Hazelwood says tungsten mine will start in 2013 to feed Vietnam plant

The company said on Tuesday that its Big Hill project in the Kimberley region of northern WA is the largest measured source of the metal in Australia.

Hazelwood says it is aiming to produce between two and three percent of the world’s tungsten supply from the proposed mine, which has a 12-year ore reserve.

The ore would then be processed at a ferrotungsten plant in Vietnam that the Perth-based company Hazelwood paid $825,000 ($A824,258) last year for a 60 percent stake in.

Production starts next month (March) at the Asian Tungsten Products Ltd (ATC) plant in Vietnam, which will produce 25 percent of global supply.

Tungsten has various uses in steel and alloys, including high tech tools, wear parts and mining tools, in the engineering industry, lamp industry, general electronics and general chemical applications.

Hazelwood were pleased about their “vertical integration” with Big Hill expected to provide two-thirds of the Vietnamese plant’s tungsten, Hazelwood managing director Terry Butler-Blaxell said.

“We aim to bring Big Hill into production by 2013 to secure our supply chain and complete the vertical integration,” he said in a statement.

“Our vertical integration strategy allows us to mine and extract lower-grade ore, maximising the utilisation of the resource.”

China is the largest producer of tungsten-related products, and tungsten currently trades for $350 per tonne (or about $44 per kilogram of contained tungsten according to Hazelwood).

Hazelwood shares closed up three cents at 22 cents.

Tags: Hazelwood, tungsten mine