Group 6 Metals Concerns 1st Tungsten Shipment of Dolphin Mine Q1 2023

Group 6 Metals (G6M) is preparing to ship its first tungsten (W) concentrate from its wholly-owned Dolphin Mine in the first quarter of next year. The company formally decided to develop the Dolphin project last November after securing an $88 million financing target and shareholder approval.

The official development decision comes as G6M has placed orders and made deposits for the equipment needed for production, with a bulldozer expected later this month - paving the way for rapid earthworks, followed by civil works to build the plant.

Mining at Dolphin is scheduled to begin in November of this year and commissioning of the plant will begin in December. The first shipment of W concentrate is expected to be made in March next year.

Dolphin, located on Tasmania's King Island, currently has reserves of 4.43 million metric tons of WO₃ at 0.92 percent. According to Johann Jacobs, Group 6 Metals' executive chairman, the Dolphin project holds the highest grade ore of comparable size in the western world, and the company plans to ship approximately 275,000 metric tons of WO₃ concentrate annually.

The Australian government has designated tungsten as an important mineral and the Dolphin project has received various forms of support from the Tasmanian government, including a $10 million loan last year. Last month, the state government provided a further $2 million grant for the project to upgrade an 11-kilovolt transmission line.

Without the transmission line, Dolphin would have been powered entirely by diesel generators. "The ability to connect to the grid supply at Kings Island, which contains a high percentage of renewable energy, provides a great convenience to the project from a cost and environmental perspective, and the company is very grateful to the Tasmanian Government for its direct and indirect support in the development of the historic Dolphin Mine on Kings Island." Mr Jacobs said.

Mr. Jacobs has noted that tungsten is critical to national security and is cited as key by many countries and regions. China dominates the production, accounting for more than 80% of global production.

Australia regularly exercises its authority over key mineral supply chains, which has prompted other governments to invest in the development of key mineral projects in their own latter years.

Mr. Jacobs said, "We see a close link between the company's growth objectives, the Tasmanian Government's efforts to maintain and increase employment and export revenue in Tasmania, and the Australian Government's strategic objectives implemented by Austrade and the Critical Mineral Facilitation Office."

Over the past several years, Group 6 Metals has been focused on optimizing the redevelopment strategy for the Dolphin Project, which contains JORC 2012 compliant mineral reserves of 4.43 million tonnes grading 0.92% WO3. Mineral Resources, including the Mineral Reserves, total 9.6Mt at a grade of 0.90% WO3 (at 0.2% cut-off).

The Dolphin Mine operated from 1917 to 1992, when it was closed due to extremely low tungsten prices, rather than a lack of reserves. At that time there were two mines, the larger Dolphin and the Bold Head Mine, with approximately 50% of the known resource unexploited.

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