- What makes the Blackheath story actually so interesting compared to the hundreds of junior mining companies out there?
Blackheath stands out from other companies because it focuses on tungsten, a high value metal in great demand and in short supply. The outlook for tungsten, an industrial metal with unique properties, is very positive. We hold five of the top past-producing tungsten metal mines in Portugal, all of which are accessible by road and have existing infrastructure including electricity and water, and we plan to return the best of these mines to production.
- Why is tungsten a lucrative commodity market? What is tungsten used for?
Most of the world’s tungsten is in China which also uses most of the world’s tungsten. This creates some pressures for supply on the rest of the world and, in fact, tungsten tops the critical metal supply lists in Europe, the United Kingdom and the USA. There is a shortage of tungsten outside China and independent expectations are that demand over the next few years will significantly outpace demand, resulting in continuing price increases.
Tungsten is a critical metal with industrial uses in hard-wearing tungsten carbide, used for cutting and grinding and as a heavy duty hard-wearing material, and in speciality steel alloys, in tool steels and super alloys for gas turbine engines in particular. It is also used in high technology electronic and electrical components – as well as use in tungsten jewellery.
- Please give us some insights about the advantages for you to do business in Portugal.
Historically, Portugal was a major supplier of tungsten to Europe until depressed prices caused mines to close down in the mid-1980s. A renewal of mining activity is seen by the government as being a major contributor to meeting the economic challenges that the country faces and at all levels of government and in local communities, support has been extensive. The mining laws are well-established and realistic and there are no significant hurdles to the proper development of a mine.
Our management is very familiar with working in Portugal and we work closely with our established technical team based in Portugal, a group that has extensive experience and is highly regarded at all levels in the country.
- You had a solid news flow during the last several months. What can investors expect in the rest of 2015?
Our main news has been completion of a successful independent NI43-101 technical resource report for our Covas Project, which is a medium sized, higher grade project at or near surface and also our Borralha Project with initial drilling indicating a potential for a large, bulk tonnage deposit at surface. Both of these deposits could turn out to be open pit mines.
We want to continue drilling at Borralha in order to gain sufficient information to complete a NI43-101 resource estimate, which we believe could be very impressive, and also to drill some of the high grade areas at Covas. In particular, at our Bejanca Project, we have a very large historic resource, not compliant with current standards of estimation, of valuable tin and tungsten minerals in sandy materials on surface. We want to test this to find the best area for initial mining, which would be a simple washing operation with minimal capital costs and could be very lucrative and might be brought into production quite quickly.
- Can you tell us some more about your management team and board?
Our highly experienced team is very familiar with Portugal – several members were previously involved with Primary Metals, a company which was listed in 2003 at $0.15 per share and owned the historic Panasqueira tungsten mine in Portugal. The company was subsequently sold at a significant profit to Japanese interests in 2007 for $3.65 per share.
- What about your current financial situation and the financial outlook?
Blackheath is completely free of any debt and on-going funding is completed through equity sales of shares through this development stage of the company.
- Are you able to give us some insights about your long-term goals?
Blackheath is currently the largest landholder of tungsten projects in Portugal. Our longer term goal is to selectively develop these projects through the feasibility stage towards production, starting with Bejanca and early production possibilities if this proves feasible. We also believe that with a strong tungsten asset base and increased value, Blackheath will be an attractive target for takeover in the future.
- Please tell us some more about your major shareholders and story supporters.
We have been pleased to welcome some major long-term investors in Blackheath, including Shandong Donglin, a family-owned Chinese conglomerate, which owns around 13% and Shining Capital, a Chinese fund operated out of Hong Kong, which owns about 9% of Blackheath. Also, Ernesto Echavarria, a Mexican investor, owns around 8% and management, directors and associated insiders hold around 30% of the shares.
This is not investment advice. All facts are to be checked and verified by reader. As always please do your own due diligence. Author is biased as he is a shareholder of Blackheath stock.
Quelle: blackheathresources.com
