Thor Mining hammers home advantage after tungsten deemed "critical" by US

Thor Mining announced on Tuesday that it plans to accelerate development of its Nevada-based tungsten mining project after the commodity was deemed "critical" by a US government agency.

The United States Department of the Interior advised that the metal was to remain classified as critical on 16 February, leading Thor to fast-track plans for its wholly-owned Pilot Mountain project, which has a resource inventory of 11.73m tonnes at 0.28% WO3, and to start phase two of metallurgical test-work along with scoping study work at the site.

Mick Billing, executive chairman of Thor, said: "The Pilot Mountain resource inventory is already very substantial and when in production would be expected make a material contribution toward domestic demand for tungsten concentrates in the United States. At present the US is a significant consumer of tungsten products, and also a significant importer of tungsten concentrates along with scrap and other intermediate products."

The executive chairman was also keen to emphasise the "scalability" of the project, stating that it may offer long-term production potential and the opportunity to become an important supplier of strategic tungsten concentrates in the US.

"With its strong financial position Thor is focused on the commercialisation pathway and, in light of the tungsten criticality highlighted above, is to accelerate its Pilot Mountain project feasibility work. The value of any resource project rises as you increasingly demonstrate its operational and economic viability," said Billing.

With interest in tungsten acquisition increasing, Thor is prepared to engage with third parties for proposals that could advance projects and see shareholders benefit, the company said in a statement.

Thor Mining is an exploration and development company listed on the AIM market in London and the Australian Stock Exchange.

Linked to all of the above, on 31 January the US Geological Survey reported that no tungsten concentrates had been produced from mining since before 2013.

As of 1127 GMT, Thor Mining’s shares were unchanged at 3.38p