Yellowknife (Apr 11/05) - If all goes well with landing contracts, the Cantung Mine could be back in production by July of this year.

The company is sitting with $12 million in cash and no debt and is now out of creditor protection, said company president Stephen Leahy.

The company reports the price of Tungsten has gone from $40 to $180 per metric tonne or 2,200 pounds which will increase the viability of the mine. Now, the next step is to secure contracts.

Once contracts are in place, the restart of the mine will not be that big an issue, said Leahy.

"If we're successful in land contracts by the end of April or the beginning of May we estimate production by July," said Leahy.

Most of the mine's 170 former employees are from Watson Lake, Yukon.

The company ended operations in December 2003 and applied for bankruptcy protection when its secured creditors, Osram Sylvania and Sandvic, cancelled a supply arrangement and demanded payment of $4.4 million in debt.

One year ago, the company negotiated a settlement with the two European companies, offering a $300,000 repayment to be paid prior to Nov. 20 and an additional $600,000 in future tungsten shipments.