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Doug Bright
Viking Mines has wrapped up due diligence on its flagship Nevada tungsten acquisition in the US and has given the project a resounding technical thumbs-up. The successful review could fast-track the company’s path to becoming a key player in America’s push for a secure domestic supply of the critical mineral.
The company’s detailed review – including a site visit and deep dive into historical datasets – has confirmed high-grade tungsten mineralisation at its Linka project, with outstanding skarn-style potential remaining open and untested in multiple directions.
Key confirmation came from historical shallow drilling intercepts, including a hit of 7.9m grading 0.9 per cent tungsten trioxide from just 7.6m depth.
That solid strike has been further backed up with the recent discovery of a surface extension 800m southwest of the main pit grading 0.6 per cent tungsten oxide, effectively doubling the interpreted strike to 1.6 kilometres.
‘We are bypassing early exploration and moving straight into high-impact targeting.’
Viking Mines managing director and chief executive officer Julian Woodcock
The company’s due diligence has significantly de-risked the geology and has also saved significant exploration time, effort and expenditure through integrating and digitising decades-old production records. These indicate that the Linka deposit was historically mined for 65,000 tonnes at an average grade of 0.49 per cent tungsten oxide.
Present naturally as the minerals wolframite and scheelite, tungsten has long been prized as a critical metal thanks to its exceptional physical properties. It boasts the second-highest melting point of any element at 3422°C, behind only carbon, and an impressive tensile strength of about 980 megapascals.
The metal is also remarkably dense, with a specific gravity of 19.25 – almost on par with gold and surpassed only by osmium among naturally occurring elements. Adding to its appeal, tungsten is an efficient thermal conductor, ranking behind only gold, silver, copper and aluminium.
Viking Mines managing director and chief executive officer Julian Woodcock said: “Completing due diligence on the Nevada portfolio is a major milestone. Our review has validated the historical data and identified clear pathways for resource definition across the Project. We have now moved into the formal acquisition phase with a high degree of confidence.”
Viking has now shifted aggressively into development mode, including determined tenement expansion to increase the operation’s strategic footprint. Meanwhile, three-dimensional geological modelling, high-resolution geophysics and drill planning are underway to pinpoint the company’s maiden drilling targets for this year.
Near-term upside is emerging from roughly 1000 tonnes of historical stockpiles at site, which returned 0.8 per cent tungsten oxide in sampling, while several shallow open-pit opportunities have also come into view.
These avenues could enable early concentrate production for offtake discussions, alongside focused grade control drilling to unlock early small-scale, open-pit development potential at the main Linka deposit. The timing couldn’t be better.
The US currently has no serious, realistic, or sustained domestic tungsten production, and a looming December 2026 deadline under policies such as the Restoring Essential Energy and Security Holdings Onshore for Rare Earths (REEShore) Act to eliminate Chinese-sourced materials from military supply chains is driving urgent demand for secure, Nevada-based sources.
Driven by demand in the industrial, renewables and defence sectors – and a shrinking supply outside of China – the alloy-hardening metal has soared in price in the past 12 months from US$340 per metric tonne unit (mtu), where one mtu equals 10kg of tungsten oxide, to a current price of US$1850 per mtu.
Viking’s Tier-1 jurisdiction assets appear to position the company perfectly to capitalise on this vital commodity.
Next steps for Viking include wrapping up its integration of the geophysics data, finalising federal permitting, completing metallurgical sighter work, and locking in drill targets for a high-impact 2026 campaign.
Viking is moving quickly to turn this strategically vital portfolio into a tangible, quantifiable contributor to US tungsten independence.
With due diligence delivering the green light and America’s tungsten crunch intensifying, Viking is perfectly placed to deliver high-grade discoveries and near-term development wins.
As the company’s proposed drilling looms, the race for domestic supply is heating up and Viking has the bit between its teeth.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
