Viking Mines has repositioned itself around Nevada tungsten, with Linka producing a 56.9% WO₃ concentrate at 76.0% recovery and gaining approval for a 63-hole maiden drilling programme. The opportunity is advancing, but the company remains loss-making, has no JORC resource at Linka and will need further funding as work accelerates.
- 56.9% WO₃ concentrate produced at 76.0% recovery
- 63-hole Linka drilling programme fully permitted
- Six-project Nevada tungsten portfolio acquired for US$2.88 million
- First Hit Gold divested for up to $5.0 million
- $7.30 million annual loss and $3.34 million operating cash outflow
Nevada tungsten becomes Viking’s centre of gravity
Viking Mines Limited (ASX:VKA) used FY2026 to make a decisive strategic shift from Western Australian exploration towards tungsten in Nevada, acquiring a portfolio of six production-proven projects and elevating Linka as its flagship. The most tangible technical result is a premium scheelite concentrate grading 56.9% WO₃ at 76.0% recovery, produced through staged gravity and flotation testwork.
That result sits alongside a fully permitted 63-hole maiden drilling programme at Linka, the first drilling at the project in more than 40 years. The programme is intended to verify historical high-grade results, test mineralisation beneath the old workings and investigate under-cover and geophysical targets along the broader intrusive contact.
Linka’s processing case is promising but conceptual
Viking’s processing work supports a gravity-led, modular flowsheet, with a conceptual study based on Mineral Technologies’ FlexSeries technology. The study adopted a 43-tonne-per-hour design basis and outlined an upper design range of 300,000 tonnes per annum, with staged crushing, milling, gravity concentration and flotation for fine-particle recovery.
Those figures are not a production forecast. The company explicitly cautions that the study is preliminary, that no Mineral Resource or Ore Reserve has been estimated at Linka, and that its outcomes may not be realised. A further recovery target above 80% at more than 50% WO₃ remains subject to ongoing testwork, while an approved bulk sample of up to about 907 tonnes is intended to support toll treatment and offtake assessment.
Historical scale still needs modern verification
The portfolio comes with recorded historical production of about 123,000 tonnes at 0.54% WO₃ across the claims, rising to approximately 233,000 tonnes at 0.76% WO₃ when adjoining historical mines are included. At Linka, historical production was approximately 65,000 tonnes at 0.49% WO₃, while digitisation of old data expanded the interpreted mineralised corridor to roughly 1.6 kilometres.
There is useful validation in the modern sampling: four composite Linka samples returned a weighted average head grade of 1.0% WO₃, while a Conquest face-chip sample reached 14.7% WO₃. But the company states that the historical exploration results were not reported under JORC 2012 and have not been independently validated. That makes the current drilling and future resource work more than routine confirmation; they are the bridge between an attractive historical dataset and a compliant investment case.
Gold assets sold as tungsten takes priority
Viking also completed the strategic pruning of its Western Australian portfolio, agreeing to sell the non-core First Hit Gold Project, including Riverina East, to First Au Limited (ASX:FAU) for consideration of up to $5.0 million. The package comprised $1.2 million in cash, $1.0 million in First Au shares and up to $2.8 million in milestone-linked performance rights, with First Au committing at least $500,000 to drilling within 12 months.
The transaction completed after year-end, and Viking no longer holds the project or its associated Mineral Resources. It retains exposure through the First Au shares and potential milestone payments, while the Canegrass Battery Minerals Project and Narndee Project remain in the portfolio despite limited exploration activity during the year.
Losses and funding remain part of the equation
The strategic reset came with a sizeable accounting loss. Viking reported a $7.298 million loss for FY2026, compared with a restated $2.875 million loss a year earlier, including a $2.638 million loss on disposal of assets and $1.518 million in share-based payments. Operating cash outflow rose to $3.337 million, although cash at 30 June stood at $3.365 million after the company raised $4.50 million before costs through a placement.
Directors said existing cash was sufficient for planned FY2027 operating and exploration expenses, while also acknowledging that an exploration company without an operating mine will eventually need debt or equity funding. The capital structure is already substantial: 2.513 billion ordinary shares were on issue at 4 September, alongside 246.5 million performance rights and 65 million options.
Bottom Line?
Linka now has the technical momentum and permitting needed for a serious test, but the next value shift depends on assay-backed drilling, a JORC-compliant resource pathway and funding that does not overwhelm the expanded share count.
Questions in the middle?
- Will maiden drilling convert historical Linka results and visible scheelite into a coherent JORC-compliant resource?
- Can bulk-sample and toll-treatment work demonstrate recoveries and concentrate quality across representative stockpile and primary ore?
- How much additional equity will Viking require if drilling, permitting and modular plant development continue at the current pace?