CBI Holds Blasting Ceremony for 300 Billion Won Ssangjeon Mine Tunnel Expansion..."Tungsten Test Mining Next Year"

The Ssangjeon Mine, the second largest domestic tungsten mine with confirmed reserves of 2 million tons, has begun blasting operations to expand its tunnels.

On the 6th, CBI announced that it held a blasting ceremony at the Ssangjeon tungsten mine in Uljin-gun, Gyeongbuk, marking the official start of tungsten redevelopment. Ssangjeon Mine secured mining rights, including extraction and processing rights, last month from a German resource company through Kubo Co., Ltd., which obtained mining development funds with an investment of 10 billion KRW from CBI.

Starting with blasting and construction, the process of opening tunnels suitable for modern mining will be completed over the next two months, and trial mining will begin early next year. Following the construction of additional tunnels and internal crushing facilities, full-scale commercial production is expected from mid-next year.

A representative from Kubo stated, "Ssangjeon Mine has confirmed reserves of 2 million tons, and through additional exploration, a significant amount of probable reserves is expected to be secured. This volume is sufficient for decades of mining, and the grade of tungsten ore is also world-class at 0.46%."

Converting the confirmed reserves of 2 million tons at an international market price of 34 million KRW per ton of tungsten concentrate and an average grade of 0.46%, the value is approximately 300 billion KRW. When converted based on the maximum estimated reserves of 25.9 million tons, the value reaches 3.6 trillion KRW.

A CBI official stated, "By mid-2024, a significant milestone will be achieved as tungsten, the only one among the '4th Industrial Revolution core minerals' designated by the Korean government, will be mined and productized on our soil."

South Korea's dependence on China for tungsten, one of the key strategic resources, reaches 90%. According to GTA (Global Trade Alert) data, last year, the dependence on China for tungsten oxide was 82.9%, and for tungsten carbide, it was 90.9%.

Tungsten is a mineral dominated by China, which accounts for 85% of global production. It is mainly used in hard alloys, materials, special steels, and the chemical industry. Hard alloys are used in various industries such as machinery, mining, automotive, consumer electronics, aerospace, and infrastructure construction, so the demand for tungsten is expected to continue increasing.