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Within the overall number, the majority (2,606t) is in the inferred category, while another 2,168t is measured and indicated.

This is the first time that tungsten – which has historically been mined alongside gold and antimony – has been given its own resource estimation at Hillgrove, although tungsten was included as part of a recent definitive feasibility study (DFS) over the project as a whole.

Lavotto has identified tungsten in 2 main areas: the first being Brackins Spur, which has a mineral resource of 2,111kt at 4.3 g/t Au (gold), 0.9% Sb (antimony) and 0.16% WO3 and contains high yield tungsten zones of 40kt @ 1.6% WO3 (627t WO3).

The second is Clarks Gully, where the mineral resource is 350kt @ 2.2 g/t Au (gold), 1.8% Sb (antimony) and 0.06% WO3 contains high yield tungsten zones of 125kt @ 0.17% WO3 (213t WO3).

Managing director Ron Heeks said the tungsten resource estimate represented an important milestone for Larvotto.

“While Hillgrove has been historically known for its wealth of high-grade antimony and gold mineralisation, there is an exciting tungsten opportunity that exists at the project,” he said.

“Recent drilling at Clarks Gully has delineated tungsten-rich mineralisation, and analysis of historic data has identified significant under explored tungsten potential throughout the Hillgrove mineral field, as demonstrated by the resource also identified at the Metz area.

“Although we have always known of the tungsten potential at Hillgrove, we focused on gold and antimony for the DFS. Now that the DFS is complete, we will assess other opportunities to add further value at Hillgrove, including tailings retreatment for gold, antimony andtungsten as well as tungsten as a mining by-product.”

Larvotto shares have risen since the news, and at 10:40 AEST, they were trading at 68.5 cents – a rise of 4.58% since the market opened.

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At the forefront of that is one company, Almonty Industries. It is one of the few players actually doing something about it. They’re pushing their Sangdong Project in South Korea towards production in the next two months, building what could be the most significant non-Chinese tungsten source on the map. And with a fresh strategic alliance in the US defense sector, and a just locked in move to domesticate into the US, Almonty isn’t positioning, it’s advancing.

To break down the stakes, the supply chain war, and what investors keep missing, we’re joined by someone who’s never shy about calling it like it is. Christopher Ecclestone, Strategist at Hallgarten + Company is here with us today. Christopher, welcome to the show.

Lyndsay: So, let’s actually just jump right into this. Let’s start with critical metals. What’s the real cost of falling behind in securing supply and who really stands to lose the most?

Christopher: You know, the West has become enormously reliant in recent decades upon the attitude of just in time as an industrial strategy and also that you didn’t have to do anything to ensure your supply chains. The attitude was that if China can produce it cheaper than anyone else, a mineral that is, we’ll buy from them, and it will always be available. And that has been a total fallacy and not only from the point of view that the Chinese have then got you by the throat, so to speak, and can potentially cut off supply. But in fact, China has been over exploiting some of these metals for decades now, as we’ve seen rare earths and antimony things. So, they’ve actually been destroying their own capabilities in the space. And the West has not wanted to make the investments required to refresh supplies.

And so, particularly in tungsten, we saw after the last price peak, which wasn’t actually all that high early last decade that a lot of tungsten production shut down because the prices were very poor. And they stayed at a very low level really until 2021, 2022 when they picked up a little bit, but they didn’t pick up a lot. And it certainly wasn’t an environment in which people could make a lot of money or even any money in the West. And so hardly anyone was doing anything in the tungsten space. There were very few explorers and many of the explorers that there had been when the last price peak was around gave up and went away because what was the use of finding a metal that in fact you couldn’t really bring to production because the price you’d get for production was so poor.

Lyndsay: Right, absolutely. Let’s shift over to geopolitical risk for a second here then. How are investors still treating tungsten like a side bet with the given and clearly national security asset that it’s become?

Christopher: For a long time, the metal was sold as being a metal that was used in machine tools. It was used in drill bits, it was used in other sorts of domestic tools, saws, drills, knives, cutters, that type of thing. But in fact, tungsten has been a military metal since before the Second World War. And in fact, it was extremely critical in the Second World War. It was one of the reasons why countries like Spain and Portugal could remain neutral in the Second World War because they were the main suppliers and they had a business of selling both to the Axis powers, Germany and Italy, and also selling to the Western powers. So they were making money on both sides during the Second World War. But the crucial factor with tungsten is its hardness.

So, the hardness works two ways in the military sense. One is you have shells and bullets and ballistics that are tungsten coated, and so they are then armor piercing. So, you can fire a shell that is made out of tungsten at a tank, and it will go right through the tank and achieve its goal. But then if it’s also used for armor, if you use it on armored personnel, carriers or tanks, then they become resistant to ammunition from your enemy. So you need it both to protect yourself in a defensive mode and in an offensive mode. And you know, big Western militaries used to have reserves, strategic reserves of this, and they got very slack. You know, particularly after 1989, there was much talk about the peace dividend.

There was no more cold war. It was the end of history. It was the end of war. There’d be no more big wars. And that was a big mistake because then they let their reserves run down. They let the sources that fed those reserves run down or close. You know, no mine is forever. And many tungsten mines just sort of like faded away and then were not replaced. And so, the military has left themselves in a very vulnerable position that if they didn’t have a big stockpile, then if there is a war, they won’t be prepared and they won’t have access to material.

Lyndsay: Absolutely. So, with that then, is there a reserve right now only in China, or is there a reserve that Almonty now with their nearing production mine, is that one of the production goals? To create enough now to have that reserve away from the China supply chain?

Christopher: Yes, absolutely. You can have two types of reserves. One is a reserve that you buy the metal in the market, and you put it in a big warehouse somewhere. You know, the US Strategic Reserve of oil is very famous. The US used to have reserves of all sorts of strategic metals just in case there was a war. And really after 1989, as I mentioned, after the Vietnam War they thought, oh, we don’t need these anymore. So they either didn’t add to them or they ran them down and they thought, oh, we can use this money for other stuff. And so they did. And so that left those vulnerable. And the other type of reserve you can have is a reserve that’s in the ground, but when it’s in the ground, it has to be in a friendly nation because it’s useless to say we know that we have access to a reserve of tungsten in the DRC, for instance.

And then think that if there’s a war in 10 years or 20 years from now, you will still have access to that because these countries change their allegiances and you just don’t have access. So, you really need to have a reserve of ore if it’s going to be in the ground, that is in the ground of a friendly nation. And the US has lots of friends, but you know, sometimes who’s a friend changes, but in the case of Korea in particular, Korea is a long-term ally of the US. And so that is the big advantage for Almonty here because they will be producing from a mine that was formally a mine, it was a mine for many decades and then shut down because of poor pricing and other factors. And it’s that mine now that Almonty’s going again.

So, this demand for the product of Almonty out of Korea from not only Korean industry, this Korean industry of course is massive. It’s a big industrial power. Japan, which is right nearby and of course in the US and the rest of the West. So, Almonty’s customers potentially for Sangdong offtake sort of go well around the block in a line of Western and non-Chinese really industrial nations that need and want a source of tungsten that is not subject to Chinese whims.

Lyndsay: Oh, that’s the thing. Absolutely. They’ve definitely aligned themselves where they need to be, for sure.

Christopher: Yes.

Lyndsay: Let’s talk a little bit further about that Sangdong mine. They are nearing production. How much disruption should the incumbents brace for once this project goes live?

Christopher: Well, it’s very interesting you mention that because if we went back three years ago, we would’ve said, oh, China’s happily supplying tungsten to the West, and all is beautiful in the world. Now tungsten of course, is what is called dual use by the Chinese. Basically, meaning that it has industrial usages, machine tools, but it also has military usages. And the Chinese have decided to put a clamp down on the supply of dual use material particularly to the US because that was in a sort of response to some dual use bans that the US imposed on things like semiconductors and other industrial and technological products.

So, it’s a bit of a tit for tat action going on there, but what it’s done is it’s really focused mines in the West upon who is your friend, who is not your friend, who can produce something that if the bullets start to fly, you can actually call them up and say we need some tungsten, can you supply it? Certainly, if the bullets started flying between China and Taiwan, you wouldn’t be calling Beijing and saying, can you give us some tungsten to defend Taiwan? So obviously everyone’s starting to work out now which side they’re on, and Almonty’s on the right side.

Lyndsay: And it’s all about shifting dynamics. So, let’s lean into that one a little bit more. The American situation signals, as you mentioned, Almonty is no longer chasing contracts. It’s inserting itself into national security conversations. So how does this actually shift the company’s influence in a market where government ties are becoming just as valuable as production?

Christopher: Oh, yes, that’s the critical factor here. You know, Almonty was a bit of a strange beast for a long time. It was a company listed on the Canadian stock exchanges with a Canadian registration of the corporation. But its mines were in Spain and then it added a mine in Portugal. Now it’s adding the mine in Korea. But that didn’t necessarily put it in close contact with the Pentagon and the US Department of Defense and its needs. So, what they’ve done in recent times at Almonty, unfortunately for Canada, but Canada doesn’t provide Almonty with much of a market. Almonty was selling their products internationally to German and Swedish companies, and now they’ve redomiciled themselves from Canada to the US, which makes them a US corporation.

And turns what was the largest Canadian tungsten producer that was not producing in Canada into the largest US tungsten producer, which is nevertheless not producing in the US either. But once you’re on shore in the US and we’ve seen this major sort of shift in recent times away from offshoring back to onshoring. Having both your corporate office there and a close relationship with Washington, which is developing because Almonty have tied up with firm in Washington that will give them a direct sort of entree to the powers that make the purchasing decisions in Washington.

Almonty is now seen not only as being in an allied nation Canada which a member of NATO, but it’s actually becoming a US corporation, which puts it squarely in the tick, tick, tick checklist of the DOD, the Department of Defense, the Defense Logistics Agency, which buys for the DOD and the Pentagon, which basically is the brains of the US military industrial complex.

Lyndsay: I mean, those are great partnerships to have and great insights that you’re giving us here. Now that the US domestication has been cleared, what does this mean for its access to federal backing and defense driven capital? You touched on it a little bit, but let’s explore that a little bit more if we could.

Christopher: Well, it’s a great backstop for Almonty because prices have improved in the tungsten sector, so that’s a big positive for them. But if you want to expand and get even bigger then you need access to funds. And over the years, with the price of tungsten not being great and profitability being low in the sector Almonty had a long and hard road despite its own conviction about the future of tungsten to finance its projects. Fortunately though, Sangdong is fully financed and it’s really off to the races, but it’s always better to have a guaranteed buyer, and particularly one of the best guaranteed buyers who always will pay the invoice when you send it to them is the US military.

And so that’s a great position to be in. But beyond Sangdong, Almonty has its former mine in Spain, which it would like to reopen in a different format to the way that it was operating before. And it also has another project in Spain, a big, identified tungsten resource, which it could also reopen to service not only demand from the European militaries, but from the US military. And to put it in perspective many of the predictions of tungsten industry growth in recent years have been 1% per year, 2% per year. And last year, defense spending around the world grew by 9.4%. So that is a quantum leap from what was viewed as being sort of a low growth industry.

Defense is now like one of the highest growth industries out there, and it’s one that’s being prioritized as well, and one that has governments behind it. And as we know, governments, if they need to, as we saw in the pandemic, can find money and are dedicated to a course that they regard as crucial. And definitely defense is a national number one issue in most countries around the world now. And it wasn’t a few years ago.

Lyndsay: Absolutely. So that’s where the line gets drawn right there. Critical metals like tungsten aren’t just resources anymore. They’re leverage, they’re essential. They are here to stay. So the players who control supply chains will control the outcome and the clock ticking on who gets there first. Yes, so Almonty’s not just moving, they’re moving with intent and the market needs them.

Christopher: Yes, and they’ve moved ahead of the pack because many of the other tungsten wannabes, because the price was so bad for so long are not advanced at all. And when they’re on the verge opening another big mine, because it’s already got a mine in Portugal. One that’s functioning at the moment. But most of the other tungsten wannabes have nothing more than some 43-101’s saying that they might have something. Almonty’s the real deal.

Lyndsay: And there we have it. Thank you so much for joining us today, Christopher. It’s been a pleasure.

Christopher: Most welcome.

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This subparallel vein lies approximately 35 metres below the main system associated with WCC, extending 100 metres across the most western sections of the deposit.

Open at depth and along strike, it has yielded assays of 2.14% tungsten and 27.6% antimony (Sb).

Crucially, an assessment of both this structure and the WCC alteration halo suggests both commodities grow stronger in grade as the mineralisation moves westerly, indicating a potential for a resource upgrade at WCC.

Trigg has emphasised that since tungsten has been of limited focus at the WCC, there is the potential for greater project value to be unlocked through future exploration. Tungsten has become a focal point recently since dominant supplier China announced it would be suspending exports of the mineral.

Antimony has been the primary focus, which was recently upgraded to 1.52 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.97% Sb, containing 29,902 tonnes of antimony comprising 0.96Mt at 2.02% Sb (Indicated) and 0.56Mt at 1.88% Sb (Inferred).

Executive chairman Tim Morrison said this information had unlocked suggestions for new mineralisation definition at the deposit.

“Confirming Wild Cattle Creek as a stacked system by identifying the subparallel, highgrade Sb-W vein beneath the main lode creates a substantial opportunity to expand themineral resource base,” he said.

“While the deposit has historically been valued for its high-grade antimony, the strong tungsten association—previously overlooked—now suggests untapped potential for a broader critical mineral play.”

Trigg last traded at 3.2 cents – a rise of 3.23% since the market opened.

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EQR has executed a binding Heads of Agreement (HoA) to acquire the shares, meaning it will take on Tungsten Metals Group and its subsidiaries (categorised together as TMG), in addition to Mr. George Chen’s interest in Asia Tungsten Products Co Ltd (ATC).

Taken together, TMG and ATC have defined as ‘TMG Group.’

The key attraction of the latter is it owns and operates the biggest and most advanced ferrotungsten (FeW) plant outside China – located in Vĩnh Bảo, Vietnam – which has the potential to produce 4,000 of FeW.

The facility was built in 2011 and is currently being operated as a toll treatment facility forthird-party customers, converting primary and secondary tungsten raw materials into high-quality FeW. It is considered one of the most competitive in the industry based on its scale and the favourable cost structure in Vietnam – particularly with regards to electricity usage and cost of labour.

The enterprise value of TMG Group – as per the terms of the HoA – has been estimated at A$13.5 million, including the Acquisition Shares (100% of TMG shares plus George Chen’s 40% interest in ATC) and inclusive of liabilities as of the date of the HoA.

EQR CEO Kevin MacNeill said the acquisition was in-line with the company’s vision for its future.

“This transaction aligns with EQR’s strategic initiatives to be the preeminent western tungsten producer,” he said.

“Upon completion of the transaction, EQR will have achieved a strategic diversification of products, customers and geography, and be proud 100% owner and operator of criticalwestern tungsten operations on three continents.

“Additionally, EQR will have achieved vertical integration of our upstream operations, leveraging our substantial resource base and existing production output, throughoutthe tungsten supply chain.”

EQR has been trading at 4.6 cents.

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This, the company said, would enable cost savings, operational control and provide flexibility in terms of mining activity while also providing the opportunity for local workers employed by EQ to increase their skill base.

The cost-plus mining operation had been ongoing for 14 months, after EQ entered into a Mining Services Agreement with Golding Contractors Pty Ltd in May 2023.

According to the resulting contract, there would be two phases of mining work, with Phase 1 to occur over 12 to 18 months on a cost-plus basis, followed by a transition to rise and run matrix rates related to on fleet composition and material type.

However, after 14 months, EQ decided to finalise Phase 1 and shift to owner-operator style mining, following planning and evaluation which considered what would be the mine’s best operating model.

Chief Executive Officer Kevin MacNeill said he was thankful to Golding for carrying out the first phase of the mining contract and assisting in the move to owner-operator mining.

“Our teams have worked smoothly together over the past 14 months as we re-opened the Andy White open pit at Mt Carbine,” he said.

“Our existing staff and transferred staff have taken on board much of Golding’s mining expertise over that period, and we are thankful for Golding’s assistance in the transition to owner-operator mining.”

Mt Carbine – located 120 kilometres from Cairns – is a historic mine first discovered in the 19th century, and a major producer of tungsten in the 1970s and 1980s.

At 14:03 AEST, shares in EQ Resources were trading at 3.9 cents, a rise of 11.43% since the market opened.

One drill hole – WQDD013 – returned intercepts such as 4 metres at 4.58% tungsten trioxide (WO3) and 0.72 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold from 174.85m; including 2.05 metres at 8.71% WO3, 1.38 g/t gold from 176.85m; and 0.65 metres at 18.35% WO3, 2.97 g/t gold from 176.85 metres.

The company also outlined a strong and continuous anomaly for the mineral over 2 kilometres through drillhole XRF data, which parallels Western Queen’s shear and known mineralisation there.

Tungsten is also present at surface – occurring at widths of up to 20 metres – between the Western Queen South and Western Queen Central open pits.

Rumble is looking ahead to the release of wet assays of the mineral taken from selected pulps following reverse circulation (RC) drilling, with these already submitted but yet to be reported.

Emphasising the importance of the WQDD013 hole, diamond core taken from it has been subjected to ultraviolet scanning, with this highlighting scheelite within altered mafic, and revealing that the mineralisation is comprised of scheelite-pyroxene +/- magnetite+/-gold skarn zones 2.1 million tonnes at 2.42 g/t gold for 163,200 ounces.

Rumble’s Managing Director and CEO Peter Harold said the tungsten discovery had not been the focus of recent diamond drilling, but was an important discovery nonetheless.

“The discovery of the very high-grade tungsten at Western Queen is an unexpected bonus for us from the recent drilling which was targeting extensions to the high-grade goldlodes,” he said.

“While it is very early days the grades of the intersections are exceptional and well above the grades of other tungsten resources globally. We are now waiting with trepidation for the results from the 2021 drill pulps.

“This discovery shows the huge optionality of the Rumble tenements and the ability of our highly experienced exploration team to make new discoveries.”

The market seemed pleased with the news, and at 12:10 AEST, Rumble shares were trading at 3.6 cents, a rise of 12.5% since the market opened.

AKTC signed the MOU with Yeongwol County Office to confirm the establishment of the plant there, with the county being located approximately 30 kilometres from the Sangdong Tungsten mine.

The decision is hoped to turn Yeongwol into a hub for high-tech industries leveraging off local mineral resources.

As part of the agreement, the subsidiary will set up a 60,000-square metre factory to produce refined and smelted tungsten and tungsten alloys, located within the Yeongwol County Opportunity Development Special Zone.

AKTC will also spend around 100 billion won (or US$72 million) to construct the downstream tungsten oxide plant, and add an additional 40 billion won (US$29M) for upgrades needed to increase production of tungsten concentrate at the Sangdong Tungsten Mine.

This means that Yeongwol-gun will be boosted by regional economic development and job creation to become an outpost of Korea’s core industrial belt.

Vice president of AKTC Yoo Woo-jong, said the project would place South Korea in a strong position as producer and refiner of critical minerals.

“Based on the successful Sangdong Mine redevelopment project, we will quickly completethe ecosystem of the tungsten industry so that Yeongwol-gun can lead the construction of acritical mineral industrial complex in Gangwon-do,” he said.

“This large-scale investment will not only revitalize the local economy, but will also contribute importantly to the establishment of a national resource security system by securing a stable supply chain of needed strategic minerals essential for Korea’s high-tech industries.”

Sangdong is said to be the largest tungsten mine in the world, and is expected to have a 30-year mine life.

Almonty has been trading at 66.5 cents.

Crucially, the results reflect mineralisation which is 150 metre step out along strike, and an extension of the tin well beyond earlier drilling, but also outside of the resource envelope, thus representing a significant new discovery.

Not only is the Tallebung deposit now expanded as a result, but the southern strike is now open to further discoveries.

Sky Metals CEO Oliver Davies said the results were an important achievement for the exploration team in their efforts to define the mineralisation at Tallebung.

“To intercept high-grade tin so early in the ongoing drilling program is the result of the great work by the SKY exploration team as we build our geological understanding of the Tallebung tin deposit,” he said.

“The team has also acted very quickly to plan additional infill and extension drillholes around this exceptional new high-grade tin results.

“The expansion of the Tallebung tin deposit with the discovery of a new high-grade tin zone that is open to the south is particularly exciting given the backdrop of a surging tin price the start of this year.”

Sky Metals has been trading at 3.8 cents.

The increase was within the measured resource category, and brought the amount of contained tungsten at the project to 3,945 tonnes.

The updated estimate also showed an overall 150 percent increase in tonnes and 20 percent increase in the grade of tungsten trioxide (WO3), when compared to Thor’s previous mineral resource estimate (MRE) completed in 2021.

Molyhil’s resource now sits at 4.65 million tonnes Mt) 0.26 percent WO3 and 0.09 percent molybdenum (Mo) for 12.1 kilotonnes of WO3 and 4.4 kilotonnes of Mo (JORC 2012).

The resource rise in the measured category was largely the result of a verification diamond drilling program conducted by Investigator at the project, which is located in the state’s south.

Thor managing director Nicole Galloway Warland said the increase in both resource amount and confidence boded well for future developmental activities at Molyhil.

“The targeted 12-hole diamond drilling program completed by IVR in December 2023, along with QAQC validation of historic data, has provided a strong level of increased resource confidence, lifting tonnage and increased tungsten grade to the higher Measured Resource category,” she said.

“This is a positive result for the Project, and along with strong tungsten and molybdenum prices, it will be valuable for the scoping study assessment to be undertaken by IVR early in the second half of 2024.

“Based on the HoA, IVR is now entitled to a 25% interest in the Project and surrounding tenure, as such Thor is looking forward to working with IVR to complete all documentation to effect the transfer and form a JV (joint venture).”

Thor has been trading at 1.8 cents.