*****NEWS****SEPT. 10,1999******
North American Tungsten stakes claims in Yukon on NWT
North American Tungsten Corporation Ltd NTC
Shares issued 10,405,975 Sep 9 close $0.32
Fri 10 Sept 99 News Release
Mr. Udo von Doehren reports
North American Tungsten Corporation has staked 139 claims in Yukon and
Northwest Territories near its CanTung mine in response to a significant
number of claims staked by third parties. This move also protects the
company's strategic sphere of influence in the vicinity of its mine.
In its third quarter financial statements, the company reported
significantly increased working capital of $564,336. This increase was
primarily realized through the disposition of assets and is an essential
part of the company's continuing business rationalization plan. These funds
are used to meet continuing care and maintenance expenditures for the
company's large and high-grade Canadian tungsten mineral assets and related
infrastructure.
At long last, the tungsten market is stirring.
With little tungsten production from the western free world and no
meaningful production from mines in the former USSR, China controls the
tungsten market. Recently, the Chinese government released ore depletion
warnings. This news release triggered a dramatic increase of tungsten
commodity prices. The tungsten concentrate price quote currently stands at
$48 (U.S.) per metric tonne unit (mtu). Market forecasts indicate that this
trend of price increases should continue. In July, the China Chamber of
Commerce of Metals announced a minimum price for ammonium paratungstate
(APT) to $53 (U.S.) per mtu (metric tonne unit equals 10 kilograms), a
23-per-cent increase. Since that time, the APT quotation has risen to $56
(U.S.) per mtu, another 5.7-per-cent increase. In addition, the Chinese
Ministry of Land and Soil Resources issued a circular on tungsten
production and trade, banning private production of tungsten. The Chinese
Ministry will also closely monitor all current tungsten mining and
processing facilities that do not meet more stringent operational, safety
and environmental standards. If they fail to meet the criteria within six
months, they will be permanently closed.
In addition the U.S. Army has announced that it intends to use an
environmentally friendly bullet, a so-called green bullet, which uses
tungsten instead of lead in the core. The military expects to have about
one million green bullets produced this year, and ultimately ramping up to
200 million bullets per year. This represents approximately 12.5 per cent
of existing annual world consumption. If NATO and other environmentally
concerned countries follow U.S. trends, as generally happens, this figure
could increase significantly.
These developments appear to herald an upcoming positive trend for tungsten
as consumers will seek sources of supply independent of China. The
company's CanTung mine is well known by traders and consumers for its
reliability and constant source of a high-quality product.
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