Viking Mines is advancing its Linka tungsten project in Nevada across drilling, metallurgy, processing, permitting and growth workstreams, but the proposed restart remains pre-resource and pre-feasibility. Pending assays, bulk-sample testing and US permitting will determine whether the fast-to-market strategy can become a mine development case.
- 45 RC holes completed, with five assays supporting the Linka geological model
- Intercepts include 14m at 0.56% WO3, 18m at 0.42% WO3 and 13m at 0.46% WO3
- Metallurgy produced 56.9% WO3 concentrate at 76.0% recovery
- XRT sorting upgraded stockpile material by up to 4.1 times
- Late-2027 mining permit application target remains subject to further studies and approvals
Five workstreams drive Viking’s Linka restart plan
Viking Mines Limited (ASX:VKA) is trying to turn a historic Nevada tungsten operation into a potential domestic US supply source, with five workstreams now running in parallel. The Linka strategy covers resource evaluation, metallurgy, processing, permitting and additional feed sources, giving the company several technical pieces to assemble before it can make a restart decision.
The project is not yet a mine development story in the formal sense. Viking has established no JORC (2012) Mineral Resource or Ore Reserve, and says any restart remains subject to further drilling, technical and economic studies, financing and regulatory approvals.
Drilling supports the geological model, with assays still pending
Viking has drilled 45 of 63 permitted RC holes across Linka Main, the Southwest Extension and regional targets. Assays from five holes have returned mineralisation above and below historic workings, including 14 metres at 0.56% WO3, 18 metres at 0.42% WO3 and 13 metres at 0.46% WO3. The company says the results support its three-dimensional geological model and justify continued work on mineralisation continuity.
The results build on the earlier first Linka assay result, which returned 14 metres at 0.56% WO3 below a historic stope. Seven additional Linka Main assays are pending, while drilling is expected to finish in early November and assay results are expected in batches through December. Viking will then assess whether historical drilling data can support a future exploration target or maiden Mineral Resource estimate.
Testwork points to gravity, flotation and ore sorting
Metallurgy is one of the stronger parts of the current case. Testwork on a Linka pit sample produced a 56.9% WO3 concentrate at 76.0% recovery using staged gravity and flotation, exceeding Viking’s 70% recovery target. All four samples tested produced gravity concentrates above 50% WO3, although recoveries across the gravity-only tests ranged from 42.2% to 46.8% and further optimisation is required.
The company has also reported a potentially useful pre-concentration route: TOMRA XRT sorting upgraded a Linka stockpile sample from 0.45% WO3 to 1.83% WO3, or 4.1 times the feed grade, with recovery of up to 85.9%. A second round of sorting work is testing lower-grade material mixed with limestone and monzonite waste. The results could affect whether material is milled on site, transported as a higher-grade product or processed through a third party, but none of those routes has yet been secured.
Processing options remain conceptual
A July conceptual study examined modular processing facilities ranging from 100,000 to 300,000 tonnes per annum, with the largest design case based on a nominal 43 tonnes per hour. Viking says the study is an engineering design exercise rather than a Scoping Study, production target or forecast, and it does not establish commercial or technical viability.
The company is now evaluating both an owner-operated modular plant and toll treatment for the approved 907-tonne bulk sample. Regional processing capacity may expand if the proposed restart of the Springer tungsten mine, mill and ammonium paratungstate plant proceeds, but Viking has not announced a toll-treatment agreement or ore-sale arrangement.
Permitting and satellite feed set the next hurdles
Viking is targeting a late-2027 mining permit application while collecting environmental, cultural, biological, water and hydrogeological baseline data. A separate US Forest Service Plan of Operations is being progressed to allow drilling across the Conquest and Hillside areas, which account for most of the exposed mineralised trend outside Linka Main.
The growth case extends beyond the historic Linka pit. Surface stockpiles have returned preliminary averages around 0.4% to 0.5% WO3, with individual samples as high as 1.8%, while regional Nevada projects including Long and Terrell have produced samples of up to 2.7% WO3. Those figures are not representative resource estimates: volumes, grades, metallurgy and economics still need to be established.
For shareholders, the next meaningful evidence should arrive in stages rather than in one decisive announcement: the remaining assays, completion of drilling, results from the bulk-sample and sorting work, US Forest Service approval and eventual resource validation. Until then, Linka has a coherent restart narrative and some encouraging technical results, but the critical conversion from mineralised historical workings to a financeable operation has not yet occurred.
Bottom Line?
The strategy is gaining technical definition, but pending assays, resource work, processing economics and federal approvals still stand between Linka’s historic production and a credible restart decision.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the outstanding assays confirm enough grade continuity to support a JORC exploration target or maiden Mineral Resource?
- Can the 907-tonne bulk sample demonstrate recoveries, product quality and economics at a larger scale than laboratory testing?
- Will Viking secure a practical processing route and complete the US permitting pathway without requiring a materially larger funding commitment?