Critical minerals are all the rage right now. The world is in dire need of these minerals to power the technologies we use every day, driving progress towards net zero.
One critical mineral that is often unknown to the average person, although plays an important role in almost all cellular devices, is tungsten. It’s actually the very metal that plays a major role in making a phone vibrate.
Tungsten is an important metal, known for having the highest melting point of any element. It’s used to manufacture industrial cutting tools, harden steel in alloys, make lightbulb filaments, and produce specialised military projectiles.
According to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) December 2025 Resources and energy quarterly, Australia produced 136,000 metric ton units (mtu) of tungsten in the 2024–25 period.
While demand is soaring for the metal, Australia’s production rates of tungsten are expected to drop to 117,000mtu in the 2025–26 period, before rising to 118,000mtu in the following period.
The Shanghai Metals Market trades tungsten bars at an average of US$202.49 ($293.92) per kilogram as of 26 June 2026, pricing the metal up 0.14% on average.
Western Star Resources (CSE:WSR) is one explorer focused on revitalising North America’s tungsten supply, with CEO Blake Morgan claiming that the market is yet to fully appreciate tungsten’s importance.
“Tungsten has moved from being a quiet industrial metal to one of the most strategically important critical minerals in the world,” Morgan tells this news service.
“The renewed interest is being driven by three things: geopolitics, defence demand, and supply chain security.
“What has changed is that the world is now recognising how concentrated and vulnerable the supply chain really is. China’s export restrictions have made that very clear.
“End users are no longer just asking about price. They are asking: where does the material come from, can we rely on it, and is it outside Chinese control?”
Dominating the frequency
It comes as no surprise that China’s export bans on critical minerals would affect the tungsten market on a global scale.
China alone produced 67,000 tonnes in 2025 with 2.5 million tonnes in reserves, ranking first globally for tungsten resources and reserves, according to the US Geological Survey.
In total, around 85,000 tonnes of tungsten were produced worldwide last year, with more than 4.7 million tonnes in reserves. This figure places China responsible for producing around 80% of the world’s tungsten in 2025.
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Meanwhile, the US has not mined tungsten commercially since 2015 — creating a dire need for local supply chains, while China tightens export controls.
EQ Resources (ASX:EQR) Managing Director Craig Bradshaw tells this news service that the renewed interest in tungsten as a strategic commodity is a result of several forces converging.
“From 1 January 2027, DFARS [Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement] restrictions apply which ban the supply of tungsten from China, Iran, Russia, North Korea, and Myanmar from delivery into US Department of War procurement,” Bradshaw explains.
DFARS is a set of rules and procedures used by the US Department of Defense to manage defence procurement which introduces defence-specific clauses.
“In addition, China’s February 2025 export licensing requirements fundamentally changed the market — China’s APT export volumes fell nearly 70% in 2025, triggering immediate supply shortages across Western manufacturing,” he adds.
“Simultaneously, demand from defence procurement, semiconductor fabs, and advanced manufacturing is accelerating. Tungsten is virtually irreplaceable in many of these applications, so when supply tightens, the market reacts sharply.”
The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) reports that the US imported US$73.2 million worth of tungsten ore in 2025, increasing to US$127 million over the May 2025 to April 2026 period.
In 2025, the majority of US tungsten ore imports were sourced from Bolivia, valued at US$39.4 million, followed by Portugal and Spain, each with around US$10 million, along with Mongolia and Rwanda with US$5.82 million and $4.1 million, respectively.
More recently in April 2026, the US exported US$12.2 million and imported US$30.2 million in tungsten ore, which the OEC reports to return a negative trade balance of US$18 million in the month.
EQ Resources’ Managing Director Bradshaw says end users have now been pushed to treat supply security as a boardroom issue, after many treated it as a secondary concern prior.
“US importers reportedly received zero tungsten export licences from China throughout 2025 — effectively a complete cutoff for the primary supply channel,” Bradshaw tells this news service.
“We’re seeing customers willing to sign longer-term offtake agreements and pay premiums for non-Chinese, politically stable supply. The commercial conversation has shifted from price to availability.”
EQ Resources is a global tungsten mining company focused on sustainable mining and processing practices with assets in Australia and Spain.
The company’s project portfolio includes the Barruecopardo Tungsten Project in Spain, where phase one drilling kicked off mid-last month.
As reported, the current drilling campaign will comprise 36 drill holes across 12,155m, targeting extensions north, south, and below the current open pit and following up on the project’s resource estimate and most recent ore reserve update.
For Western Star, CEO Morgan says the company understands the opportunity that lies within the tungsten market, as it is focused on moving in early and building around the global supply chain problem.
“Tungsten has flown under the radar for too long,” Morgan tells Mining.com.au.
“We are a lean company focused on a commodity that is becoming increasingly strategic.
“We have a tight share structure. We recently raised over C$6 million and have multiple past-producing tungsten mines in the United States.
“Investors should be paying attention now because it has the combination that creates major opportunity: critical demand, concentrated supply, geopolitical pressure, limited Western alternatives, and growing government and industry attention.”
Western Star Resources is a junior exploration company focused on revitalising North America’s tungsten supply.
More than background noise
EQ Resources’ Managing Director Bradshaw says the tungsten market is not just facing a trade policy issue, “it’s a national security offer”.
“A 40% drop in Chinese tungsten exports translates directly into constrained defence production capacity and a direct attack on Western manufacturing and jobs,” Bradshaw explains to Mining.com.au.
“The US, EU, and Australia have all formally listed tungsten as a critical mineral but listing it without funding alternative supply chains doesn’t solve anything.
“Progress is being made but pace is the issue. The Australian Government’s Critical Minerals Accelerator Initiative, the US EXIM Bank’s engagement with projects like Mt Carbine, and the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act are all positive signals, however, there has been little in the way of follow through for real funding into projects that will deliver production of tungsten concentrate in the short term.
“A fundamental issue is that policy timelines move slower than market timelines, and the 2027 defence procurement deadline is not far away.”
In early June 2026, EQ Resources received approval to progress its $39 million Mt Carbine Expansion Project at the Mt Carbine Tungsten Mine in Far North Queensland.
Expansion plans are centred on increasing processing capacity and infrastructure works, with a specific focus on increasing the project’s crushing capacity from around 1 million tonnes per annum to around 2 million tonnes per annum, while also streamlining and automating the handling of existing materials.
Answering the call
Another tungsten explorer bidding into heightened global demand for the metal is Pioneer Minerals (ASX:PMM).
The company is currently focusing on its Springfield Tungsten-Gold-Gallium Project, which sits within the North Pine Project in Idaho, US.
Through the Springfield Project, Pioneer CEO Michael Beven describes its position within the tungsten industry as unique due to its ownership of a “historic tungsten producer located within one of the world’s most important emerging critical minerals jurisdictions”.
“Springfield is situated approximately 20km from Perpetua Resources’ Stibnite Gold Project, which encompasses the historic Yellow Pine Mine,” Beven tells Mining.com.au.
“During the 1950s, Yellow Pine was the largest producer of tungsten in the United States and played a critical role in supplying strategic materials during periods of geopolitical uncertainty.
“As the project advances through permitting and drilling, Pioneer is positioning itself to participate in what we believe will be a long-term structural shift towards Western-owned and Western-operated critical mineral supply chains.
“With the United States increasingly focused on rebuilding domestic critical mineral capability, Springfield has the potential to become an important contributor to future US tungsten supply.”
For Pioneer, Beven says Springfield stands apart from its competitors for its combination of being a historical tungsten producer, its exploration upside, and its location within the US.
“Many tungsten projects globally are either located in higher-risk jurisdictions or represent mature assets with limited exploration growth,” Beven adds.
“Springfield offers exposure to a historic tungsten system that has seen only limited modern exploration despite encouraging geological indicators.
“Our work suggests the project may have potential beyond the historically mined areas, with evidence supporting a larger mineralising system that remains largely untested by modern drilling.
“Combined with its location in Idaho and proximity to emerging US critical minerals initiatives, we believe Springfield occupies a unique position amongst junior tungsten developers.”
Pioneer Minerals is a North American-focused critical minerals explorer advancing a portfolio of tungsten, antimony, uranium, and lithium projects in Canada and the US.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Mining.com.au, Western Star Resources, EQ Resources & iStock
