Flagship Minerals has revealed a significant JORC exploration target for its Khao Soon tungsten project in Thailand, estimating between 22 and 40 million tonnes at grades of 0.15 to 0.3 percent tungsten. Despite the project's potential, Flagship is considering options like selling or partnering with another company due to it not aligning with their primary focus on gold and copper projects elsewhere. The company aims to capitalize on rising tungsten prices, which have surged from $300 to over $3800 per metric tonne unit in less than two years, driven by Western demand and Chinese export restrictions.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-01,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Flagship Minerals, an Australian mining company, has announced a significant JORC exploration target for its Khao Soon tungsten project in southern Thailand. The project could contain between 22 and 40 million tonnes of resource at a grade of 0.15 to 0.3 percent tungsten. Despite this potential value, Khao Soon is outside the company’s core focus on gold and copper projects in South America and Canada. Flagship is considering options like a full sale or spin-out into a dedicated listed vehicle to maximize the project's worth.
This strategic decision could raise additional non-dilutive capital for Flagship's other priority projects, such as its Isidora gold project in Chile and recently acquired Whipsaw copper project in Canada. Recently, the company divested its Reung Kiet lithium project in southern Thailand for US$4 million (A$5.7M). The timing is opportune given the current market conditions, with tungsten prices near record highs due to Western countries’ efforts to secure supplies of this critical metal and recent Chinese export restrictions impacting supply.
Written for “Thai Tungsten Target” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Flagship Minerals has unveiled a massive JORC exploration target for its wholly-owned Khao Soon tungsten project in southern Thailand, outlining between 22 and 40 million tonnes of resource at a substantial grade of 0.15 to 0.3 per cent tungsten.
asserted
Minerals → unveil → tungsten
However, as Khao Soon sits outside its core gold and copper strategy in South America and Canada, the company is now weighing up how best to crystallise the project’s value, including a full sale, a spin-out into a dedicated listed vehicle or a joint venture with a strategic partner.
asserted
company → sit → partner
Such a move could generate further non-dilutionary capital to pour into its priority Isidora gold project in Chile and the recently acquired Whipsaw copper project in Canada, following the recent divestment of its Reung Kiet lithium project in southern Thailand for a handy US$4 million (A$5.7M) in cash.
uncertain
move → generate → cash
The timing of attracting a new owner appears spot on, with the market for tungsten heating up and prices hovering near record highs as the West scrambles to secure supplies of the critical metal.
asserted
West → attract → metal
Recent Chinese export restrictions put a rocket under the metal, sending its price soaring from US$300 (A$430) per metric tonne unit - where one MTU equates to 10 kilograms - to as high as US$3800 (A$5470) per MTU in little more than 18 months.
asserted
MTU → put → months
‘Khao Soon provides Flagship’s shareholders with meaningful exposure to a advanced and strategically positioned tungsten exploration asset.
asserted
Soon → provide → asset
The exploration target at Khao Soon is predominantly defined by drilling and surface soil sampling, with conservative vertical depths of just 120m below surface and mineralisation remaining open laterally and at depth throughout.
asserted
mineralisation → define → depth
The project’s potential resource is split between five prospects, the biggest being Than Pho West, with an exploration target of nine to 14 million tonnes grading 0.2 to 0.3 per cent tungsten.
asserted
biggest → split → tungsten
Its Last Hill prospect also represents a hefty 5 to 10 million tonnes at 0.2 to 0.4 per cent tungsten.
asserted
prospect → represent → tungsten
Khao Soon has a rich history, operating as a significant underground tungsten mine for a decade until 1980.
asserted
Soon → have → 1980
The area was known for its exceptionally high-grade ore, with a 1974 United States Geological Survey report noting that only material grading between 5 and 12 per cent tungsten was being mined from the underground, leaving a large amount of lower-grade material behind.
asserted
material → know → material
Flagship’s own drilling has confirmed the project’s potential, with significant near-surface intercepts including a stellar 51.2m at 0.50 per cent tungsten trioxide from surface and 34m at 0.63 per cent, also from surface.
asserted
drilling → confirm → surface
Flagship Minerals managing director Paul Lock said: “Khao Soon provides Flagship’s shareholders with meaningful exposure to an advanced and strategically positioned tungsten exploration asset in a price environment which suggests that securing such a strategic industrial input is difficult – to say the least – and therefore assets such as Khao Soon are becoming increasingly valuable.”
Flagship says its core copper and gold interest remains in North and South America, with the company recently swooping on its Whipsaw copper project in British Columbia for just A$6.5 million.
uncertain
company → manage → million
The pick-up has landed Flagship a foothold in the newly invigorated mining province, where historical drilling has already pointed to large-scale copper porphyry potential in a historic address.
asserted
drilling → land → address
Whipsaw sits just 17 kilometres from Hudbay Minerals’ massive 345-million-tonne Copper Mountain copper and gold mine and Flagship believes a copper-focused spin-out could put the project under a serious market spotlight of its own.
uncertain
out → sit → own
Any capital unlocked from Khao Soon could also turbocharge exploration across Flagship’s Isidora gold project in Chile, where satellite imagery is already hinting at substantial scope to expand the deposit beyond its existing 2.1-million-ounce gold footprint.
uncertain
imagery → unlock → footprint
With tungsten already proven across multiple zones and a sizeable exploration target now putting a scale around Khao Soon, Flagship has some interesting options on the table.
asserted
Flagship → prove → table
If a buyer, strategic partner or spin-out can crystallise that value, the Thai asset could yet provide the financial ammunition to fire up the company’s gold and copper push elsewhere.
uncertain
asset → crystallise → push
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting?
asserted
company → list → something
The Aporia
