tungsten

Been doing a little research into the Tungsten mining to try a gauge some valuation of Venture's resource. Have added a few excerpts from various reports below that may be of interest.....
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Throw into that heady mix, the lack of supplies of tungsten, ouside of China - the latter controls the global market. Demand, notoriously difficult to estimate, is believed to be growing at 6% per annum. Supply is understood to have dipped since 2005.

There are reports that European tungsten end users (used in mobile phones, industrial & drilling tools) are on the prowl for advanced tungsten projects to lock in future supplies, lest a squeeze on prices occur.

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World production of tungsten totalled 89.6 t in 2007, and was dominated by China which in recent years accounted for more than 80% of primary tungsten output. Other large producers were Russia and Canada. In recent years the Chinese Government took steps to regulate production and control the release of Chinese tungsten on to the world market. The lack of supplies of tungsten concentrates from China, together with increased demand in China and elsewhere, have resulted in higher prices since 2005.

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There was virtually no exploration for tungsten in Australia between 1980 and the end of 2004. Tungsten prices have risen substantially since 2004, with the price more than doubling in 2005. The average scheelite ore concentrate price for the past 12 months was US$212 (A$249) per metric tonne unit (1 mtu = 10 kg), with a high of US$222 (A$260). In response to these rises, a number of companies started exploring and evaluating old tungsten mines and deposits, mainly in north Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania.