Malaga Inc (MLG)

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Tungsten..news from down under...

Newcrest also announced an updated indicated and inferred resource for its O’Callaghans deposit of 78 million tonnes containing 260,000 tonnes of tungsten and 220,000 tonnes of copper.

Mr Smith later told journalists the deposit had a fair bit of importance strategically, given only 100,000 tonnes of tungsten was produced each year and 80 per cent of the market was controlled directly by China.

‘‘So they basically control the market.‘‘

It’s been declared by China as a strategic metal.

‘‘There are companies around the world who need tungsten but are finding it difficult at the moment to find access to long-term supply.’’

Mr Smith said Newcrest did not want to participate fully in the marketing of tungsten but ‘‘maybe another partner can get involved to take the tungsten from O’Callaghans off our hands’’.

He said Newcrest was confident O’Callaghans would be easy to mine and could become a substantial player in the tungsten market.Tungsten prices were rising and looked set to continue appreciating given the tight supply, he said.

Shares in Newcrest closed up 24 cents to $32.68.