Australian Article

Barry Fitzgerald article in the Australian. Apparently Russell caught up with him after the AGM. Darryl, maybe your marketing appeals are starting to work. OR is it, that we are getting closer.

Carbine Tungsten (CNQ)
AN obvious impact of the great commodities meltdown is that ASX juniors bringing forward genuine cashflow-generating mineral developments in the next couple of years are going to be few and far between.
The juniors have been doing it rough for a couple of years now, with the main problem being the non-existence of capital for new projects. Now that commodities have turned big time, that is doubly so. As a result, a junior about to make the leap to producer status is a rare breed.
No such problems though for Carbine Tungsten (CNQ), which is heading towards returning the Mount Carbine tungsten mine back in to production, initially from the existing stockpile, and later from the hard-rock open cut.
It should prove a popular operation with the analysts once up and running from the first stage at the end of next year because it is all of a 45-minute drive from Port Douglas. But its cash-generating capability should also impress.
In the first (stockpile) phase, the plan is to produce 750 tonnes of contained metal annually over eight years. Operating costs of $US130 a metric tonne unit (as the strategic metal is priced, with an mtu the equivalent of 10kg of metal) are expected.
Take a conservative sale price of $US290 an mtu (current prices are $US320), and annual free cashflow of $12m is on the cards, cranking up to something much bigger from 2018 onwards when the open-cut is back in full swing.
The initial stockpile phase requires about $US15m in capital, an amount that the metals trading arm of Mitsubishi has agreed to advance CNQ to get the ball rolling, with securing new supplies of a metal controlled by the Chinese producers its prime motivation.
Recent confirmation of Mitsubishi’s support, after an in-depth due diligence into Mount Carbine, has been the key factor in CNQ’s ability to move from 4.2c in February to yesterday’s 12.5c.