Tungsten Alloy for Protection against X-rays and Gamma Radiation
The tungsten alloy reliably shields against X-rays and gamma radiation. With its new production process and great expertise in the materials field, PLANSEE has made the manufacture of shielding components particularly cost-effective.
Whether in the world of medical or industrial X-ray technology, radiotherapy or nuclear power stations: Wherever high-energy radiation is used, it is vital to protect people against it.
The denser the material, the better able it is to protect from radiation. That is why heavy elements absorb X-rays and gamma radiation particularly well. Lead is still the most frequently used shielding material. Because it is a very soft material, it is mostly used only in combination with support structures made of steel.
Lead is a toxic material that is harmful to the environment and humans. The onerous recycling process makes lead expensive despite the low initial procurement costs. Many enterprises are therefore looking for a suitable alternative for providing reliable radiation protection.
Combines shielding properties with excellent machinability
The density of tungsten is 60 percent higher than that of lead. That is why even thinner layers of tungsten are able to provide reliable shielding against radiation.
The tungsten alloy is particularly suitable as a shielding material. It consists of tungsten and a small proportion of nickel-iron. Like tungsten, the material has excellent shielding properties. However, it is also considerably more ductile than tungsten and can therefore be machined better.
Thanks to the ductility and high melting point of the material, isotope containers made from are also able to withstand extreme mechanical and thermal loads.
Because of their high strength, components act as both the support structure and the shielding in one. Unlike when lead is used, no additional steel support structures are required.
2012年12月18日星期二
Tungsten Copper Alloy for Military
Cadillac Ventures looks to take former tungsten mine to production
Cadillac Ventures has recently turned its focus to the former Burnt Hill tungsten mine in New Brunswick – a property on which the company expects to restart development for little cost.
Late in November, the Toronto-based company announced that it resumed exploration on the property, which covers more than 125 square kilometres and has NI 43-101 compliant tungsten, tin and molybdenum resources.
The base metals explorer has generated buzz since the news, with its stock up more than 10 per cent in the last month.
Historical work on the mine dates back to the early part of last century, but new showings have since been discovered, in particular for tin, which will be tested in the new year.
Cadillac’s CEO, Norman Brewster, has been himself involved with the mine since the 1970s, when he was hired as a consultant by then-owner – Canadian International Paper – to assess whether the mine could be put back into production economically.
Based on a pilot plant test operation with some 14,000 tonnes, a feasibility study was done in the early 1980s, combined with a flow sheet and mill processing approach, but the price of strategic metal tungsten fell, says Brewster, after which the project became “uneconomic”. “As a result, it didn’t see the light again until 2000, when I bought it,” he adds.
Tungsten is the second hardest substance with the highest melting point, and has several industrial and military applications.
After some ownership changes, Cadillac Ventures now holds a 51 per cent interest in the Burnt Hill project, with Noront Resources holding the remainder. Brewster did some twinning of historical holes on the property, as well as some other diamond drilling to pull together the latest NI 43-101 resource estimate from 2009.
“The proposed gravity plant at the site is a simplistic, inexpensive plant to build by comparison to other base metal projects,” Cadillac’s CEO asserts. “The intent is to re-take the project to feasibility study and put it into production with as little money as we can, and by replicating previous work as completely as we can.”
The phase 1 ground exploration program at the property will target the Tin Hill, Burnt Hill Brook Area, the Burnt Hill Mine Area, and the 2 1/2 Mile Brook Area, with two prospecting crews currently in the field.
The company has said that the sampling program in each area has successfully located outcrop mineralization with quartz veining at each site. The mineralization found has been sampled, with more than 2,800 samples submitted to a lab for testing, with results to be released when available.
Cadillac has just raised $1.2 million under a recent financing to fund exploration, and plans to raise more funds next year.
“The drilling program at Burnt Hill, of some 3,000 metres, will hopefully allow us to update the resources in the next few months,” says Brewster.
Burnt Hill currently holds 461,000 tonnes of total NI 43-101 compliant underground and open pit resources in the indicated category, grading 0.489% tungsten and 0.01% tin. The inferred category holds a total of 590,000 tonnes, grading 0.535% tungsten and 0.013% tin.
Cadillac also stands to benefit from its nickel and copper Thierry project in northwestern Ontario, which consists of the past producing Thierry Mine and hosts two NI 43-101 compliant resources at the Thierry Mine and the K1-1 deposit.
The idea at this property is to blend the two ores from K1-1 and Thierry, and process material together in a common plant, running the plant at around 15,000 tonnes per day.
In September, the company released results from its summer drilling program on the K1-1 open pit deposit, located about three kilometres from the Thierry Mine. It said the campaign was a success as each hole found mineralization outside of the current NI 43-101 compliant Whittle Pit model. The results included notable intersections such as 225 feet at 0.48% copper and 0.11% nickel, as well as 160.2 feet at 0.51% copper and 0.1% nickel.
Based on a preliminary economic assessment, the Thierry project was estimated to produce a total of 5.25 million tonnes per year, comprised of 3.85 million tonnes from open pit, and 1.4 million tonnes from the underground operation.
The report showed a pre-tax net present value of $380 million using a six per cent discount rate and an internal rate of return, on a pre-tax basis, of 19 per cent, with a life-of-mine NSR revenue total of $3.7 billion.
Total estimated capital costs were seen at $843 million, or $11.93 per tonne, with a payback period of four years from the start of commercial production on pre-production capital.
“The project is far more complex and costly than Burnt Hill, and we would need to sign a strategic alliance agreement with a third party to further develop Thierry.”
In the meantime, the junior base metals explorer is planning to continue drilling on the K1-1 deposit, with the aim of creating “substantially more tonnage” on the open pit deposit. The company is working to update the resource at K1-1, and is targeting "further positive results" outside the current pit, with mineralization extending at depth.
Brewster says that an additional 5,000 to 7,000 metres needs to be drilled before the K1-1 resource is updated, with around 3,000 metres having been drilled so far. Baseline monitoring and environmental work is also continuing at Thierry, but a partnership is necessary to take the project to the next level.
Discussions for a potential partnership agreement at Thierry are ongoing. The Thierry Mine, which remains open at depth and to the west, has 8.8 million tonnes in estimated measured and indicated resources and 14.9 million tonnes of inferred, using a cut-off NSR of C$41/tonne. The open pit K1-1 deposit holds 53.61 million tonnes in the inferred category, at an NSR cut-off of C$11/tonne.
Cadillac’s Brewster is an optimist when speaking of the market for Canadian juniors. “There is a dichotomy between commodity prices and prices of juniors. Stock prices are at all-time lows and commodities are at near all-time highs, but I expect this will get better.”
“We have created an environment where investors will hopefully be supportive of our stock. I have had a long history with the Burnt Hill property and I know what is required to put the mine back into production.”
Indeed, Brewster forecasts a supply cliff for tin in the world beginning sometime in 2015, which he says will also apply to some degree for tungsten given that China uses nearly all what it produces internally – boding well for the Burnt Hill asset in the future.
Cadillac Ventures has recently turned its focus to the former Burnt Hill tungsten mine in New Brunswick – a property on which the company expects to restart development for little cost.
Late in November, the Toronto-based company announced that it resumed exploration on the property, which covers more than 125 square kilometres and has NI 43-101 compliant tungsten, tin and molybdenum resources.
The base metals explorer has generated buzz since the news, with its stock up more than 10 per cent in the last month.
Historical work on the mine dates back to the early part of last century, but new showings have since been discovered, in particular for tin, which will be tested in the new year.
Cadillac’s CEO, Norman Brewster, has been himself involved with the mine since the 1970s, when he was hired as a consultant by then-owner – Canadian International Paper – to assess whether the mine could be put back into production economically.
Based on a pilot plant test operation with some 14,000 tonnes, a feasibility study was done in the early 1980s, combined with a flow sheet and mill processing approach, but the price of strategic metal tungsten fell, says Brewster, after which the project became “uneconomic”. “As a result, it didn’t see the light again until 2000, when I bought it,” he adds.
Tungsten is the second hardest substance with the highest melting point, and has several industrial and military applications.
After some ownership changes, Cadillac Ventures now holds a 51 per cent interest in the Burnt Hill project, with Noront Resources holding the remainder. Brewster did some twinning of historical holes on the property, as well as some other diamond drilling to pull together the latest NI 43-101 resource estimate from 2009.
“The proposed gravity plant at the site is a simplistic, inexpensive plant to build by comparison to other base metal projects,” Cadillac’s CEO asserts. “The intent is to re-take the project to feasibility study and put it into production with as little money as we can, and by replicating previous work as completely as we can.”
The phase 1 ground exploration program at the property will target the Tin Hill, Burnt Hill Brook Area, the Burnt Hill Mine Area, and the 2 1/2 Mile Brook Area, with two prospecting crews currently in the field.
The company has said that the sampling program in each area has successfully located outcrop mineralization with quartz veining at each site. The mineralization found has been sampled, with more than 2,800 samples submitted to a lab for testing, with results to be released when available.
Cadillac has just raised $1.2 million under a recent financing to fund exploration, and plans to raise more funds next year.
“The drilling program at Burnt Hill, of some 3,000 metres, will hopefully allow us to update the resources in the next few months,” says Brewster.
Burnt Hill currently holds 461,000 tonnes of total NI 43-101 compliant underground and open pit resources in the indicated category, grading 0.489% tungsten and 0.01% tin. The inferred category holds a total of 590,000 tonnes, grading 0.535% tungsten and 0.013% tin.
Cadillac also stands to benefit from its nickel and copper Thierry project in northwestern Ontario, which consists of the past producing Thierry Mine and hosts two NI 43-101 compliant resources at the Thierry Mine and the K1-1 deposit.
The idea at this property is to blend the two ores from K1-1 and Thierry, and process material together in a common plant, running the plant at around 15,000 tonnes per day.
In September, the company released results from its summer drilling program on the K1-1 open pit deposit, located about three kilometres from the Thierry Mine. It said the campaign was a success as each hole found mineralization outside of the current NI 43-101 compliant Whittle Pit model. The results included notable intersections such as 225 feet at 0.48% copper and 0.11% nickel, as well as 160.2 feet at 0.51% copper and 0.1% nickel.
Based on a preliminary economic assessment, the Thierry project was estimated to produce a total of 5.25 million tonnes per year, comprised of 3.85 million tonnes from open pit, and 1.4 million tonnes from the underground operation.
The report showed a pre-tax net present value of $380 million using a six per cent discount rate and an internal rate of return, on a pre-tax basis, of 19 per cent, with a life-of-mine NSR revenue total of $3.7 billion.
Total estimated capital costs were seen at $843 million, or $11.93 per tonne, with a payback period of four years from the start of commercial production on pre-production capital.
“The project is far more complex and costly than Burnt Hill, and we would need to sign a strategic alliance agreement with a third party to further develop Thierry.”
In the meantime, the junior base metals explorer is planning to continue drilling on the K1-1 deposit, with the aim of creating “substantially more tonnage” on the open pit deposit. The company is working to update the resource at K1-1, and is targeting "further positive results" outside the current pit, with mineralization extending at depth.
Brewster says that an additional 5,000 to 7,000 metres needs to be drilled before the K1-1 resource is updated, with around 3,000 metres having been drilled so far. Baseline monitoring and environmental work is also continuing at Thierry, but a partnership is necessary to take the project to the next level.
Discussions for a potential partnership agreement at Thierry are ongoing. The Thierry Mine, which remains open at depth and to the west, has 8.8 million tonnes in estimated measured and indicated resources and 14.9 million tonnes of inferred, using a cut-off NSR of C$41/tonne. The open pit K1-1 deposit holds 53.61 million tonnes in the inferred category, at an NSR cut-off of C$11/tonne.
Cadillac’s Brewster is an optimist when speaking of the market for Canadian juniors. “There is a dichotomy between commodity prices and prices of juniors. Stock prices are at all-time lows and commodities are at near all-time highs, but I expect this will get better.”
“We have created an environment where investors will hopefully be supportive of our stock. I have had a long history with the Burnt Hill property and I know what is required to put the mine back into production.”
Indeed, Brewster forecasts a supply cliff for tin in the world beginning sometime in 2015, which he says will also apply to some degree for tungsten given that China uses nearly all what it produces internally – boding well for the Burnt Hill asset in the future.
2012年12月17日星期一
Cadillac Ventures takes former tungsten mine to production
Cadillac Ventures has recently turned its focus to the former Burnt Hill tungsten mine in New Brunswick – a property on which the company expects to restart development for little cost.
Late in November, the Toronto-based company announced that it resumed exploration on the property, which covers more than 125 square kilometres and has NI 43-101 compliant tungsten, tin and molybdenum resources.
The base metals explorer has generated buzz since the news, with its stock up more than 10 per cent in the last month.
Historical work on the mine dates back to the early part of last century, but new showings have since been discovered, in particular for tin, which will be tested in the new year.
Cadillac’s CEO, Norman Brewster, has been himself involved with the mine since the 1970s, when he was hired as a consultant by then-owner – Canadian International Paper – to assess whether the mine could be put back into production economically.
Based on a pilot plant test operation with some 14,000 tonnes, a feasibility study was done in the early 1980s, combined with a flow sheet and mill processing approach, but the price of strategic metal tungsten fell, says Brewster, after which the project became “uneconomic”. “As a result, it didn’t see the light again until 2000, when I bought it,” he adds.
Tungsten is the second hardest substance with the highest melting point, and has several industrial and military applications.
After some ownership changes, Cadillac Ventures now holds a 51 per cent interest in the Burnt Hill project, with Noront Resources holding the remainder. Brewster did some twinning of historical holes on the property, as well as some other diamond drilling to pull together the latest NI 43-101 resource estimate from 2009.
“The proposed gravity plant at the site is a simplistic, inexpensive plant to build by comparison to other base metal projects,” Cadillac’s CEO asserts. “The intent is to re-take the project to feasibility study and put it into production with as little money as we can, and by replicating previous work as completely as we can.”
The phase 1 ground exploration program at the property will target the Tin Hill, Burnt Hill Brook Area, the Burnt Hill Mine Area, and the 2 1/2 Mile Brook Area, with two prospecting crews currently in the field.
The company has said that the sampling program in each area has successfully located outcrop mineralization with quartz veining at each site. The mineralization found has been sampled, with more than 2,800 samples submitted to a lab for testing, with results to be released when available.
Cadillac has just raised $1.2 million under a recent financing to fund exploration, and plans to raise more funds next year.
“The drilling program at Burnt Hill, of some 3,000 metres, will hopefully allow us to update the resources in the next few months,” says Brewster.
Burnt Hill currently holds 461,000 tonnes of total NI 43-101 compliant underground and open pit resources in the indicated category, grading 0.489% tungsten and 0.01% tin. The inferred category holds a total of 590,000 tonnes, grading 0.535% tungsten and 0.013% tin.
Cadillac also stands to benefit from its nickel and copper Thierry project in northwestern Ontario, which consists of the past producing Thierry Mine and hosts two NI 43-101 compliant resources at the Thierry Mine and the K1-1 deposit.
The idea at this property is to blend the two ores from K1-1 and Thierry, and process material together in a common plant, running the plant at around 15,000 tonnes per day.
In September, the company released results from its summer drilling program on the K1-1 open pit deposit, located about three kilometres from the Thierry Mine. It said the campaign was a success as each hole found mineralization outside of the current NI 43-101 compliant Whittle Pit model. The results included notable intersections such as 225 feet at 0.48% copper and 0.11% nickel, as well as 160.2 feet at 0.51% copper and 0.1% nickel.
Based on a preliminary economic assessment, the Thierry project was estimated to produce a total of 5.25 million tonnes per year, comprised of 3.85 million tonnes from open pit, and 1.4 million tonnes from the underground operation.
The report showed a pre-tax net present value of $380 million using a six per cent discount rate and an internal rate of return, on a pre-tax basis, of 19 per cent, with a life-of-mine NSR revenue total of $3.7 billion.
Total estimated capital costs were seen at $843 million, or $11.93 per tonne, with a payback period of four years from the start of commercial production on pre-production capital.
“The project is far more complex and costly than Burnt Hill, and we would need to sign a strategic alliance agreement with a third party to further develop Thierry.”
In the meantime, the junior base metals explorer is planning to continue drilling on the K1-1 deposit, with the aim of creating “substantially more tonnage” on the open pit deposit. The company is working to update the resource at K1-1, and is targeting "further positive results" outside the current pit, with mineralization extending at depth.
Brewster says that an additional 5,000 to 7,000 metres needs to be drilled before the K1-1 resource is updated, with around 3,000 metres having been drilled so far. Baseline monitoring and environmental work is also continuing at Thierry, but a partnership is necessary to take the project to the next level.
Discussions for a potential partnership agreement at Thierry are ongoing. The Thierry Mine, which remains open at depth and to the west, has 8.8 million tonnes in estimated measured and indicated resources and 14.9 million tonnes of inferred, using a cut-off NSR of C$41/tonne. The open pit K1-1 deposit holds 53.61 million tonnes in the inferred category, at an NSR cut-off of C$11/tonne.
Cadillac’s Brewster is an optimist when speaking of the market for Canadian juniors. “There is a dichotomy between commodity prices and prices of juniors. Stock prices are at all-time lows and commodities are at near all-time highs, but I expect this will get better.”
“We have created an environment where investors will hopefully be supportive of our stock. I have had a long history with the Burnt Hill property and I know what is required to put the mine back into production.”
Indeed, Brewster forecasts a supply cliff for tin in the world beginning sometime in 2015, which he says will also apply to some degree for tungsten given that China uses nearly all what it produces internally – boding well for the Burnt Hill asset in the future.
Late in November, the Toronto-based company announced that it resumed exploration on the property, which covers more than 125 square kilometres and has NI 43-101 compliant tungsten, tin and molybdenum resources.
The base metals explorer has generated buzz since the news, with its stock up more than 10 per cent in the last month.
Historical work on the mine dates back to the early part of last century, but new showings have since been discovered, in particular for tin, which will be tested in the new year.
Cadillac’s CEO, Norman Brewster, has been himself involved with the mine since the 1970s, when he was hired as a consultant by then-owner – Canadian International Paper – to assess whether the mine could be put back into production economically.
Based on a pilot plant test operation with some 14,000 tonnes, a feasibility study was done in the early 1980s, combined with a flow sheet and mill processing approach, but the price of strategic metal tungsten fell, says Brewster, after which the project became “uneconomic”. “As a result, it didn’t see the light again until 2000, when I bought it,” he adds.
Tungsten is the second hardest substance with the highest melting point, and has several industrial and military applications.
After some ownership changes, Cadillac Ventures now holds a 51 per cent interest in the Burnt Hill project, with Noront Resources holding the remainder. Brewster did some twinning of historical holes on the property, as well as some other diamond drilling to pull together the latest NI 43-101 resource estimate from 2009.
“The proposed gravity plant at the site is a simplistic, inexpensive plant to build by comparison to other base metal projects,” Cadillac’s CEO asserts. “The intent is to re-take the project to feasibility study and put it into production with as little money as we can, and by replicating previous work as completely as we can.”
The phase 1 ground exploration program at the property will target the Tin Hill, Burnt Hill Brook Area, the Burnt Hill Mine Area, and the 2 1/2 Mile Brook Area, with two prospecting crews currently in the field.
The company has said that the sampling program in each area has successfully located outcrop mineralization with quartz veining at each site. The mineralization found has been sampled, with more than 2,800 samples submitted to a lab for testing, with results to be released when available.
Cadillac has just raised $1.2 million under a recent financing to fund exploration, and plans to raise more funds next year.
“The drilling program at Burnt Hill, of some 3,000 metres, will hopefully allow us to update the resources in the next few months,” says Brewster.
Burnt Hill currently holds 461,000 tonnes of total NI 43-101 compliant underground and open pit resources in the indicated category, grading 0.489% tungsten and 0.01% tin. The inferred category holds a total of 590,000 tonnes, grading 0.535% tungsten and 0.013% tin.
Cadillac also stands to benefit from its nickel and copper Thierry project in northwestern Ontario, which consists of the past producing Thierry Mine and hosts two NI 43-101 compliant resources at the Thierry Mine and the K1-1 deposit.
The idea at this property is to blend the two ores from K1-1 and Thierry, and process material together in a common plant, running the plant at around 15,000 tonnes per day.
In September, the company released results from its summer drilling program on the K1-1 open pit deposit, located about three kilometres from the Thierry Mine. It said the campaign was a success as each hole found mineralization outside of the current NI 43-101 compliant Whittle Pit model. The results included notable intersections such as 225 feet at 0.48% copper and 0.11% nickel, as well as 160.2 feet at 0.51% copper and 0.1% nickel.
Based on a preliminary economic assessment, the Thierry project was estimated to produce a total of 5.25 million tonnes per year, comprised of 3.85 million tonnes from open pit, and 1.4 million tonnes from the underground operation.
The report showed a pre-tax net present value of $380 million using a six per cent discount rate and an internal rate of return, on a pre-tax basis, of 19 per cent, with a life-of-mine NSR revenue total of $3.7 billion.
Total estimated capital costs were seen at $843 million, or $11.93 per tonne, with a payback period of four years from the start of commercial production on pre-production capital.
“The project is far more complex and costly than Burnt Hill, and we would need to sign a strategic alliance agreement with a third party to further develop Thierry.”
In the meantime, the junior base metals explorer is planning to continue drilling on the K1-1 deposit, with the aim of creating “substantially more tonnage” on the open pit deposit. The company is working to update the resource at K1-1, and is targeting "further positive results" outside the current pit, with mineralization extending at depth.
Brewster says that an additional 5,000 to 7,000 metres needs to be drilled before the K1-1 resource is updated, with around 3,000 metres having been drilled so far. Baseline monitoring and environmental work is also continuing at Thierry, but a partnership is necessary to take the project to the next level.
Discussions for a potential partnership agreement at Thierry are ongoing. The Thierry Mine, which remains open at depth and to the west, has 8.8 million tonnes in estimated measured and indicated resources and 14.9 million tonnes of inferred, using a cut-off NSR of C$41/tonne. The open pit K1-1 deposit holds 53.61 million tonnes in the inferred category, at an NSR cut-off of C$11/tonne.
Cadillac’s Brewster is an optimist when speaking of the market for Canadian juniors. “There is a dichotomy between commodity prices and prices of juniors. Stock prices are at all-time lows and commodities are at near all-time highs, but I expect this will get better.”
“We have created an environment where investors will hopefully be supportive of our stock. I have had a long history with the Burnt Hill property and I know what is required to put the mine back into production.”
Indeed, Brewster forecasts a supply cliff for tin in the world beginning sometime in 2015, which he says will also apply to some degree for tungsten given that China uses nearly all what it produces internally – boding well for the Burnt Hill asset in the future.
2012年12月16日星期日
North American Tungsten: CEO Interview
Tungsten is the hardest and strongest metal on the planet. It is over three times harder than chromium, cobalt and titanium and over five times harder than nickel, iron and platinum. Tungsten alloys well with other metals and displays high resistance to corrosion.
Strategically speaking, tungsten was ranked in a first place tie with rare earth elements on the British Geological Survey annual mineral "risk list" in 2012.
The updated risk list gives an indication of the relative risk to the supply of a chemical element or element groups which are required to maintain our economy and lifestyle.
The position of an element on this list is determined by a number of factors which might affect availability. These include the abundance of elements in the Earth's crust, the location of current production and reserves, and the political stability of those locations. Recycling rates are also included in the analysis.
North American Tungsten is a leading junior tungsten producer. The company currently produces 4% of the world's supply and has been producing tungsten from its Cantung mine in Canada's Northwest Territories since 2001.
The company has navigated two mine shutdowns and restarts and, during the most recently shutdown in 2010, upgraded the mine with a $25 million capital program. In addition to the Cantung mine, North American Tungsten owns the MacTung property which boasts one of the largest high-grade tungsten deposits in the world.
We recently joined company President & CEO, Stephen Leahy, for a one-on-one interview where we took a look back in time, and found out what's in store for 2013.
For many mining investors tungsten is a relatively unknown metal. Please tell our readers about tungsten mining and what tungsten is primarily used for.
Tungsten is a Strategic metal with significant attributes. It is the hardest material on earth besides diamonds, it has the highest melting point of any metal, it is close to gold in density, and it is non-toxic.
The majority of tungsten use is in cutting tools, inserts and drills. These equate to approx. 65% of consumption. The balance is widespread including military, electronics, lighting and even jewelry. New composite technology is opening up significant new markets for Tungsten that will use its density and non-toxicity as key drivers.
North American Tungsten produces 4% of the world’s tungsten – who do you sell to and what does a typical sale look like?
While all of our off-take agreements are confidential, I can tell you that we currently ship about 70% of our production to Asia and 30% to Europe. We typically contract for a minimum of one year and our pricing is usually 80% or higher of the LMB Ammonium Paratungstate quotation which is adjusted monthly.
Currently, production is out of your CanTung mine in the Northwest Territories. How long has the mine been in operation and what are the current operational highlights?
The CanTung Mine started operations in the early 60’s as an open pit mine and moved underground in the early 70’s. While we currently only have some 2 years of forward resources, we’ve had that approx. number for the last eight years of mining. Needless to say, we do believe that there is much more development to be done at CanTung.
We do boast the highest head grade of any mine we know of and our gravity concentrate is world renowned for its exceptional quality. We have made significant improvements, investing some $50 million at the mine in the last 2 years, boosting productivity and efficiencies.
On October 16th the company announced a major permitting milestone for its MacTung project in the Yukon. What is the significance of the Draft Screening Report?
The draft screening report from the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board recommending that our MacTung project proceed, is a major milestone in the Yukon mining permitting process. The DSR essentially gives the green light for the project to the government regulators for their approval.
Once permitting has been fully received, what are your plans for MacTung?
Financing is the key to MacTung and we have already started the process to connect with potential partners and long term off-take entities. The construction plans for MacTung call for a 2 year time frame.
Globally, how does MacTung stack up against other tungsten projects in operation or in development?
MacTung is the world’s largest known undeveloped high grade tungsten-skarn deposit with over 33 million tonnes at 0.88 WO3. That means a 30+ year mine life, which in the tungsten world is very very significant.
Disclosure: at publication date North American Tungsten is a client of MiningFeeds.
Strategically speaking, tungsten was ranked in a first place tie with rare earth elements on the British Geological Survey annual mineral "risk list" in 2012.
The updated risk list gives an indication of the relative risk to the supply of a chemical element or element groups which are required to maintain our economy and lifestyle.
The position of an element on this list is determined by a number of factors which might affect availability. These include the abundance of elements in the Earth's crust, the location of current production and reserves, and the political stability of those locations. Recycling rates are also included in the analysis.
North American Tungsten is a leading junior tungsten producer. The company currently produces 4% of the world's supply and has been producing tungsten from its Cantung mine in Canada's Northwest Territories since 2001.
The company has navigated two mine shutdowns and restarts and, during the most recently shutdown in 2010, upgraded the mine with a $25 million capital program. In addition to the Cantung mine, North American Tungsten owns the MacTung property which boasts one of the largest high-grade tungsten deposits in the world.
We recently joined company President & CEO, Stephen Leahy, for a one-on-one interview where we took a look back in time, and found out what's in store for 2013.
For many mining investors tungsten is a relatively unknown metal. Please tell our readers about tungsten mining and what tungsten is primarily used for.
Tungsten is a Strategic metal with significant attributes. It is the hardest material on earth besides diamonds, it has the highest melting point of any metal, it is close to gold in density, and it is non-toxic.
The majority of tungsten use is in cutting tools, inserts and drills. These equate to approx. 65% of consumption. The balance is widespread including military, electronics, lighting and even jewelry. New composite technology is opening up significant new markets for Tungsten that will use its density and non-toxicity as key drivers.
North American Tungsten produces 4% of the world’s tungsten – who do you sell to and what does a typical sale look like?
While all of our off-take agreements are confidential, I can tell you that we currently ship about 70% of our production to Asia and 30% to Europe. We typically contract for a minimum of one year and our pricing is usually 80% or higher of the LMB Ammonium Paratungstate quotation which is adjusted monthly.
Currently, production is out of your CanTung mine in the Northwest Territories. How long has the mine been in operation and what are the current operational highlights?
The CanTung Mine started operations in the early 60’s as an open pit mine and moved underground in the early 70’s. While we currently only have some 2 years of forward resources, we’ve had that approx. number for the last eight years of mining. Needless to say, we do believe that there is much more development to be done at CanTung.
We do boast the highest head grade of any mine we know of and our gravity concentrate is world renowned for its exceptional quality. We have made significant improvements, investing some $50 million at the mine in the last 2 years, boosting productivity and efficiencies.
On October 16th the company announced a major permitting milestone for its MacTung project in the Yukon. What is the significance of the Draft Screening Report?
The draft screening report from the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board recommending that our MacTung project proceed, is a major milestone in the Yukon mining permitting process. The DSR essentially gives the green light for the project to the government regulators for their approval.
Once permitting has been fully received, what are your plans for MacTung?
Financing is the key to MacTung and we have already started the process to connect with potential partners and long term off-take entities. The construction plans for MacTung call for a 2 year time frame.
Globally, how does MacTung stack up against other tungsten projects in operation or in development?
MacTung is the world’s largest known undeveloped high grade tungsten-skarn deposit with over 33 million tonnes at 0.88 WO3. That means a 30+ year mine life, which in the tungsten world is very very significant.
Disclosure: at publication date North American Tungsten is a client of MiningFeeds.
2012年12月13日星期四
Tungsten Alloy Military Colombian Rebels Like Gold
Colombian rebels like gold
Income from gold mining has overtaken drug trafficking for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, according to a new report from political risk firm Exclusive Analysis.
In some cases the rebel groups and a new generation of drug gangs known locally as Bacrims, are carrying out their own gold mining operations and in others they are collecting protection money for equipment owned by mining companies, Amanda Russo, the intelligence company’s head of corporate communications, elaborates in an email from London.
“Mining income has overtaken that from drug trafficking for FARC rebels in some provinces,” Carlos Caicedo, head of the agency’s Latin American Forecasting and author of the report, outlined in a press release. “The scant security force presence in some of these remote areas permits the FARC and Bacrims to latch on to this and often fight each other for the right to extort.”
It is a similar situation in the departments of Cauca, Choco and Valle Del Cauca, the report claims. Caicedo also noted that FARC and drug gang involvement in gold mining increases the risk of extortion and property damage, particularly in places like Antioquia and Putumayo.
There is evidence, too, he said, of armed groups controlling coltan and tungsten operations in the eastern provinces of Vichada and Guainia.
But Robert Carrington, president and chief executive of Colombian Mines Corporation (CMJ-V), who has worked in Colombia for two decades, says the FARC have been doing this for some time and the government is battling it, and the report doesn’t break any new ground.
“Every once in a while someone reinvents the terror wheel about Colombia,” he says. “They try to bring out how dangerous a place it is, and the drugs, and it’s almost shock value to get people to read whatever it is they’re trying to say.”
Carrington says the FARC has engaged in illegal mining activity and extorted small Colombian miners for years, adding that he doesn’t know of any multinationals that are grappling with the issue. Extortion is usually a problem for Colombian nationals who are operating small placer operations, he explains, where one man with an excavator hires five or six men to help him. “Some times the guys will get a knock on their door at midnight and someone sticks a gun in their mouth and collects what they call a war tax; it’s protection money.”
Some of the guerrillas are also mining placer gold themselves, he adds. They will get equipment, either by stealing it or buying it, and find an area rich in placer gold and mine it themselves.
According to Carrington, guerrilla bands can show up almost anywhere but that for the most part they avoid highly populated areas that have good road networks because that is where they can be cornered by police and the military. He also points out that gold mining has been part of the country’s culture and its economy since pre-Colombian times, and as a result all the roads are in some of the more prospective gold regions and generally these areas have pretty high levels of security.
“What I tell all of our investors is, it’s just like working in Los Angeles,” he says. “If you go into the wrong neighborhood you are going to have trouble, but there are a lot of people who work in L.A. every day and never have a problem with crime or gangs and all of that.”
Having said that, however, Colombia is a country where you want to be careful and companies that choose to operate in more remote guerrilla-held territory are taking risks, he says. “There are some foreign companies operating in some parts of Colombia and I don’t know how they’re operating unless they’re paying protection money,” he says. “There are some companies working in parts of Colombia that I still elect not to work in. And whether it’s because they have military security there or maybe they pay protection money, I don’t know.”
Income from gold mining has overtaken drug trafficking for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, according to a new report from political risk firm Exclusive Analysis.
In some cases the rebel groups and a new generation of drug gangs known locally as Bacrims, are carrying out their own gold mining operations and in others they are collecting protection money for equipment owned by mining companies, Amanda Russo, the intelligence company’s head of corporate communications, elaborates in an email from London.
“Mining income has overtaken that from drug trafficking for FARC rebels in some provinces,” Carlos Caicedo, head of the agency’s Latin American Forecasting and author of the report, outlined in a press release. “The scant security force presence in some of these remote areas permits the FARC and Bacrims to latch on to this and often fight each other for the right to extort.”
It is a similar situation in the departments of Cauca, Choco and Valle Del Cauca, the report claims. Caicedo also noted that FARC and drug gang involvement in gold mining increases the risk of extortion and property damage, particularly in places like Antioquia and Putumayo.
There is evidence, too, he said, of armed groups controlling coltan and tungsten operations in the eastern provinces of Vichada and Guainia.
But Robert Carrington, president and chief executive of Colombian Mines Corporation (CMJ-V), who has worked in Colombia for two decades, says the FARC have been doing this for some time and the government is battling it, and the report doesn’t break any new ground.
“Every once in a while someone reinvents the terror wheel about Colombia,” he says. “They try to bring out how dangerous a place it is, and the drugs, and it’s almost shock value to get people to read whatever it is they’re trying to say.”
Carrington says the FARC has engaged in illegal mining activity and extorted small Colombian miners for years, adding that he doesn’t know of any multinationals that are grappling with the issue. Extortion is usually a problem for Colombian nationals who are operating small placer operations, he explains, where one man with an excavator hires five or six men to help him. “Some times the guys will get a knock on their door at midnight and someone sticks a gun in their mouth and collects what they call a war tax; it’s protection money.”
Some of the guerrillas are also mining placer gold themselves, he adds. They will get equipment, either by stealing it or buying it, and find an area rich in placer gold and mine it themselves.
According to Carrington, guerrilla bands can show up almost anywhere but that for the most part they avoid highly populated areas that have good road networks because that is where they can be cornered by police and the military. He also points out that gold mining has been part of the country’s culture and its economy since pre-Colombian times, and as a result all the roads are in some of the more prospective gold regions and generally these areas have pretty high levels of security.
“What I tell all of our investors is, it’s just like working in Los Angeles,” he says. “If you go into the wrong neighborhood you are going to have trouble, but there are a lot of people who work in L.A. every day and never have a problem with crime or gangs and all of that.”
Having said that, however, Colombia is a country where you want to be careful and companies that choose to operate in more remote guerrilla-held territory are taking risks, he says. “There are some foreign companies operating in some parts of Colombia and I don’t know how they’re operating unless they’re paying protection money,” he says. “There are some companies working in parts of Colombia that I still elect not to work in. And whether it’s because they have military security there or maybe they pay protection money, I don’t know.”
2012年12月12日星期三
Tungsten Heavy Alloy for Military
China’s mining occupation of the Philippines
While China’s brazen occupation of the Philippines’ Scarborough Shoal, located just 125 nautical miles from Masinloc, Zambales, has captured all the national and international attention, little has been mentioned about China’s occupation of the Philippine mining industry, an entirely different issue from the Filipino Chinese (“Chinoys”) domination of the Philippine economy.
For example, one of China’s vast army of mining companies operating almost under the radar in the Philippines is located near the Scarborough Shoal in the coastal town of Masinloc where China’s Wei-Wei Group has set up a US$100 million nickel processing plant. In nearby Botolan, Zambales, China’s Jiangxi Rare Earth and Rare Metals Tungsten Group Company Limited operates a US$150 million nickel exploration and cobalt processing project.
As the Asia Sentinel reported on November 12, 2012 (“China’s Filipino Gold Rush”), “With an estimated US$1 trillion in untapped mineral resources in the Philippines, according to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, Chinese mining companies, many of them operating illegally, have been exporting gold, nickel and other precious minerals out through the island country’s porous coastal ports, where there are no customs officials and plenty of bribable officials to turn their eyes the other way.”
With its occupation of the Scarborough Shoal (what China calls “Huanyin Island”), smuggling precious metals from the Philippines to a China base will be even more convenient especially after it is transformed into a four story fortress, as China did with the Philippines’ Mischief Reef, located just 75 miles from Palawan, which China occupied in 1996.
The Asia Sentinel’s investigation reported that “as of now, of the gold registered as leaving the Philippines, only 3 percent of the exports are registered with customs officials… The other 97 percent arrives in Hong Kong without being taxed by the government in Manila, resulting in a massive tax loss.”
While that 97% of the gold is leaving the Philippines illegally, it is somehow legally entering Hong Kong as HK trade statistics showed that “gold consignments imported from Philippines into Hong Kong had been declared,” the Sentinel added.
In April of 2011, Pacific Strategies and Assessments (PSA), a company supplying foreign embassies and corporations in Manila with intelligence and business climate reports, released a study titled “Exploitive Chinese Mining in the Philippines” which reported that the incursion of Chinese mining firms into the Philippines has had a disastrous effect on the Philippine environment.
“While few are surprised over the assertiveness and penetration of Chinese mining investors, there is substantial evidence of unaccountability, misconduct and corruption in many Chinese mining deals,” the PSA reported.
These firms do not “deliver correct compensation for environmental damage and value of minerals extracted from devastated mining areas….Chinese mining companies have a reputation for poor adherence to environment standards, especially with regard to small-scale mining projects,” the report added.
China’s mine safety record is the worst in the world. More than 2,600 Chinese miners died in mining accidents last year. While China accounts for 40% of the world’s global coal output, it accounts for 80% of mining deaths in the world.
In 2008, the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources admitted that at least 3 million metric tons of various mineral ores were brought into China that were untaxed in the Philippines.
The Chinese mining companies’ occupation of the Philippines began in earnest during the administration of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when 26 Chinese corporations registered in the Philippines to mine for gold, iron ore, nickel, copper, manganese, lead, zinc, chromate and cobalt. They operate in 16 provinces in the Philippines: Cagayan, Benguet, Zambales, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Palawan, Leyte, Eastern Samar, Bohol, Cebu, Misamis Oriental, Davao Oriental, Surigao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur.
One of China’s mining companies operating in the Philippines, the Jiangxi Rare Earth and Rare Metals Tungsten Group Co. Ltd., is a China government owned company. One of the minerals Jiangxi is mining in the Philippines is nickel. The Philippines is China’s No. 1 source of nickel ore, with Indonesia a close second. Because Indonesia has just imposed a nickel ore export ban, China will undoubtedly increase its import of nickel ore from the Philippines.
Nickel super-alloys are a critical component in advanced jet engines and are used in the engines of 5th generation jet fighters.
According to the 2006 Minerals Yearbook of the United States Geologic Survey: “The F-35 Joint Strike Force Fighter project is projected to include production of about 3,000 aircraft and 6,000 engines that would use 3rd generation nickel-based super-alloys. The F-22 Raptor is expected to add another 700 aircraft.”
China’s invasion of the Philippines’ Kalayaan Islands in the Spratlys, with its estimated 50 billion barrels of oil reserves, may likely be accomplished with the heavy-handed use of China’s People’s Liberation Army jets, made with nickel-based super-alloys extracted from the Philippines.
According to “Troubled Waters” documentary producer/director Vince Wade, “a military clash is a possibility but most people don’t realize these conflicts are essentially economic warfare, which is already underway,” Wade said.
“China appears to have a plan to use business and trade to gain de facto control of the economies of the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations through domination of the energy, mineral and telecommunications sectors,” Wade added.
If China ever threatens again to embargo Philippine bananas or ban Chinese tourists from the Philippines to coerce the Philippine government to withdraw its ships from the Scarborough Shoal or any territory within the Philippines 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone, the Philippine government should retaliate by shutting down all nickel exports to China, and all the Chinese mining companies in the Philippines.
While China’s brazen occupation of the Philippines’ Scarborough Shoal, located just 125 nautical miles from Masinloc, Zambales, has captured all the national and international attention, little has been mentioned about China’s occupation of the Philippine mining industry, an entirely different issue from the Filipino Chinese (“Chinoys”) domination of the Philippine economy.
For example, one of China’s vast army of mining companies operating almost under the radar in the Philippines is located near the Scarborough Shoal in the coastal town of Masinloc where China’s Wei-Wei Group has set up a US$100 million nickel processing plant. In nearby Botolan, Zambales, China’s Jiangxi Rare Earth and Rare Metals Tungsten Group Company Limited operates a US$150 million nickel exploration and cobalt processing project.
As the Asia Sentinel reported on November 12, 2012 (“China’s Filipino Gold Rush”), “With an estimated US$1 trillion in untapped mineral resources in the Philippines, according to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, Chinese mining companies, many of them operating illegally, have been exporting gold, nickel and other precious minerals out through the island country’s porous coastal ports, where there are no customs officials and plenty of bribable officials to turn their eyes the other way.”
With its occupation of the Scarborough Shoal (what China calls “Huanyin Island”), smuggling precious metals from the Philippines to a China base will be even more convenient especially after it is transformed into a four story fortress, as China did with the Philippines’ Mischief Reef, located just 75 miles from Palawan, which China occupied in 1996.
The Asia Sentinel’s investigation reported that “as of now, of the gold registered as leaving the Philippines, only 3 percent of the exports are registered with customs officials… The other 97 percent arrives in Hong Kong without being taxed by the government in Manila, resulting in a massive tax loss.”
While that 97% of the gold is leaving the Philippines illegally, it is somehow legally entering Hong Kong as HK trade statistics showed that “gold consignments imported from Philippines into Hong Kong had been declared,” the Sentinel added.
In April of 2011, Pacific Strategies and Assessments (PSA), a company supplying foreign embassies and corporations in Manila with intelligence and business climate reports, released a study titled “Exploitive Chinese Mining in the Philippines” which reported that the incursion of Chinese mining firms into the Philippines has had a disastrous effect on the Philippine environment.
“While few are surprised over the assertiveness and penetration of Chinese mining investors, there is substantial evidence of unaccountability, misconduct and corruption in many Chinese mining deals,” the PSA reported.
These firms do not “deliver correct compensation for environmental damage and value of minerals extracted from devastated mining areas….Chinese mining companies have a reputation for poor adherence to environment standards, especially with regard to small-scale mining projects,” the report added.
China’s mine safety record is the worst in the world. More than 2,600 Chinese miners died in mining accidents last year. While China accounts for 40% of the world’s global coal output, it accounts for 80% of mining deaths in the world.
In 2008, the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources admitted that at least 3 million metric tons of various mineral ores were brought into China that were untaxed in the Philippines.
The Chinese mining companies’ occupation of the Philippines began in earnest during the administration of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when 26 Chinese corporations registered in the Philippines to mine for gold, iron ore, nickel, copper, manganese, lead, zinc, chromate and cobalt. They operate in 16 provinces in the Philippines: Cagayan, Benguet, Zambales, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Palawan, Leyte, Eastern Samar, Bohol, Cebu, Misamis Oriental, Davao Oriental, Surigao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur.
One of China’s mining companies operating in the Philippines, the Jiangxi Rare Earth and Rare Metals Tungsten Group Co. Ltd., is a China government owned company. One of the minerals Jiangxi is mining in the Philippines is nickel. The Philippines is China’s No. 1 source of nickel ore, with Indonesia a close second. Because Indonesia has just imposed a nickel ore export ban, China will undoubtedly increase its import of nickel ore from the Philippines.
Nickel super-alloys are a critical component in advanced jet engines and are used in the engines of 5th generation jet fighters.
According to the 2006 Minerals Yearbook of the United States Geologic Survey: “The F-35 Joint Strike Force Fighter project is projected to include production of about 3,000 aircraft and 6,000 engines that would use 3rd generation nickel-based super-alloys. The F-22 Raptor is expected to add another 700 aircraft.”
China’s invasion of the Philippines’ Kalayaan Islands in the Spratlys, with its estimated 50 billion barrels of oil reserves, may likely be accomplished with the heavy-handed use of China’s People’s Liberation Army jets, made with nickel-based super-alloys extracted from the Philippines.
According to “Troubled Waters” documentary producer/director Vince Wade, “a military clash is a possibility but most people don’t realize these conflicts are essentially economic warfare, which is already underway,” Wade said.
“China appears to have a plan to use business and trade to gain de facto control of the economies of the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations through domination of the energy, mineral and telecommunications sectors,” Wade added.
If China ever threatens again to embargo Philippine bananas or ban Chinese tourists from the Philippines to coerce the Philippine government to withdraw its ships from the Scarborough Shoal or any territory within the Philippines 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone, the Philippine government should retaliate by shutting down all nickel exports to China, and all the Chinese mining companies in the Philippines.
Tungsten Alloy Military in Global Nanotechnology Industry
Global Nanotechnology Industry
This report analyzes the Global market for Nanotechnology in US$ Billion by the following End-Use Sectors: Chemicals, Automotive, Aerospace & Defense, Semiconductors & Electronics, Pharma & Healthcare, Food, and Others. Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2009 through 2018.The report profiles 670 companies including many key and niche players such as Advanced Diamond Technologies, Inc., Advanced Nano Products Company Limited, Altair Nanotechnologies Inc., Arrowhead Research Corporation., Calando Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Bruker Corporation, Catalytic Materials, LLC, Chemat Technology Inc., eSpin Technologies, Inc., ELITech Group, Genefluidics, Inc., Hanwha Nanotech Corporation, Hybrid Plastics, Hyperion Catalysis International, Inc., Integran Technologies, Inc., Intrinsiq Materials Limited, Life Technologies Corportation, Luxtera, Inc., Nanocyl S.A., NanoGram Corporation, NanoMaterials Ltd., Nanosys, Inc., Quantumsphere, Inc., Raymor Industries, Inc., Rogue Valley Microdevices, Inc., Shenzhen Nanotech Port Co., Ltd., SouthWest NanoTechnologies, Inc., Starpharma Holdings, Dendritic Nanotechnologies, Inc., Teledyne Scientific & Imaging, LLC, and Unidym, Inc. Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research. Company profiles are primarily based upon search engine sources in the public domain.
2012年12月11日星期二
Tungsten Alloy Products For Military
Tungsten is the new black -- surprise him with a strong gift
With the holidays here, it will soon be time to start the challenging process of finding the perfect gift for the man in your life. Why not a gift that captures your special guys' strength and power, with a bold sense of adventure?
If you miss Christmas, something surprising in the New Year would also be welcome.
In the past, typically men's rings were made from the same material that women's rings were made from. Gold, silver and platinum were all great options for men. However, changes in taste and lifestyle have brought other materials for mens' rings to the forefront, chiefly among them tungsten carbide rings.
Tungsten carbide has been to space, is used in industry and has applications in the aerospace and military arenas, making it that much more desirable for the modern male to have on his finger. They have a futuristic aura. For the man in your life lucky enough to receive one from you, it gives him unique freedom to express his individuality.
Tungsten is a very hard, dense metal, possessing the highest melting point of all metals - 6,100 degrees Fahrenheit. However, by itself tungsten is very susceptible to scratching and other damage. When combined with a carbon alloy, it gains a hardness of 8.5 to 9.5 on the Mohs scale, making it optimal for use in industry as well.
Due to their extreme hardness and always polished appearance, tungsten carbide rings make a great gift for the man in your life. Because of their hardness, the ring will never be scratched. And unlike titanium rings, which are also hot on the men's jewelry market now, a tungsten carbide ring cannot be bent out of shape.
One drawback to all this damage resistance, however, in that tungsten carbide rings are almost impossible to resize. For this reason, if the ring is to be a gift, make sure you select the right size.
When selecting a tungsten ring for the man on your list, make sure to select a cobalt-free ring. Some cheaper tungsten carbide rings use this alloy in the production process. Cobalt can be combined with tungsten much easier, making for a cheaper production process. However, the cobalt can react with the oils in your skin and develop permanent oxidation damage that cannot be removed.
For a gift as strong and powerful as the special man you are selecting it for - tungsten carbide stands the test of time.
With the holidays here, it will soon be time to start the challenging process of finding the perfect gift for the man in your life. Why not a gift that captures your special guys' strength and power, with a bold sense of adventure?
If you miss Christmas, something surprising in the New Year would also be welcome.
In the past, typically men's rings were made from the same material that women's rings were made from. Gold, silver and platinum were all great options for men. However, changes in taste and lifestyle have brought other materials for mens' rings to the forefront, chiefly among them tungsten carbide rings.
Tungsten carbide has been to space, is used in industry and has applications in the aerospace and military arenas, making it that much more desirable for the modern male to have on his finger. They have a futuristic aura. For the man in your life lucky enough to receive one from you, it gives him unique freedom to express his individuality.
Tungsten is a very hard, dense metal, possessing the highest melting point of all metals - 6,100 degrees Fahrenheit. However, by itself tungsten is very susceptible to scratching and other damage. When combined with a carbon alloy, it gains a hardness of 8.5 to 9.5 on the Mohs scale, making it optimal for use in industry as well.
Due to their extreme hardness and always polished appearance, tungsten carbide rings make a great gift for the man in your life. Because of their hardness, the ring will never be scratched. And unlike titanium rings, which are also hot on the men's jewelry market now, a tungsten carbide ring cannot be bent out of shape.
One drawback to all this damage resistance, however, in that tungsten carbide rings are almost impossible to resize. For this reason, if the ring is to be a gift, make sure you select the right size.
When selecting a tungsten ring for the man on your list, make sure to select a cobalt-free ring. Some cheaper tungsten carbide rings use this alloy in the production process. Cobalt can be combined with tungsten much easier, making for a cheaper production process. However, the cobalt can react with the oils in your skin and develop permanent oxidation damage that cannot be removed.
For a gift as strong and powerful as the special man you are selecting it for - tungsten carbide stands the test of time.
Tungsten Alloy For Military
North American Tungsten: CEO Interview
Tungsten is the hardest and strongest metal on the planet. It is over three times harder than chromium, cobalt and titanium and over five times harder than nickel, iron and platinum. Tungsten alloys well with other metals and displays high resistance to corrosion.
Strategically speaking, tungsten was ranked in a first place tie with rare earth elements on the British Geological Survey annual mineral "risk list" in 2012.
The updated risk list gives an indication of the relative risk to the supply of a chemical element or element groups which are required to maintain our economy and lifestyle.
The position of an element on this list is determined by a number of factors which might affect availability. These include the abundance of elements in the Earth's crust, the location of current production and reserves, and the political stability of those locations. Recycling rates are also included in the analysis.
North American Tungsten is a leading junior tungsten producer. The company currently produces 4% of the world's supply and has been producing tungsten from its Cantung mine in Canada's Northwest Territories since 2001.
The company has navigated two mine shutdowns and restarts and, during the most recently shutdown in 2010, upgraded the mine with a $25 million capital program. In addition to the Cantung mine, North American Tungsten owns the MacTung property which boasts one of the largest high-grade tungsten deposits in the world.
We recently joined company President & CEO, Stephen Leahy, for a one-on-one interview where we took a look back in time, and found out what's in store for 2013.
For many mining investors tungsten is a relatively unknown metal. Please tell our readers about tungsten mining and what tungsten is primarily used for.
Tungsten is a Strategic metal with significant attributes. It is the hardest material on earth besides diamonds, it has the highest melting point of any metal, it is close to gold in density, and it is non-toxic.
The majority of tungsten use is in cutting tools, inserts and drills. These equate to approx. 65% of consumption. The balance is widespread including military, electronics, lighting and even jewelry. New composite technology is opening up significant new markets for Tungsten that will use its density and non-toxicity as key drivers.
North American Tungsten produces 4% of the world’s tungsten – who do you sell to and what does a typical sale look like?
While all of our off-take agreements are confidential, I can tell you that we currently ship about 70% of our production to Asia and 30% to Europe. We typically contract for a minimum of one year and our pricing is usually 80% or higher of the LMB Ammonium Paratungstate (APT) quotation which is adjusted monthly.
Currently, production is out of your CanTung mine in the Northwest Territories. How long has the mine been in operation and what are the current operational highlights?
The CanTung Mine started operations in the early 60’s as an open pit mine and moved underground in the early 70’s. While we currently only have some 2 years of forward resources, we’ve had that approx. number for the last eight years of mining. Needless to say, we do believe that there is much more development to be done at CanTung.
We do boast the highest head grade of any mine we know of and our gravity concentrate is world renowned for its exceptional quality. We have made significant improvements, investing some $50 million at the mine in the last 2 years, boosting productivity and efficiencies.
On October 16th the company announced a major permitting milestone for its MacTung project in the Yukon. What is the significance of the Draft Screening Report?
The draft screening report from the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board recommending that our MacTung project proceed, is a major milestone in the Yukon mining permitting process. The DSR essentially gives the green light for the project to the government regulators for their approval.
Once permitting has been fully received, what are your plans for MacTung?
Financing is the key to MacTung and we have already started the process to connect with potential partners and long term off-take entities. The construction plans for MacTung call for a 2 year time frame.
Globally, how does MacTung stack up against other tungsten projects in operation or in development?
MacTung is the world’s largest known undeveloped high grade tungsten-skarn deposit with over 33 million tonnes at 0.88 WO3. That means a 30+ year mine life, which in the tungsten world is very very significant.
Tungsten is the hardest and strongest metal on the planet. It is over three times harder than chromium, cobalt and titanium and over five times harder than nickel, iron and platinum. Tungsten alloys well with other metals and displays high resistance to corrosion.
Strategically speaking, tungsten was ranked in a first place tie with rare earth elements on the British Geological Survey annual mineral "risk list" in 2012.
The updated risk list gives an indication of the relative risk to the supply of a chemical element or element groups which are required to maintain our economy and lifestyle.
The position of an element on this list is determined by a number of factors which might affect availability. These include the abundance of elements in the Earth's crust, the location of current production and reserves, and the political stability of those locations. Recycling rates are also included in the analysis.
North American Tungsten is a leading junior tungsten producer. The company currently produces 4% of the world's supply and has been producing tungsten from its Cantung mine in Canada's Northwest Territories since 2001.
The company has navigated two mine shutdowns and restarts and, during the most recently shutdown in 2010, upgraded the mine with a $25 million capital program. In addition to the Cantung mine, North American Tungsten owns the MacTung property which boasts one of the largest high-grade tungsten deposits in the world.
We recently joined company President & CEO, Stephen Leahy, for a one-on-one interview where we took a look back in time, and found out what's in store for 2013.
For many mining investors tungsten is a relatively unknown metal. Please tell our readers about tungsten mining and what tungsten is primarily used for.
Tungsten is a Strategic metal with significant attributes. It is the hardest material on earth besides diamonds, it has the highest melting point of any metal, it is close to gold in density, and it is non-toxic.
The majority of tungsten use is in cutting tools, inserts and drills. These equate to approx. 65% of consumption. The balance is widespread including military, electronics, lighting and even jewelry. New composite technology is opening up significant new markets for Tungsten that will use its density and non-toxicity as key drivers.
North American Tungsten produces 4% of the world’s tungsten – who do you sell to and what does a typical sale look like?
While all of our off-take agreements are confidential, I can tell you that we currently ship about 70% of our production to Asia and 30% to Europe. We typically contract for a minimum of one year and our pricing is usually 80% or higher of the LMB Ammonium Paratungstate (APT) quotation which is adjusted monthly.
Currently, production is out of your CanTung mine in the Northwest Territories. How long has the mine been in operation and what are the current operational highlights?
The CanTung Mine started operations in the early 60’s as an open pit mine and moved underground in the early 70’s. While we currently only have some 2 years of forward resources, we’ve had that approx. number for the last eight years of mining. Needless to say, we do believe that there is much more development to be done at CanTung.
We do boast the highest head grade of any mine we know of and our gravity concentrate is world renowned for its exceptional quality. We have made significant improvements, investing some $50 million at the mine in the last 2 years, boosting productivity and efficiencies.
On October 16th the company announced a major permitting milestone for its MacTung project in the Yukon. What is the significance of the Draft Screening Report?
The draft screening report from the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board recommending that our MacTung project proceed, is a major milestone in the Yukon mining permitting process. The DSR essentially gives the green light for the project to the government regulators for their approval.
Once permitting has been fully received, what are your plans for MacTung?
Financing is the key to MacTung and we have already started the process to connect with potential partners and long term off-take entities. The construction plans for MacTung call for a 2 year time frame.
Globally, how does MacTung stack up against other tungsten projects in operation or in development?
MacTung is the world’s largest known undeveloped high grade tungsten-skarn deposit with over 33 million tonnes at 0.88 WO3. That means a 30+ year mine life, which in the tungsten world is very very significant.
2012年12月10日星期一
Application of Tungsten Alloy Swaging Rod
Of particular importance to ordnance applications are the properties of tensile strength and ductility. Tensile strength is required for alloys used in kinetic energy penetrator designed to defeat multiple space armor. The higher the tensile strength,the deeper the armor rod penetrating under the same conditions. Besides sufficient strength the penetrator rod must remain ductile enough to endure flexure when hitting on the armor without fracture and endure greater cold working deformation to further improve strength.So,one type of material which with high tensile strength and good ductility is desirable for making the penetrator rod,such as tungsten alloy material.
Tungsten alloy is a particle composite which contains a very large percentage of nearly spherical tungsten particles embedded in a ductile matrix of nickel -iron. This composite structure results in a high density material with a useful combination of mechani-cal properties: high strength, moderate, ductility and outstanding thermal conductivity.
Tungsten alloy swaging rod made of tungsten alloy blank also possess the properties the tungsten alloy has.And tungsten alloy swaging rod has been improved the properties of tensile strength through swaging maching.The properties above make tungsten alloy swaging rod an attractive for many military and civil applications, such as depleted uranium penetrators, bullet, armor piercing, rifle bullet, snipe rifle penetrator and so on.
2012年12月7日星期五
Military Tungsten Heavy Alloy Rod
Tungsten heavy alloy is increasingly adopted in tungsten alloy defense as the raw material to make parts of military products, such as bullet, armor and shells, shrapnel head, grenade, hunting gun, bullet warheads, bulletproof vehicles, tank panzers, cannons, firearms, etc. A major use for tungsten heavy alloy is in kinetic energy penetrators, where they are in direct competition with depleted uranium (DU). Recent investigations conducted at the Army Research Laboratory show that DU’s superior properties resulted from its ability to localize shear during ballistic penetration events.
What is Tungsten Alloy Rod?
Tungsten alloy rod is produced by pressing and sintering into billets, which are worked by rolling or swaging into rod. Smaller sizes are produced by subsequent drawing. Tungsten rod is produced in straight random lengths with a smooth swaged surface at diameters 3mm and larger, and with a smooth drawn finish below 3mm. A center less-ground finish can also be furnished. Specific lengths and special fabrications can be supplied upon request.
We can offer the tungsten heavy alloy rod for military usage, such as bomblet, armor-piercing bullet, etc. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with our customers in the design of individual specifications. Our mission is to meet individual customer requirements. Flexibility is our strength. We pride ourselves on being able to find the right solution to customer’s problems. Owing to its terrific hardness and resistance to increased temperature, tungsten adopted in army defense progressively today.
The normal tungsten alloy rod after swaging, ultimate tensile strength would be increased greatly. The ultimate tensile strength of general tungsten alloy rod is 1050 MPa . However, after swaging, the ultimate tensile strength can reach 1200 MPa min, we could even control at 1400 MPa. This type of rod is one of our main products. Tungsten alloy swaging rod can be use in military defense, such as depleted uranium penetrators, bullet, armor piercing, rifle bullet, snipe rifle penetrator, etc.
Applications for Tungsten Rod
These kinds of rods could be machined further, which are usually used to making the parts of counterweight, radiation shielding, military tungsten alloy defense appliance, welding rod, extrusion die, also for some sports fields, such as darts, billets, golf club, etc. As its high density, high melting point, small capacity, excellent hardness, superior wearing resistance, high ultimate tensile strength, etc, tungsten alloy rod is increasingly welcomed by public. Tungsten alloy tubes are mainly used in the military industry, the aerospace, mechanical manufacture, medical shielding, petroleum and sporting balance, etc.
2012年11月26日星期一
Tungsten Alloy Swaging Rod for Military
Tungsten alloy swaging rod:
Normally, The tungsten alloy rod after swaging, ultimate tensile strength would be increased quitely. The ultimate tensile strength of general tungsten alloy rod is 1050 MPa . However, after swaging, the ultimate tensile strength can be up to 1200 MPa min, we could even control at 1400 MPa. This type of rod is one of our main products. The composition of this kind of products is 93%WNiFe.
Following are our common types of tungsten alloy swaging rod:
Diameter: 12mm~20mm, Length: less than 400mm;
Diameter: 20mm~400mm, Length: less than 500mm.
As well, we can produce the products according to the clients' demand.
Tungsten Heavy Alloy Main properties:
*High density
*High melting point
*Small volume
*Excellent hardness
*Superior wearing resistance
*High ultimate tensile strength
*High ductility
*High temperature resistance
*Low vapor pressure
Application of tungsten alloy swaging rod on the Military field:
Tungsten alloy swaging rod can be widely use in military defense, such as
depleted uranium penetrators, bullet, armor piercing, rifle bullet, snipe rifle
penetrator, etc.
Process of tungsten alloy swaging rod:
1).Mixing
2).Pressing
3).Sintering
4).Heat treatment
5).Swaging
6).Machining
Repeated heat treatment and swaging is need at least several times.
In this way, products can be improved at tensile strength as well decrease
elongation and impact toughness of products.
2012年11月25日星期日
Tungsten Military -China successfully lands first fighter jet on aircraft carrier
The state-run Chinese press on Sunday announced the success of the first takeoff and landing of a fighter jet on the aircraft carrier Liaoning, the first and only such vessel in the Chinese navy.
The first images of the new model J-15 fighter on board the Liaoning, which was commissioned earlier this year, were shown by China Network Television, the Internet channel of the state-run CCTV network.
The J-15 is the first Chinese multi-use fighter designed to be flown from aircraft carriers, according to the daily Global Times, which is usually the first Chinese media outlet to report the country's military advances.
Experts compare the technology used in the J-15 with that of the U.S. F-18 or the Russian SU-33.
The Liaoning was officially launched by the Chinese navy on Sept. 25 after a 10-year remodeling of the old Soviet vessel Varyag, which China bought from Ukraine 13 years ago.
The first tests of the new flagship vessel of the Chinese navy come at a time of maritime tension between China and its neighbors - Japan, Vietnam and The Philippines - over disputes regarding the sovereignty of several archipelagos in East Asia: the Spratly Islands, the Paracel Islands and Diaoyu/Senkaku.
Until the commissioning of the Liaoning, the Asian giant was the only permanent member of the U.N. Security Council not to have at least one aircraft carrier in its fleet.
Tungsten Military -China now capable of deploying jets on aircraft carrier: Navy
BEIJING: China is now capable of deploying fighter jets on its first aircraft carrier after successful landing exercises on it, a senior navy officer has said.
China successfully landed and took off the J-15 jet from 'The Liaoning' aircraft carrier yesterday. Pilots have mastered key skills to ensure the success of the take-off and the landing, especially under unfavourable conditions such as poor visibility and unstable airflow, Vice-Admiral Zhang Yongyi, a deputy commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, has said.
"It's like 'dancing on a knifepoint' as the aircraft have to land on a very limited space," Zhang was quoted by state-run Xinhua news agency as saying, while commenting on the successful flight landing recently conducted on 'The Liaoning'.
The aircraft must land precisely over a very short and narrow runway on the carrier at a speed of several hundred kmph, Zhang said, after the J-15 fighter succeeded in the landing tests.
"We have done all these test flights from the very beginning, and finally we mastered the key skills for the landing of carrier-borne aircraft," Zhang, who is also the commander-in-chief in charge of the tests and training programme of the flight landing, said.
Currently, the Chinese pilots have found out the right ways to conduct the landing and they have consolidated their skills, according to the Navy officer, who himself is a meritorious pilot of the Chinese naval air force.
Zhang said the carrier-borne aircraft and special equipment for the landing flight have gone through strict tests, and fighter jets can be deployed on the aircraft carrier.
China successfully landed and took off the J-15 jet from 'The Liaoning' aircraft carrier yesterday. Pilots have mastered key skills to ensure the success of the take-off and the landing, especially under unfavourable conditions such as poor visibility and unstable airflow, Vice-Admiral Zhang Yongyi, a deputy commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, has said.
"It's like 'dancing on a knifepoint' as the aircraft have to land on a very limited space," Zhang was quoted by state-run Xinhua news agency as saying, while commenting on the successful flight landing recently conducted on 'The Liaoning'.
The aircraft must land precisely over a very short and narrow runway on the carrier at a speed of several hundred kmph, Zhang said, after the J-15 fighter succeeded in the landing tests.
"We have done all these test flights from the very beginning, and finally we mastered the key skills for the landing of carrier-borne aircraft," Zhang, who is also the commander-in-chief in charge of the tests and training programme of the flight landing, said.
Currently, the Chinese pilots have found out the right ways to conduct the landing and they have consolidated their skills, according to the Navy officer, who himself is a meritorious pilot of the Chinese naval air force.
Zhang said the carrier-borne aircraft and special equipment for the landing flight have gone through strict tests, and fighter jets can be deployed on the aircraft carrier.
Tungsten Military -Gaming China's naval rise
A strategic analysis group, Wikistrat,
which describes itself as ‘the world's first massively multiplayer online
consultancy”, recently ran a crowd-sourced simulation called “When China’s
Carrier Enters the Persian Gulf”. For the
simulation four possible ‘pathways’ were mapped based on different projections
of geopolitical developments. Some of the conclusions drawn include:
“It is quite possible that, when the day
finally arrives and China’s
carrier enters the Persian Gulf, it will matter far more to India than to America.
Plenty of experts within the U.S. national
security community see good reason to encourage China and the PLAN toward
blue-water capabilities, believing that path will exhaust Chinese military
spending and push the Chinese people to question devoting so many resources to
distant responsibilities. Imperial overstretch works the same everywhere.
The most clever Chinese policy option would
be to multilateralize any naval extension it makes in the direction of the Persian Gulf. China’s
growing dependence on the region is matched by that of East
Asia as a whole.”
According to the
consultancy group, this scenario could feasibly play out between 2025-2030. The
full report is available here.
Tungsten Military -Top attack aircraft – T-50 to J20
Jet fighter attack aircraft are essential components of modern warfare, and recent unveilings back this up. Anthony Beachey examines the top attack aircraft available today, including Russia's T-50, China's secretive J20, the US F22 Raptor and Europe's EADS Eurofighter.
Tens of billions of dollars-worth of
contracts are at stake in the coming years as the world's top manufacturers
seek to win orders for the next generation of fighter aircraft. India, for
example, is in the final stages of selecting the plane for a $10.4bn contract.
The four-year-long selection process that
began in August 2007 will reach its conclusion when Indian officials open the
tender from the manufacturers - the European Aeronautic Defence and Space
Company (EADS) and Dassault of France. India had previously considered
bids from Lockheed Martin's F-16, Boeing's F/A-18, Russian United Aircraft
Corporation's MiG-35 and Swedish SAAB's Gripen.
India's jet fighter plans - T-50 or F 35?
India has already signed a deal with Russia for the joint development of a fifth generation fighter aircraft or FGFA, based on the Sukhoi T-50 plane design.According to a report from the Russian RIA Novosti news agency, published in late October, the T-50 fifth generation fighter will be ready to take to the skies in the near future. The T-50 made its maiden voyage in January and two prototypes have since been undergoing flight tests.
The plane, developed under the PAK FA (future aviation system for tactical air force) programme at the Sukhoi OKB, is the first new major Russian-designed warplane since the fall of the USSR. It is expected to enter service in 2016.
Unsurprisingly however, the US continues to pursue the Indian market, given that New Delhi plans to spend more than $35bn on at least 166 single-seat and 48 twin-seat 5th-Gen fighters from 2020 onwards.
Washington is pushing Lockheed Martin's F-35 fifth generation fighter. However, delays and cost overruns have plagued the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter - which at $238bn is the Pentagon's biggest weapons procurement programme - and one variant of the plane suffered cracks in the bulkhead after it had flown just 1,500 hours out of a planned 16,000.
The F-22 of the US Air Force
The US Air Force has also had to ground dozens of F-22 fighter jets for the second time this year, after a pilot had experienced oxygen deficiency in the cockpit, officers reported in early October. The announcement follows the air force's highly unusual step of grounding the entire Raptor fleet between May and mid-September, to allow engineers to investigate possible problems with the plane's oxygen supply.Elaborate tests and safety measures have nevertheless failed to locate the precise source of the fault. The latest case follows around a dozen previous incidents affecting F-22 pilots over a three-year period, the circumstances of which the US Air Force is reluctant to discuss in detail.
At a cost of nearly $150 million a plane, the F-22 Raptor is designed mainly for dogfights against rival fighter jets, and the radar-evading aircraft were not deployed in the Nato-led campaign over Libya. The US Air Force has more than 160 F-22 Raptors and plans to construct a total of 187.
US legislators and defence contractors lobbied for years to fund a larger F-22 fleet. However, former defence secretary Robert Gates managed to defeat this initiative, arguing against an urgent need to raise numbers of the sophisticated aircraft.
China steps-up J-20 stealth fighter development
China, the rival Asian superpower to India, has meanwhile been busy upgrading its military, developing the J-20 stealth fighter that reportedly will be equipped with the radar-evading capability of fifth-generation fighters such as the F-22 and F-35. China began testing the plane in January 2011. However, some analysts argue the threat posed by the J-20 is greatly exaggerated and that it incorporates obsolete technology.As a guide, Richard Aboulafia, Vice President of Analysis at Teal Group, told Aerospace Technology that he gauges the capabilities of the modern, combat aircraft according to the following criteria:
• Access to off-board space, ground and air-based sensors, particularly a capable AEW/AWACS system with a well-trained crew and robust data links.
• Effective sensor fusion to allow the pilot to utilise this information, as well as data from onboard sensors.
• An integrated EW system.
• An AESA radar with a high level of reliability.
• High-quality theoretical and practical training to ensure effective use of resultant data and equipment.
• Pilot training to include plenty of flight hours.
• Powerful engines, ideally capable of supercruise, with a high mean time between overhaul and failures.
• An airframe with low-observable characteristics.
• A robust air-to-air refuelling capability encompassing equipment, readiness and training.
• Sophisticated and reliable, precision-guided weaponry.
• A robust hardware and software upgrade programme, to maintain the plane's effectiveness over the next five, 10 and 30 years.
• Maintenance procedures to keep the plane operating with a high, mission-capable rate.
• Equipment designed to facilitate maintenance and allow easy access to electronic diagnostic tools, and ideally a sophisticated health-usage monitoring system (HUMS).
According to Aboulafia, the J-20 incorporates just one item from this list (number seven). He is "not convinced that the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) features any other items from the list, although China seems to be making some progress in terms of item no 9".
Reduced budgets mean reduced demands for the EADS Eurofighter
Different problems, notably the Eurozone's economic crisis, are besetting the EADS Eurofighter. As part of an austerity drive, Germany plans to slash the number of military aircraft it will buy from EADS, the European aerospace company, in a bid to reduce its armed forces by one-fifth. Berlin now wishes to purchase 40 instead of 177 Eurofighters.The UK in turn began reducing orders for Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets three years ago. In the spring of 2009, London secured a deal that allowed it to sell on part of its Typhoon contingent to Saudi Arabia.
A similar plan is being considered for the aircraft Germany had contracted to buy but now considers surplus to requirements. The availability of buyers is far from certain, according to industry experts.
The Eurozone's economic difficulties, as well as the problems besetting the US's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the F22 Raptor, could accelerate the emergence of China and Russia as potential rivals in the jet fighter attack aircraft stakes. However, doubts remain as to whether either or indeed both countries have the advanced technology capable of competing with the Western world.
Tungsten Military -China flexes military muscle with J-31 stealth jet
NewsCollettedBy Chinatungsten Online
China’s second stealth fighter jet that was unveiled this week is part of a
programme to transform China
into the top regional military power, an expert on Asian security said on
Friday.
The fighter, the J-31, made its maiden flight on
Wednesday in the northeast province
of Liaoning at a facility
of the Shenyang Aircraft Corp which built it, according to Chinese media.
“This is the second entirely new fighter design that’s
emerged from China in the last two years, which suggests a pretty impressive
level of technical development, and puts them ahead, certainly, of all their
regional neighbours,” said Sam Roggeveen, a security expert with the Lowy
Institute in Sydney.
The Chinese military “has been extremely deliberate and
well funded and persistent, and it’s starting to bear fruit”, Roggeveen said.
“What you’re now seeing since the early ‘90s is the slow
emergence of a first-class regional military power.”
China’s defence ministry did not respond to a request for
comment.
China’s previous stealth fighter, the J-20, is a heavier
aircraft and believed to be less manoeuvrable than the J-31.
China’s military capabilities lag far behind those of the United States, but China
is seeking aggressively to boost its strength, including launching its first
aircraft carrier — purchased from Ukraine — in September.
The buildup is a worry for neighbours uneasy about China flexing its military muscle, especially in
territorial disputes with Japan
in the East China Sea and with Vietnam
and the Philippines in the South China Sea.
“Just like the US F-22 and F-35 fifth-generation
fighters, the J-20 and J-31 will complement each other during future
operations,” Bai Wei, former deputy editor of the weekly Aviation World,
told the Global Times newspaper.
“The J-31 is almost certainly designed with the intention
to have the potential of operating on aircraft carriers, judging from its
enhanced double-wheel nose landing gear and two big tail wings, which help
increase vertical stability,” Bai said.
China needs both the heavier J-20 and more nimble J-31 to
defend its air space, Bai said.
The J-31 is a mid-sized fighter using Russian-made
engines which will later be replaced by Chinese engines, the Global Times
reported.
“The big Achilles heel for Chinese aerospace generally,
and particularly for both of these two programmes, is engines,” Roggeveen, a
former analyst for Australian government intelligence and editor of the Lowy
Institute’s blog LowyInterpreter.org.
“They still rely very much on foreign technology, and
their progress on developing domestic high-performance engines for combat
aircraft has been frustrating and slow,” he said.
While the J-31 and J-20 will add to China’s offensive as
well as defensive capability, “it will take many, many years” for them to enter
service with the air force, Roggeveen said.
Tungsten Military -China J-31 Stealth Fighter Plane Prototype Tested Near Shenyang
Photos posted to the Internet Thursday showed the
radar-avoiding aircraft airborne near the northeastern city of Shenyang with its landing gear still down.
Two Chinese-made J-11 fighters accompanied it on the flight, which Chinese
military enthusiast websites said took place Wednesday and lasted about 10
minutes.
Ross Babbage of Australia's
Kokoda Foundation and Greg Waldron of Fliightglobal magazine in Singapore said the plane known as the J-31
appeared to be a smaller version of the J-20 prototype that was tested last
year in the southwestern city of Chengdu.
While both planes feature stealth design features, their
true capabilities in terms of sensors, radar-absorbing coatings, and other key
factors remain unknown. It isn't known when, or if, either plane will go into
production.
"I think it's a fairly straight forward evolution to
develop advanced fighters at this time, but you can't read too much into it in
terms of capabilities," Waldron told The Associated Press.
The smaller and nimbler J-31 appeared intended for a fighter-interceptor
role similar to the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter, while the heavier J-20 would
target airfields, warships and other ground targets, he said.
The technical barriers and development costs for such
aircraft are enormous and the U.S.
has struggled for years to deliver on their potential.
Another major challenge for China is developing engines for its
fighters that are reliable and capable enough for such cutting-edge aircraft,
Babbage said. China remains
overwhelmingly reliant on Russia
for engines for its latest J-10, J-11, and J-15 models, the last two of which
were developed from Russian Sukhoi fighter-bombers.
"The demands in the engine area are very
substantial," Babbage said.China
flexes military muscle with J-31 stealth jet
2012年11月21日星期三
Tungsten Copper Alloy Military Gas Vane
Tungsten copper alloy military gas vane is a device for controlling aircraft; rockets, spacecraft, and the like during those parts of a flight where gas vanes are not effective. Tungsten copper alloy military gas vanes vary in design from plates that change the thrust direction of a gas flow to complicated guide vanes. In aircraft, gas vanes are used during take off and landing conditions .While in rockets and spacecraft they are used during the initial portions of a flight and for control in non atmospheric conditions.
The theory is that when the solid rocket motor outbursts the high temperature, high speed gas flow, tungsten copper military gas vane can make the copper molten in the structure of tungsten skeleton infiltrate, evaporate, then effusion.
When the tungsten copper alloy changing in the phase state, tungsten copper need to intake large mount of heat for the sake of cooling, and the good thermal conductivity of cooper makes the tungsten copper alloy military gas vane with the function of cooling and keep the ablativity at low extent to satisfy the requirements of controlling system.
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