NTC Release:
Subj: Stockwatch: North American Tungsten Corporation Ltd - News Release
Date: 10/27/99 5:18:03 PM Central Daylight Time
From: newsout@stockwatch.com
To: danpaloyan@aol.com
North American Tungsten say consumers face rising prices
North American Tungsten Corporation Ltd NTC
Shares issued 26,237,364 Oct 26 close $0.31
Wed 27 Oct 99 News Release
Mr. Udo von Doehren reports
The management of North American Tungsten recently attended the annual ITIA
Tungsten conference held in Fukuoka, Japan. At the conference, whose
delegates represented most of the worldwide tungsten industry, a dramatic
policy shift was announced by the Chinese delegation. The Chinese, which
control nearly 80 per cent of the world tungsten market, declared that all
of the state-owned tungsten mines have now been placed into a newly formed
corporation known as the China Tungsten Mining & Smelting Group. This will
allow the Chinese producers to better manage and rationalize their tungsten
assets both from a production and a pricing standpoint. They further stated
that their immediate goal is to create additional value-added business by
limiting exports of tungsten concentrate and expanding their own refining
and smelting capacities, thus limiting exports.
In addition, the Chinese announced the banning of private tungsten
production and closure of mining and production facilities that do not meet
more stringent operational, safety and environmental standards.
These control measures are expected to restrict the supply of tungsten
produced in China to approximately 18,000 tonnes per year, which represents
a massive reduction from the 30,000 tonnes per year range over the recent
past. Needless to say, this has caused concerns amongst western-based
tungsten refineries and consumers. These new initiatives have already
started to increase the price of tungsten as the potential impact of a
restricted supply is impacting on the consumer. These price rises have
caused the company to review its start-up plans for the CanTung mine.
As previously reported, demand for tungsten is on the increase.
Environmental concerns about lead pollution in the soil and the associated
reclamation costs at shooting ranges have caused the U.S. Military to phase
in the use of tungsten core for its bullets, replacing the current
lead-based ordinance. Other new markets include civilian and law
enforcement agencies and shooting ranges, as well as a wide range of
products used in the recreational field. In addition, tungsten has a wide
range of industrial uses, the largest of which is as tungsten carbide. It
is used by the metalworking, drilling and construction industries. As
general economic conditions are expected to increase, they will further add
to the strengthening of the tungsten commodity price.
North American Tungsten Corporation Ltd., with its 100-per-cent ownership
of the CanTung Mine and the MacTung deposit, are definitely pleased with
these changes in market developments. The company's assets represent the
western world's largest high-grade proven tungsten reserves and comprise
approximately 15 per cent of the world's resource base. The CanTung mine,
which is under care and maintenance, could be restarted quickly to fill
expected shortages in the tungsten supply chain.
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