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(Kitco News) - Tungsten has three qualities that make it incredibly difficult to replace, said Fireweed Metals' CEO Brandon Macdonald.
Macdonald spoke to Kitco mid-July in Dawson City at Invest Yukon's Investment Conference & Property Tours.
"It's got the highest melting point of any metal, it's the hardest of any metal, and it's I think the third or fourth densest, being just slightly denser than gold.”
In certain applications there are no substitutes, making tungsten critical for use in mining, manufacturing, aerospace and defense. Yet China has a stranglehold on the market, controlling about 85% of supply.
Fireweed Metals (TSX-V: FWZ) is advancing two critical metals projects in the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Macmillan Pass includes the Tom and Jason lead-zinc deposits. A 2018 resource estimate put Macmillan Pass among the world's most significant zinc resources.
The Mactung property adjoins Macmillan Pass and straddles the boundary between the two territories. Discovered in 1962, the project has seen extensive drilling, metallurgical testing, and multiple historical resource estimates.
Fireweed recently put out a new resource at Mactung, which according to Macdonald, identifies it as "the largest high-grade tungsten deposit in the world, I think that's safe to say, it's certainly the best tungsten project outside of China.”
An updated preliminary economic assessment is expected this year.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Travel and accommodation expenses were paid for by Invest Yukon.]
