- NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR THROUGH U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES –
- China controls ~80%+ of global tungsten extraction & processing and has recently announced measures to curb its supply into North America
- There are no domestic tungsten producers in the United States
- Demesne is assessing the potential for the IMA Mine to play vital role in establishing domestic tungsten supply and onshoring production capabilities
Vancouver, BC, Nov. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Demesne Resources Ltd. (CSE:DEME) (OTCQB:DEMRF) (“Demesne” or the “Company”), in response to China’s intention to restrict tungsten exports, plans to update and define the historical resources of the past producing, Idaho-based IMA Mine tungsten-molybdenum property, while exploring the opportunity to bring onshore tungsten mining and production capabilities into the United States. Key to the process will be defining and finalizing the scope of work needed to complete an updated 43-101 technical report and mineral resource estimate. Amidst a backdrop of China controlling an estimated 80%+ of global tungsten extraction and processing,1 and the absence of domestic tungsten producers in the U.S., China’s planned export restrictions underscore the need for a reliable, domestic supply of defense critical metals for America.
Demesne's CEO, Murray Nye, commented: “With the option to explore and develop the IMA Mine in Idaho, we find ourselves in the right place at the right time with the potential for domestic tungsten production. The IMA Mine is a past-producer. It’s sitting on patented ground and is readily permittable for exploration. In the near-term, we hope to re-new the IMA Mine’s historic resources, add resource tonnes, and drive toward a mine restart. Historically, capital has been invested in IMA over many years to advance the project by junior and senior mining exploration companies, including the Bradley Mining Co., AMAX, and Anglo-American subsidiary Inspiration Development. Now, it’s in the hands of the experienced Demense’s team to determine the next chapter in the IMA Mine’s productivity.”
Tungsten is listed as a Critical Metal by the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense, the U.S. Geological Survey, and Canada's Ministry of National Defense. Following former U.S. President Donald Trump's presidential election victory, China's Commerce Ministry announced new rules that will take effect on Dec. 1, 2024, tightening export controls on dual-use technologies and items (i.e., used for civilian and military purposes), including tungsten. The move is an extension of China’s ongoing tightening of export controls on critical materials in response to America’s wide-ranging export controls on semiconductor and artificial intelligence technologies.2
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[1] https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Supply-Chain/China-to-tighten-export-curbs-on-critical-metals-ahead-of-Trump-s-return
[2] https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Supply-Chain/China-to-tighten-export-curbs-on-critical-metals-ahead-of-Trump-s-return
In addition to potentially updating and defining the IMA Mine’s historical resources with an updated 43-101 technical report and mineral resource estimate, Demesne also expects to define areas warranting additional exploration. To help identify potential exploration targets, the Company is seeking to digitize historical drilling records, assay data/production volumes, and construct digital geological models in preparation for subsequent additional drilling and exploration. To fund the initial work on the IMA Mine, Demesne announced a $2-million-dollar non-brokered private placement of common shares on November 14, 2024.
The Company will provide ongoing updates as available on the IMA Mine development.
ABOUT THE IMA PROPERTY
The IMA Property is located in the Lemhi Range, near the community of Patterson, Idaho, located approximately 20 miles east of Challis, comprising of the IMA Mine, with 22 patented claims on 395.98 acres and an additional 214.4 acres of patented ground in adjacent Pahsimeroi Valley. The patented claims are accessible over existing roads managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
The IMA Property is a past producing tungsten property that began as a silver mine in the 1800s. Between 1945 and 1957, while operated by the Bradley Mining Company, the IMA Mine produced approximately 2,198 tons of WO3 (199,449 MTUs), from 468k tonnes of ore with an average recovered grade of 0.434% WO3, and produced an additional sulfide concentrate yielding 1.29M oz silver, 1.8M lbs copper, 2.92M lbs lead and 0.02M lbs zinc.3 The IMA mine shut down in 1958 upon collapse of the U.S. government tungsten buying program.
The property was subsequently explored for molybdenum by AMAX Inc. (1960-1962), Inspiration Development Company (“Inspiration”) (1979-1982), Gentor Resources Ltd (2007-2008), and other junior exploration companies. Inspiration ultimately focused on exploration and development of the quartz-tungsten-vein system, rehabilitating upper levels of the mine to complete underground resource delineation drilling, conducting metallurgical work and commencing construction of a haulage adit.4 Due to a decrease in tungsten prices, development work ceased in 1982 prior to recommencement of mining.
Tungsten mineralization in the IMA Mine occurs in quartz veins hosted in Precambrian siliciclastic metasediments containing pyrite, fluorite, hubnerite, scheelite, tetrahedrite, galena, sphalerite and chalcopyrite. The quartz veins occur in a zone up to 900 feet wide, 2000 feet long and up to 700 feet in vertical extent1. Molybdenite mineralization occurs in the veins and disseminations in potassically altered Cenozoic porphyry intrusive that is exposed in the lower levels of the IMA Mine and intersected in deeper historical drilling. Mineralization occurrence is interpreted as consistent with a sub-Climax type porphyry model with higher-level tungsten-base metal veins.5
The IMA Mine is situated close to key infrastructure items and resources, including paved county roads, tier-1 low-cost power supply, access to water rights, and a mining-oriented labour force.
ABOUT DEMESNE RESOURCES LTD.
Demesne Resources Ltd. is a British Columbia based company involved in the acquisition and exploration of magnetite mineral properties. The Company's Star Project consists of five contiguous mineral titles covering an area of approximately 4,615.75 hectares located in the Skeena Mining Division, British Columbia, Canada. The Company has entered into an option agreement pursuant to which it is entitled to earn an undivided 100% interest in the Star Project.
Demesne has also entered into an option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the IMA Mine Project, a past producing underground tungsten mine situated on 22 patented claims located in East Central, Idaho, United States.
Social media links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/demesneresources/
X: https://x.com/demesneresource
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DemesneResources
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/demesneresources/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@demesneresources
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Murray Nye
CEO
1055 West Georgia Street, Suite 1500
Vancouver, BC V6E 0B6
Canada
For further information, please contact:
Murray Nye, CEO
Email: ir@demesneresources.com
Phone: +1 (416) 300-7398
CSE:DEME
OTCQB:DEMRF
The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.
This press release includes "forward-looking information" that is subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Such statements represent the Company’s current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
Statements concerning historical exploration and production on the property have been obtained through both public and private sources, and are believed to be substantially factual and relevant in that they demonstrate the tenor of exploration targets on the property. Neither Demesne Resources, nor its Qualified Person, has done sufficient work to verify historical information regarding past production or exploration, and this information should not be relied upon until it has been verified.
Technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 — Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI-43-101”). Austin Zinsser, P.G., SME-RM, Vice President, Exploration for the Company, and a Qualified Person as defined by NI-43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this Presentation.
1 https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Supply-Chain/China-to-tighten-export-curbs-on-critical-metals-ahead-of-Trump-s-return
2 https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Supply-Chain/China-to-tighten-export-curbs-on-critical-metals-ahead-of-Trump-s-return
3 Bradley Mining Company, 1958; Summarized Information on IMA Mine, Lemhi Co, Patterson, Idaho. Company Report, 6p
4 Victoria Mitchell, 1999; History of the Ima Mine, Lemhi County, Idaho, Idaho Geological Survey, Staff Report 99-2, University of Idaho, August 1999.
5 Wardrop 2008; Technical Report on the IMA Mine Molybdenum Project, July 2008; Prepared for Gentor Resources Inc., 52p.
