Allied Critical Metals (CSE:ACM) has announced that its wholly owned Borralha Tungsten Project in Portugal has received recognition as a strategic project under the European Union’s (EU) Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA).
It is the only project in Portugal and the only tungsten extraction project included in the latest selection of 46 strategic projects.
The strategic designation provides access to streamlined permitting procedures and support in identifying public and private financing opportunities. The selection process also considers environmental and social sustainability measures, potentially making the project more attractive to financiers.
Allied Critical Metals describes the designation as “an important milestone” for the company as Europe pushes to advance domestic supplies of critical raw materials.
Borralha is an advanced brownfield project with a mineral resource estimate (MRE) from November 2025 comprising 13 million tonnes (Mt) at 0.21% tungsten trioxide (WO3) in measured and indicated resources and 7.7Mt at 0.18% WO3 inferred.
The preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for Borralha outlines strong economics from the Santa Helena Breccia deposit. The company now has a fully funded 20,000m drill program underway.
Tungsten fundamentals
Allied Critical Metals notes the growing strategic importance of tungsten, a key metal used in advanced manufacturing, electric vehicles, AI, semiconductors, and across defence applications.
Its characteristics as a hard, heavy, and dense metal with high melting and boiling points mean that it is difficult to substitute in many manufacturing applications.
There is now an urgency to shore up supply across the EU and North America, in particular, where policies are reshaping the supply flows.
China currently controls around 83% of the global tungsten mine production. Including production from Russia and North Korea brings the combined share to approximately 87%. North America currently has no domestic tungsten mine supply.
China introduced export controls in 2025, contributing to a tighter global supply and higher prices. Resource nationalism, defence demand, and advanced manufacturing are also adding pressure to supply as demand increases.
The inclusion of the Borralha project supports the EU’s effort to develop much-needed domestic supply.
Also positioning itself in the European market is EQ Resources (ASX:EQR), with the Barruecopardo Project in Spain and Mt Carbine in Australia.
EQ Resources is among the largest producers of tungsten outside China, Russia, and North Korea, with long-term and spot-price agreements across Europe, Asia, and North America.
EQ Resources booked record group revenue of $55.1 million in August 2026, with consolidated tungsten production increasing 34% month-on-month to 19,068 metric tonne units (mtu), as previously reported. This represents the company’s second-highest monthly production on record.
At Mt Carbine, production also increased month-on-month, reaching 6,349mtu in August.
EQ Resources is also aligning itself with the US domestic processing push. As previously reported, the company is taking a 10% interest in a planned processing joint venture under an investment package for the Springer Tungsten Complex in Nevada. It is partnering with Blue Moon Metals (TSX-V:MOON) and The Elmet Group (NASDAQ:ELMT) to restart Springer’s ammonium paratungstate plant.
Under the proposed agreement, EQ Resources will supply 4,000 tonnes of contained WO3 in concentrate over eight years.
Building North American supply
American Tungsten (TSX-V:TUNG) is positioning itself as a future US tungsten producer through the IMA Mine in Idaho, a brownfield asset with existing infrastructure, historical production, and patented claims.
The company is targeting tailings reprocessing by the end of 2026 as a potential near-term production opportunity.
IMA has a growing resource base, with 14,093 tonnes of contained WO3 across its current MRE, including historical tailings. Its underground resources have an average grade of around 0.55% WO3.
Current drilling is focused on increasing the company’s confidence in the resource and supporting future category upgrades, while advancing the project toward a PEA.
American Tungsten is aligned with the government’s drive to accelerate domestic critical minerals production. In November 2025, the company received a letter of interest from the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM) for a potential loan of up to US$25.5 million ($36.71 million) to develop its mining and milling facilities.
The company has also recently appointed Former Idaho Governor CL “Butch” Otter as a special advisor to help navigate Idaho’s economy and regulatory environment as it advances the IME Mine Project.
American Tungsten owns a minority stake in Viking Mines (ASX:VKA), which is advancing the Linka Tungsten Project, another past-producing brownfield asset in Nevada.
Viking notes that the mine closed in the 1950s due to tungsten pricing, rather than geological factors. The site already has pits, a historic shaft, a mill site, a run-of-mine pad, and tailings, giving the company an advantage as it considers a restart.
In the meantime, the company has multiple workstreams underway, including on-the-ground exploration and drilling, metallurgical test work, a concept processing study and flowsheet design, and permitting strategy.
Viking Mines took the project from acquisition to fieldwork in just six months. Current drilling is focused on obtaining new intersections at Linka Main while continuing to test the SW Extension and regional limestone-monzonite contact, where the company sees potential for new discoveries.
As previously reported, the drilling to date has confirmed ‘high-grade’ mineralisation both above and below the historical Linka Main workings. Key results include 14m @ 0.56% WO3 from 40m; 18m @ 0.42% WO3 from 62m; and 13m @ 0.46% WO3 from 70m.
A broader push by governments across Europe and North America to secure independent tungsten supply chains is creating renewed momentum for projects. With strategic project designations, funding support, and accelerated permitting pathways, companies are positioning themselves to help address the supply gap as demand from defence, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, and energy transition technologies continues to rise.
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Main image: Allied Critical Metals
