African Minerals on Monday said a recent exploration update from its flagship RHA tungsten project, in Zimbabwe, indicated the potential for development of a low-capital- and low-operating-cost mine in the near term.

A five-hole diamond drilling program undertaken on site confirmed significant tungsten oxide values.

"This update has revealed significant tungsten mineralisation in the form of very coarse wolframite crystals hosted by quartz veins identified from drillhole intersections, and highlights the exceptional prospectivity of our RHA tungsten project,” Premier CEO George Roach said in a statement.

Drilling had also potentially uncovered three previously unknown, well-mineralised quartz veins in the existing lode system.

Further low-cost surface trenching and sampling would be undertaken in the first quarter of the year to confirm the surface location and extent of the hanging wall lodes, with a South African Mineral Codes-compliant resource on target for completion within the first half of the year.

“In tandem with this, we are also completing a conceptual mine study, which will determine the most beneficial and cost-effective method of exploiting the known extent of the RHA deposit,” added Roach.

The conceptual study would consider the possibility of early and low-cost production from the recently discovered outcropping mineralised quartz veins, as well as from existing tailings dams and dumps.

“Given the availability of water and power at the property, and the relative simplicity of the required processing plant, we believe we will be able to start development with a view to production potentially before the end of 2013," Roach advised.

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Companies wanting strong tungsten projects in their portfolios are looking to Portugal as a jurisdiction to achieve that goal. Among the group of junior miners exploring Portugal’s mineral wealth is Colt Resources (TSXV:GTP,OTCQX:COLTF), which stated in a corporate presentation that Portugal remains largely overlooked and underexplored despite mining history dating back 2,000 years.

Echoing Colt’s sentiments is Jim Robertson, Director, President and CEO of Blackheath Resources (TSXV:BHR, FWB:04B) who told Tungsten Investing News (TIN) that Portugal’s tungsten mining history dates back to the end of the 19^th century.

Robertson points out that the nation’s Panasaqueira mine is one of the few continuously operating tungsten mines outside of China and it has produced high grade wolframite for over 100 years.  By 2008 when Primary Metals was acquired by the Japanese metal firm Sojitz, Panasaqueira was a turnaround story that was central in a deal worth roughly 20 times earnings and that resulted in a 30-fold return on investment in 3 years.

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