I think what is important to note is that the relationship between China and the US and the tungsten market has fundamentally changed recently. In the 1980's and 1990's China flooded the market with cheap tungsten mined from its mines in China. They successfully undercut Western tungsten mines, who nearly all went broke. KIS's Dolphin Mine closed, as did EQR's Mt Carbine mine. This situation persisted for around 30 years with the lions share (80%+) of global tungsten production coming from China. However, recently it seems that China's exports are reducing - possibly they are consuming more of their production internally or maybe their mine supplies are dwindling. At the same time, the West has suddenly realised how reliant we are upon China for tungsten supply, a very important and critical metal. This is creating a very supportive environment for KIS and EQR to restart tungsten mining operations. Of course, their success will ride largely on future tungsten prices - if China floods the market again (if indeed they still have the capacity to do this) it will hurt Western suppliers trying to restart production. Having said this, I do think that the goal posts have fundamentally changed and the US and the West want alternative non Chinese suppliers, even if they have to pay a little more for this supply.
GLTA & DYOR
EQR Price at posting:
3.8¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
