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China Concentrate Price Rose Due to Tight Supply in Late December

Analysis of latest tungsten market from Chinatungsten Online

tungsten carbide bars

The ferro tungsten and ammonium paratungstate (APT) prices in China keep strong in late December because of tight raw materials availability affected by the cold weather. Now raw material suppliers have good sentient, smelting factories become rational but consumers remain cautious sentiment. 

In the tungsten concentrate market, high-grade concentrate price rose to $13,968.3 per tone as sellers believe that the supply of tungsten ore is likely to reduce further at the end of the year and they are reluctant to sell at present. 

In the APT market, high production costs and Tungsten Carbide Round Rod increased average tungsten forecast prices boost market confidence. smelting factories have strong rised mentality and raise their offer to $236.8 per mtu. Now most insiders are focusing on actual demand at the end of the year and the situation tungsten carbide plates of coronavirus in the world. 

The tungsten power market is supported by firm raw material market and increased offers from downstream alloy enterprises, and market price comes back to $32.5 per kilogram. As purchasers are not will to accept high-price resources, actual transactions still need to be increased.

Prices of tungsten products on December 25, 2020

Picture of tungsten needle 

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US Focusing on Rare Earths and Semiconductors

The US president Joe Biden will direct his administration to conduct a review of key U.S. supply chains, including those for semiconductors, high-capacity unground solid tungsten carbide rods batteries and rare earths to ensure that the U.S. does not rely too much on rival countries including China in terms of key technologies, anti-epidemic materials, and raw materials.

The U.S. government department will conduct a 100-day review in accordance with Biden's executive order. The review targets are mainly government contractors and private industries to ensure that U.S. manufacturers can obtain a safe and sustainable supply of raw materials, especially in terms of anti-epidemic materials such as masks, testing supplies, and vaccine raw materials, must be guaranteed to be imported.

President Joe Biden will direct his administration to conduct a review of key U.S. supply chains, including those for semiconductors, high-capacity batteries, medical supplies and rare earth metals. The assessment, which will be led by members of Biden’s economic and national security teams.

The action, which will focus both on government contractors and private industry, aims to ensure the United States can supply the goods it needs to combat the COVID-19 crisis, as well as other critical technology and raw materials, the sources said.

Not only that, US government agencies will draft plans within a year to further improve and strengthen the US supply chain, or to strengthen the U.S. domestic manufacturing capabilities through cooperation with allies. American officials revealed that relevant measures will be formally implemented within the next few weeks at the earliest, which is also Biden's promise during the campaign.

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that in 2018 the global REE market was valued at approximately $8 billion. The U.S. imports all of the REEs it consumes, about 80% of which comes from China. In 2018, the DOE said that the nation imported about $160 million worth of rare earth compounds and metals, excluding yttrium and scandium. However, the real economic cost of REEs is deceptive insomuch that the nation imports nearly all of its REEs in the form of finished goods rather than raw material. When put in these terms, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that the U.S. imported $2.6 trillion of finished goods containing REEs in 2018.

As for the materials that will be considered as a crucial review, US officials revealed that rare earths, semiconductors, and other important minerals, which are important raw materials for electronic products, are the main areas of US review. Although the official did not name China, because China is the world's largest exporter of rare earths, the outside world naturally thinks that China will become a focus of attention.

It is worth noting that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China announced the latest "Regulations on the Tungsten Carbide Rods Management of Rare Earths" which pointed out that rare earth metals are of irreplaceable significance for the transformation of China's traditional industries, the development of emerging industries, and the advancement of defense technology industries.

Not only that, according to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, China's exports of rare earths in 2020 will be 35,448 metric tons, a 23% drop from 2019 and a five-year low. China has upgraded rare earth to important strategic material. The administrative order that Biden will announce soon can be said to be a countermeasure to China's pre-planning.

Inner Mongolia to Build Rare Earth Nano Thermal Insulation Line

Inner Mongolia is set to build the first line of rare earth nano thermal insulation materials to break the monopoly of the United States, Japan and Europe. The first phase investment of the project is estimated to be 20 million yuan.

Baotou Research Institute of Rare Earth has reached a technology transfer agreement with a technology company in Chengdu to prepare for the establishment of the first domestic pilot production demonstration line of the nano thermal insulation slurry with a monthly output of 800 kg.

According to reports, the core technology and intellectual property rights of thermal insulation glass coating materials have been dominated by developed regions such as the United States, Japan, and Europe. Our country is still Tungsten Carbide Rods in a blank in the field of thermal insulation glass coating materials.

According to Dr. Yin Jian of the Institute in Inner Mongolia, the research team has successfully developed the kilogram-scale preparation technology of rare earth heat-insulating agents below 100 nanometers by using the unique electronic structure, and prepared a variety of nano-heat-insulating Tungsten Cemented Carbide agents with different nano thermal powders.

The rare earths have diverse applications in electrical and electronic components, lasers, glass, magnetic materials, and industrial processes, though they do not occur as base metals or in lump or visible quantities like iron or aluminum, so their names and properties are unfamiliar in everyday life. One of the most familiar may be unusually powerful neodymium magnets sold as novelties.

Rare earth nano thermal insulation materials can be widely used in various interlayer films for laminated glass, coatings, plastics, films, displays, energy-saving windows for construction, automobile windshields, etc. The materials effectively shield ultraviolet and infrared. And they have the advantage of heat insulation, transparency and weather tungsten carbide bars resistance.

Los Andes's Progress in Vizcachitas Copper

Los Andes Copper Ltd. (Los Andes) is pleased to announce that as a part of the ongoing Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) at the Vizcachitas copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit project in Chile, it has received improved flotation rougher recoveries resulting from further metallurgical test work. Through tungsten carbide burrs blank optimizing the rougher flotation conditions, the company will be able to increase copper and molybdenum recoveries.

Los Andes Copper Ltd. is a development company with a 100% interest in the Vizcachitas project in Chile. The company is focused on progressing the project, which is located along Chile's most prolific copper belt, into production. Vizcachitas is a copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit, located 120 km north of Santiago, in an area of good infrastructure. The project has a measured resource of 254.4 million tonnes at a grade of 0.439% copper and an indicated resource of approximately 1.03 billion tonnes at a grade of 0.385% copper.

As part of the initial test work for the PFS, in 2019, a sample from previous test work that represents the upper zone of the orebody was sent to SGS minerals facilities for a rougher flotation assessment. The results of this assessment show that copper and molybdenum rougher recoveries, as compared to the 2019 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) formula, were improved by 3% and 6% respectively.

The ongoing 2020 PFS metallurgical test work confirms these improvements. The PEA and PFS flotation formulas were used to test new composite samples from the first 12 years of the mining plan. Compared with the PEA formula, the copper roughing recovery rate of the PFS formula is increased, and the roughing rate of molybdenum is increased by 7.8%.

Fernando Porcile, Executive Chairman of Los Andes, commented: "I am pleased that the improved formula results from the current PFS testwork further enhance the project economics of an already robust project. The ongoing Pre-Feasibility Study for the Vizcachitas Project has confirmed the use of HPGR technology and validated the use of dry-stacked tailings. These technologies put the Project at the forefront of the environmentally responsible practices being adopted for the future of sustainable mining globally."

The company is currently advancing the pre-feasibility study of the project. By forming an experienced management team, the project is integrating various changes to position itself at the forefront of global mining environment trends. Converting to dry-stacked filtered tailings will greatly reduce water consumption and abandon the use of tailings dams, thereby reducing the project's footprint, environmental impact and earthquake risk.

Besides, there is significant exploration upside at the Vizcachitas copper-molybdenum porphyry project of Los Andes with the potential to increase the resource base beyond the initial 45-year mine life modelled in the PEA. Part of this upside has been further delineated in the geological mapping and geophysics work program completed during the 2020 Chilean winter season.