U.S. ROUNDUP — CanTung takes plant writedown

The 56% owned subsidiary of Amax (NYSE), Canada Tungsten Mining (TSE), has announced a writedown of its ammonium paratungstate plant at Fort Madison, Iowa. The long-term leasehold value of the plant has been written down to a nominal salvage value of $200,000 from $19 million.

CanTung is selling its leasehold interest to a subsidiary of its Amax parent and has the right to repurchase over a 7-year period at nominal cost. The 200,000-short-ton-unit (stu) plant is currently shut down and is not viewed as economic over the medium term. Should tungsten markets improve, CanTung’s 400,000-stu mine in the Northwest Territories will be reopened. The mine was closed in May, 1986.