"..may end up being supplicants in the globalmarkets for metals which they once totally controlled."
My read on this is that China may be looking like victims of their own manipulation - I know that years ago the Chinese tungsten reserves were close to surface and much of their mining was "unsophisticated".
Now they are having to go deeper, are becoming burdened with new safety practices which in turn is resulting in additional costs and therefore has rendered many old mines uneconomic.
China has therefore implemented more stringent controls on the number of mines which may very well be constraining their production - most of which is for their own use.
Tungsten available for Western exports has quotas which will be further constrained in 2026 with the USA regulations kicking in.
This will leave the Western world reliant on having to provide for itself (a lot more than previously) so will have to turn to not only producing mines but mines who are profitable enough to continue to operate over their projected life of mine - its one thing to have it on paper than a mine has the resource and the LOM, but if not managed efficiently, its life can be cut short.
We have seen this scenario played out with other companies aspiring to resurrect themselves from the mines they once were, but many are failing due to poor geography, the burden of debt or bad management (or perhaps all 3).
EQR is very fortunate as it has little to no debt, a great resource ( 3 mines, 2 producing) and has a life of mine disappearing into the stratosphere and has EXCEPTIONAL MANAGEMENT.
Once the Oaktree deal has been finalised and a joint resource for all 3 mines (Mt Carbine, Barruecopardo & Wolfram Camp) announced to the market, EQR will, for a very long time, be synonymous with any mention of tungsten.
If, as Hallgarten imply, that China will be supplicant and as we get closer to the USA' 2026 deadline, the demand for western tungsten will have only one way to go.
Add to My Watchlist
What is My Watchlist?
