Guardian Metal Resources (LSE:GMET) is ramping up commercial discussions for the Pilot Mountain Tungsten Project in Nevada, US, following completion of a Prefeasibility Study (PFS).
Speaking to Mining.com.au, CEO Oliver Friesen says the company is looking into signing potential offtakes or commercial arrangements around the project well in advance of completing a Definitive Feasibility Study.
“We think this year is certainly a realistic target to start to sign some of those deals to really give the market a handle as to where this material is ultimately going to go when we do get into production,” Friesen tells this news service.
Towards the end of June 2026, Guardian Metal delivered a PFS highlighting Pilot Mountain to generate a post-tax free cash flow of US$1.058 billion ($1.53 billion), with a net present value of US$660.3 million at an internal rate of return of 59.6%.
Friesen says the PFS has allowed the company to accelerate these commercial discussions.
“One of the big questions always was, ‘what is it going to cost to build and how much tungsten can you produce?’. Now we can very conclusively answer those questions,” he says.
“We have a couple of roadshows across the US starting in about two weeks’ time to get this PFS on people’s desks and really start putting pen to paper on some of the commercial outcomes we want to achieve for this project.”
“We want to ultimately ensure that this material, which will be the only mined-in-America tungsten produced in the last 10 years, is going to the right partners in the US who need it most.”
Beyond the mine life
Based on using a conventional open pit mining method, Pilot Mountain is anticipated to produce 15,916 tonnes of tungsten oxide over an eight-year mine life.
Pilot Mountain’s timeline contemplates first ore through the mill in Q4 2028, with initial commissioning tonnes marking the start of processing operations.
Friesen notes that there is “good potential” for the project to extend beyond eight years.
“How many years beyond that? Obviously that will be a question only the drill bit can solve for us.”
Following the completion of the PFS, Guardian Metal is dedicating additional resources to exploration.
“We’ve been building up all of our target base, but haven’t had the rig to go after them,” Friesen explains.
Tempiute’s potential path forward
Guardian Metal also owns the Tempiute Tungsten Project, a former producing mine and once the largest in the US.
The CEO says the company has a dedicated team and a pool of resources to push the Tempiute Project forward, with three drill rigs currently active there.
“There is actually some ore at the surface from the previous mining. So we’re looking at commercial pathways to start seeing that processed in the US quite quickly,” Friesen says.
“There’s the tailings opportunity that we’re exploring as well as the underground drilling we’re doing right now.”
Guardian Metal is also planning to update the project’s resource estimate, followed by potentially getting Tempiute into production before the end of 2028.
Although the company’s valuation is heavily skewed towards Pilot Mountain, Friesen explains that the quality of the Tempiute Project is unique and there are opportunities to deliver material to the market soon.
“This will come to the front and centre as we start to talk about these deals and ways that we’re actually going to monetise and push forward the opportunities that exist at Tempiute,” Friesen adds.
More about Guardian Metal
Guardian Metal sees itself as a cornerstone of the upstream mined tungsten supply chain in the US.
“Now, there’s lots of other companies and projects being pushed forward globally and ultimately as a Western world, we need to band together to start to really ramp up production of a whole host of critical metals,” Friesen says.
Guardian Metal is the only company to have received an investment directly from the US Department of War, which Friesen explains serves as a testament to the company’s assets and US-based team.
In July 2025, the company’s subsidiary Golden Metal Resources received US$6.2 million to deliver the recently released PFS for Pilot Mountain. The investment supports the 20 March 2025 Executive Order on immediate measures to increase US mineral production’s goal to facilitate domestic mineral production.
“We see ourselves as sort of the champion and cornerstone of mine tungsten supply in the US going forward,” Friesen says
The US has no active tungsten mines and no production has taken place in the nation for over a decade. China currently controls more than 80% of the total global production.
Tungsten stands at the intersection of national security and industrial necessity. It is nearly irreplaceable in modern defence applications, aerospace manufacturing, and advanced industrial tooling.
Guardian Metal Resources is a Nevada-focused tungsten explorer and developer.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Guardian Metal Resources
