Top10 Tungsten Mine Projects Outside China Ⅹ: Dolphin Tungsten Project

The Dolphin Tungsten Project is located near the town of Grassy near the coast of King Island, Tasmania, Australia. It belongs to the skarn scheelite deposit and is one of the top ten tungsten mine projects outside China. The project is a fully permitted operation, which will be developed on the historic Dolphin Mine property at which mining was suspended in 1992.

The feasibility study (FS) for the mining project was completed in June 2019, which envisaged an open-pit mine load capacity of 400,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) through an eight-year mine life. King Island Scheelite is developing the project with an estimated development capital of A$64.8m. The construction is planned to be completed in 15 months.

The Dolphin Tungsten Project is expected to be operational by 2021, following financial closure by the second quarter of 2019. The first shipment of tungsten is expected to be made in the first quarter of 2021.

The Dolphin Tungsten Project meets the JORC 2012 standard with a mineral reserve of 3.14 million tons, an average tungsten trioxide grade of 0.73%, and a tungsten trioxide reserve of 22,922 tons. The total mineral resources including mineral reserves are 9.6 million tons, the average grade of tungsten trioxide is 0.9%, and the tungsten trioxide resource is 86,400 tons.

The latest data released in September 2019 showed that the total mineral resources of the Dolphin Tungsten Mine Project were raised by 18% to 11.36 million tons, the average grade of tungsten trioxide was 0.9%, and the resource of tungsten trioxide was 102.24 million tons. Among them, the resources of the Bold Head mine in the northern part of the Dolphin Mine are 1.76 million tons, and the average grade of tungsten trioxide is 0.91%.

The Dolphin Mine was first discovered by prospector Tom Farrell in 1911. It was formally mined in 1917. Underground mining began in June 1973, and surface mining was stopped in October 1974. Amid the outbreak of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, the Dolphin Tungsten Mine receive the attention and support of the government. After wars, the decline in the tungsten market also affected the operation of tungsten mines. In 1992, affected by the long-term downturn of tungsten prices, the Dolphin Tungsten Project was officially closed.

In May 2005, GTN Resources NL acquired the project and changed its name to King Island Scheelite Limited (KIS). In December 2007, KIS and Hunan Nonferrous Metals Holding Group Co., Ltd of Chins established a joint venture to promote mine reconstruction. After China Minmetals Corporation acquired Hunan Nonferrous Metals, the joint venture was terminated at the end of December 2010. At this point, KIS has full ownership of the Dolphin Mine, and the mining lease is valid until 2029.

In October 2017 and June 2019, the Dolphin project obtained environmental protection permits and project feasibility studies from local government departments. The project is expected to achieve an annual load capacity of 400,000 tons of ore and 3,500 tons of tungsten concentrate within 8 years of mining. The development cost is approximately 64.8 million US dollars.

According to the KIS plan, the Dolphin Tungsten Mine Project could achieve an annual load capacity of 400,000 tons of ore, and 3,500 tons of tungsten concentrate within an 8-year mining period. The development cost is approximately 64.8 million US dollars, and the estimated payback period is 2.75 years. The planned project will be officially put into operation in 2021, and the first batch of tungsten ore will be shipped in the first quarter of 2021.

KIS predicts that by 2026, the value of the global tungsten market will reach US$6.71 billion, up from US$3.46 billion in 2017. As the United States and Europe hope to reduce their dependence on China's tungsten resources, Dolphin Tungsten Project will become an attractive alternative.

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