Mt Carbine Tungsten Project ASX: III Resources Investment Expo Melbourne Oct‘09 Disclaimer No representation or warranty is made as to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the information contained herein. Any forward-looking information in this presentation has been prepared on the basis of a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect. This presentation should not be relied upon as a recommendation or forecast by Icon Resources Ltd.
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Mt Carbine Tungsten Project
ASX: III
Resources Investment Expo
Melbourne Oct‘09
DisclaimerNo representation or warranty is made as to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the information contained herein. Any
forward-looking information in this presentation has been prepared on the basis of a number of assumptions which may prove
to be incorrect. This presentation should not be relied upon as a recommendation or forecast by Icon Resources Ltd.
Mt Carbine : A ‘World Class’ MineMt Carbine : A ‘World Class’ MineMt Carbine : A ‘World Class’ MineMt Carbine : A ‘World Class’ MineMt Carbine : A ‘World Class’ MineMt Carbine : A ‘World Class’ MineMt Carbine : A ‘World Class’ MineMt Carbine : A ‘World Class’ Mine
Mt Carbine
in 1978
Mt Carbine produced ~half of Australia’s annual tungsten
At one point, the world’s largest tungsten producer outside China
Exceptionally high-grade concentrates of wolframite and scheelite
Mine closure in 1986, due to price collapse, stopped underground
development to access ~10Mt of higher grade mineralisation
Objective: To ReObjective: To ReObjective: To ReObjective: To ReObjective: To ReObjective: To ReObjective: To ReObjective: To Re--------start a Longstart a Longstart a Longstart a Longstart a Longstart a Longstart a Longstart a Long--------Term, HardTerm, HardTerm, HardTerm, HardTerm, HardTerm, HardTerm, HardTerm, Hard--------
Rock Mining Operation at Mt Carbine ASAPRock Mining Operation at Mt Carbine ASAPRock Mining Operation at Mt Carbine ASAPRock Mining Operation at Mt Carbine ASAPRock Mining Operation at Mt Carbine ASAPRock Mining Operation at Mt Carbine ASAPRock Mining Operation at Mt Carbine ASAPRock Mining Operation at Mt Carbine ASAP
Icon has acquired 100% of Mt Carbine Tungsten Project (2.5% royalty to vendor)
Infrastructure all in place: Sealed highway and 132KV power lines pass through granted Mine Leases
Good location: ~45mins drive from Port Douglas ~90mins drive from Cairns
Mt Carbine Resources and MineralisationMt Carbine Resources and MineralisationMt Carbine Resources and MineralisationMt Carbine Resources and MineralisationMt Carbine Resources and MineralisationMt Carbine Resources and MineralisationMt Carbine Resources and MineralisationMt Carbine Resources and Mineralisation
Geological model gives a
‘Target Mineralisation’ of
55-60Mt @ 0.07-0.09% WO3
includes a JORC compliant
Inferred Resource of 9.6Mt at
~0.2% WO3 beneath open cut
Excellent potential beneath
old working
Excellent potential beneath
old workings adjacent to
open cut
Tailings: ~2Mt @ 0.11%
WO3 (JORC compliant)plus ~12Mt of potentially
ore grade material in the
waste and reject dumpsPlan view of Mt Carbine open cut, tailings and dumps, and
Present geological model is based on minimal information (8,222m from 39 drillholes)
Several zones can be extended by further drilling (eg, Iron Duke has only two drillholes; Ruby has a break of +100m, etc, etc)
A number of potential mineable blocks have been excluded from the present mining model due to lack of information
Profitability is sensitive to tonnage: an increase of 50% in tonnage increases the net cash flow by ~250% (ie half as sensitive as grade, but still very significant)
Conclusion: present model tonnage is a very conservative minimum
Strategy to significantly increase tonnage by:-
(1) Infill drilling
(2) Plus exploratory drilling beneath adjacent old workings –previously ignored
Upside Potential: Expanded open cutUpside Potential: Expanded open cutUpside Potential: Expanded open cutUpside Potential: Expanded open cutUpside Potential: Expanded open cutUpside Potential: Expanded open cutUpside Potential: Expanded open cutUpside Potential: Expanded open cutLimited drilling in the vicinity of the open cut
Labelled examples show good intersections close to the boundary of the presently defined mineralisation
Image includes all drillholes. Intersections >0.1% shown in purple
Tungsten Properties & OccurrenceTungsten Properties & OccurrenceTungsten Properties & OccurrenceTungsten Properties & OccurrenceTungsten Properties & OccurrenceTungsten Properties & OccurrenceTungsten Properties & OccurrenceTungsten Properties & OccurrenceTungsten (from the Swedish ‘heavy-stone’)Also called wolfram with chemical symbol WHighest melting point and tensile strength of all metals Lowest coefficient of expansion of all metalsVery heavy (similar to gold) - high thermal and electrical conductivity
Tungsten carbide is the hardest material next to diamond
Commonly occurs as -Wolframite, (Mn,Fe)WO4 - black in colourScheelite, CaWO - light brown; fluoresces under UV lightScheelite, CaWO4 - light brown; fluoresces under UV light
Concentrates produced
from Mt Carbine
tailings in 2008
Tungsten Distribution and ProductionTungsten Distribution and ProductionTungsten Distribution and ProductionTungsten Distribution and ProductionTungsten Distribution and ProductionTungsten Distribution and ProductionTungsten Distribution and ProductionTungsten Distribution and Production
Tungsten industry is made up of: Producers (ie miners)
Processors (value-adding)
End-users
China dominates the first two categories and is strong –and expanding –the third.
China is now a net importer
Tungsten ApplicationsTungsten ApplicationsTungsten ApplicationsTungsten ApplicationsTungsten ApplicationsTungsten ApplicationsTungsten ApplicationsTungsten ApplicationsTungsten is mostly used for ‘hard metal’ construction (machine-cutting tools, etc)Growing applications in: electronics, medicine and catalytic convertersAnnual consumption is ~80kt of which ~20kt is recycled Traded through individual contracts –not via the LME.
Car horns & safety switches (conductive)
Golf clubs, golf balls, golf shoe spikes
Some Everyday Uses of Tungsten
Golf clubs, golf balls, golf shoe spikes
Snow tyre studs
Vibrating mechanism in a mobile phone
Dental drills
Light globes
Ball point pens (hard-wearing)
Heated car windows
Fishing sinkers (heavy; non-toxic)
A replacement for chrome plating?
Tungsten PriceTungsten PriceTungsten PriceTungsten PriceTungsten PriceTungsten PriceTungsten PriceTungsten PriceTungsten prices up x 4 (in US$) over the last few years
China, with ~66% of the world’s reserves, is now a net importer
Price down ~20% (in US$) in recent months, but analysts predict sustained demand.
Concentrates now back to ~US$150 and rising
Tungsten is usually priced in metric tonne units (mtu) of WO3 which is 10kg of WO3 or 7.93kg W. Prices are also quoted in the refined product APT (ammonium paratungstate) which trades at a premium of 20-30% above the WO3 price.
from International Tungsten Industry Association Meeting, Vancouver Sep 2009
from International Tungsten Industry Association Meeting, Vancouver Sep 2009