Tungsten, the metal used in light bulb filaments, oil and mining drilling compacts, tungsten carbide cutting tools, specialty and tool steels, ordnance, and armor, has had a dramatic history; tied to China’s meteoric rise in the global economy, and a change in China’s price philosophies. China's tungsten manufacturers, citing a shortage of tungsten concentrate, have raised offer prices by over 100 percent in the last months to levels not seen since the mid-1970s, when pre-deflation prices reached US$285/mtu.for APT in the USA. To understand this material, and how it has changed, one must first look at the trade history between China and the global market.
The price of ammonium paratungstate (APT), an intermediate tungsten chemical product, has tripled this year. China provides about 80 percent of the world supply of APT. Over the past twenty-five years, China has achieved this corner on the APT market by being the dominating tungsten miner. They provided raw and intermediate tungsten materials at lower prices than mines and manufacturers could anywhere else. This caused the closing of most non-Chinese mines and APT producing plants throughout the Eighties and Nineties.
In the Early Eighties, China sought to gain currency by selling ore concentrates at very low prices. They believed that keeping ore prices below 40 dollars a STU would put their foreign mining competitors out of business. This was a successful technique. Almost all the western mines were closed. The price of tungsten ore concentrates was also suppressed in the nineties by the sale of the Russian tungsten ore stockpile. A 150% tariff, imposed on ore from china by the USA, helped save the Bishop Mine in California from closing for about ten years.
China then switched from exporting ore concentrates to APT and dominated the world APT production. The increasing internal demand in China for tungsten and the decreasing supply of tungsten ore concentrates has led China to increase prices of intermediate products. China is focusing more on downstream products, from tungsten filaments for light bulbs to cemented carbide parts. This has spelled higher prices for US and European tungsten manufacturing companies, but has increased the opportunities for new mining ventures throughout the world.
Carbine won the Melbourne Cup
It has been said that Carroll Walsh, a miner, named Mt. Carbine after the 1890 Melbourne Cup Winner which was a horse named "Carbine".
The story of Mt. Carbine dates back to the 1890's when wolframite was first discovered on the slopes of Carbine Hill. Mt. Carbine developed into a town and had a population of over 400. Shops and other buildings included :- the School of Arts, Church, Court House, Post Office, Hospital, School, Police Station, bakery, butchery, general store, drapery, cordials manufactory, barber,ore buyers, billiard saloon, 3 hotels, freight and transport carriers and a blacksmith.
After the collapse of the world's wolframite markets in 1919, Mt. Carbine became practically depopulated. In 1968, R.B. Mining purchased the leases and in 1971 commenced Stage 1 of the treatment plant. In late 1971 an initial settlement of 60 men was built.
In 1976, Queensland Wolfram Pty Ltd was formed to buy the mining leases and existing facilities at Mt. Carbine from R.B. Mining. A large increase in housing, a caravan park, messing facilities, a shop and many and varied recreational facilities were provided for the miners and their families by the Mining Co. The population of Mt. Carbine and district grew to about 400.
However, after enjoying some good years, Wolfram prices started to fall from 1980. By November 1986, there were few options left and the mine was placed on "care and maintenance" until February 1993, when Poseidon Ltd sold all the mining plant and equipment, and the Mining Village at Public Auction.
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