United States officials have granted Johannesburg preliminary approval to okay funding for a $30 million term loan to fund a tungsten mining project in Spain.
The term loan might impact Spain’s tungsten market, specifically, but it will additionally have an impact on the entire global tungsten market, which has been on the rise as of late.
According to Mining Weekly, the loan is expected to be finalized by the end of December or early January and will fully fun the development of the La Parrilla mine, which is expected to produce 2,700 t/y of tungsten concentrate.
“2018 looks set to be a transformational year for the company as we conclude the plant development and start production at La Parrilla, which is on track to be one of the world’s largest tungsten mines, whilst remaining extremely low-cost to bring into production,” said Michael Masterman, chairperson for Johannesburg’s W Resources.
The development project has submitted environmental approval documentation in hopes of expanding the La Parilla mine from 2 million tonnes of tungsten a year to 3.5 million tonnes a year.
Tungsten was discovered roughly 236 years ago in the early 1780s, but it wasn’t applied to a specific industry for an additional 150 years, until 1931. Currently, as the international tungsten market continues to grow, organizations are finding more and more uses for this durable metal.
In fact, according to Midland Daily News, tungsten has even broke into the ice angling industry and is impacting the actual size of the anglers.
The Mooska jig weighs the same as conventional anglers but is able to be much smaller in size because it’s comprise of tungsten, a metal 30% heavier than lead.
“Tungsten is a really awesome metal for fishing,” said Bro Brosdahl, a Minnesota fisherman. “It’s difficult to trigger fish [get them to bite] at different times, and tungsten is one more tool in your bucket.”
