Rackla's Lentung Drilling Targets High-Grade Tungsten Revival

Rackla Metals (TSXV:RAK) has started a 10,000-metre drill program at its Lentung Tungsten Project in the Northwest Territories, the company said. The junior miner is twinning 27 historical holes with diamond drilling and using reverse circulation to test another 12 skarn occurrences. The work follows a five-year land-use permit from the Sahtu Land and Water Board that allows a 49-person camp and access repairs.

The project sits 60 km north of the past-producing Cantung mine, which shut in 2015 after low tungsten prices. Cantung's infrastructure – a 1,000-tonne-per-day mill, tailings areas, a gravel airstrip, and a workforce camp – remains on care and maintenance. Rackla's deposit could feed that mill if the mine reopens, the company said. Fireweed Metals (TSXV:FWZ) is also advancing the nearby Mactung deposit with a $15.8 million U.S. Department of Defense grant under the Defense Production Act.

Tungsten prices have surged. Ammonium paratungstate (APT) in Rotterdam traded above $3,000 per tonne in late April, up more than 200% since January, Reuters reported. China cut its mining quota by 6.5% last year and imposed export controls on raw tungsten. The country controls roughly 80% of global primary supply, and state-backed buyers are scouring scrap yards abroad for used tungsten tools. Outside China, only a handful of mines operate.

Historical work by Union Carbide from 1977 to 1982 included 26,900 metres of drilling across 178 holes, identifying 15 tungsten occurrences over a 15-km strike length. The company compiled an internal resource on three of those zones – Emma, Western Skarn, and Stephen's Ridge – using a 0.6% cut-off grade. Average mill grades were estimated at 1.14% WO3. Rackla said the dataset is high quality but cautioned it is not NI 43-101 compliant. The company plans to re-verify the data and produce a compliant resource.

Rackla has strengthened its board and advisory team. Jeff Reinson, a former vice president of operations at Burgundy Diamond Mines and COO at First Mining Gold, joined the board in early June. Paul Gruner, CEO of the Tlicho Investment Corporation, joined the advisory committee to help develop indigenous partnership strategy. The company is consulting with the Sahtu Dene and Dehcho First Nations.

The treasury stands at $13 million after a May financing. Shares outstanding are 162.9 million, giving a market cap of about C$24.1 million at C$0.145 per share. The 2026 field program is underway.