Wavenet International to acquire high-grade Brazilian tungsten project
Wavenet International (ASX: WAL) has entered an agreement giving the company an option to acquire the Bodó Tungsten project in Brazil’s Seridó Tungsten Province in the State of Rio Grande do Norte.
Bodó is a high grade, low cost operation currently operating profitably with small scale production, which offers the opportunity to significantly ramp up production and generate robust cash flows throughout the commodity cycle.
The Bodó Project is located in the Seridó Tungsten Province in Rio Grande do Norte.
The Seridó Tungsten Province is Brazil's most important Tungsten producing region and hosts the majority of Brazil's Tungsten reserves. The project is located adjacent to highway RN203 and 220 km west from the State capital of Natal.
The project consists of two tenements located in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil and comprises a current mining lease (894/1944) and an exploration licence (848129/2006) covering a portion of the potential down-dip extension of the known mineralisation.
A 30 year lease agreement with a 30 year option has been signed with the traditional owners of the asset and the licence has been registered with the Brazilian Mines Department and the mineral rights have been transferred to Bodo Mineracao.
Data shows the mine to be an extremely high grade (1.5 to 2% WO3) operation, open at depth and largely untested by drilling.
There is also an opportunity to exploit the historical tailings dam which is believed to contain 200,000 to 216,000 tonnes of WO3 at a grade of approximately 0.3% WO3.
Wavenet chief executive Robert Brierley said industry commentators indicated that the global market for tungsten was forecast to maintain strong growth over the next five years.
"Whilst China continues to dominate world mining and primary processing, the availability of tungsten units to non Chinese markets will continue to decline," Mr Brierley said.
"Equally important, China is now becoming a major importer of tungsten concentrates and scrap materials.
"Ongoing rapid growth in demand by China will ensure that competition for raw materials between Chinese and non Chinese processors will continue to intensify with the result that there is now an urgent need for increased mining programs outside China."
Drilling is expected to commence immediately, with the acquisition subject to Wavenet shareholder approval.
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