• Exceptional 53-fold upgrade achieved in cleaner gravity separation testwork
• Premium 63.6% WO3 concentrate grade attained, within top tier of global scheelite products
• Streamlined low-cost flowsheet being developed via simple gravity separation

Viking Mines Ltd (ASX: VKA) has reported exceptional metallurgical testwork results from its Linka Tungsten Project in Nevada, USA. The testwork has successfully demonstrated that the project's mineralisation can be upgraded by over 5,300% using simple, low-cost gravity separation, confirming a potential high-margin development pathway. In the company's first attempt at cleaning the previously reported rougher gravity concentrate, a high-grade saleable concentrate of 63.7% WO3 at a 42.4% recovery has been produced. Combining this concentrate with the lower grade middlings streams results in a concentrate grading 56.4% WO3 at an increased 46.0% recovery. Initial flotation testwork on the gravity tailings has recovered a further 37.8% of the WO3, increasing the combined gravity and flotation recovery to 83.8%. The ability to produce a premium end-product through gravity alone is a significant competitive advantage, allowing for a simplified, modular plant design that can be permitted and built in a fraction of the time required for traditional facilities. These results demonstrate that nearly half of the total contained tungsten can be recovered quickly and simply at very low cost, providing a strong foundation for the project's economics before the planned addition of secondary recovery stages via flotation.

Global APT prices recently reached US$2,800/mtu, and the ability to produce high-grade concentrates via a low-CAPEX model in Nevada establishes Linka as an increasingly strategic asset.

The company is advancing the metallurgical testwork, with next steps including ongoing gravity separation tests, secondary recovery (cleaner) flotation testwork, mineralogical analysis, ore sorting tests, and a 'Rapid-Start' gravity circuit design. The company is also progressing 3D geology modelling and planning a maiden drilling program.