oleocene.org

Prix records du tungstène : le Rwanda en première ligne en Afrique, devant la RDC

Agence Ecofin 02 mai 2026

Les restrictions chinoises à l'exportation pèsent sur l'approvisionnement mondial en tungstène, métal au cœur des industries de défense et de haute technologie. En Afrique, le Rwanda et la RDC se distinguent comme les deux pays positionnés pour tirer parti d'une éventuelle recomposition du marché.

Le paratungstate d'ammonium (APT), produit intermédiaire de référence dans la production de tungstène métal, a dépassé fin avril 3000 dollars la tonne, en hausse de plus de 200 % depuis le début de l’année. Alimenté par une rupture dans les flux d'approvisionnement mondiaux, ce rallye cache des opportunités pour les deux principaux producteurs africains : le Rwanda et la République démocratique du Congo.

Aux côtés de l’étain et du coltan, le tungstène appartient au groupe des métaux critiques communément appelés 3T. Ses propriétés mécaniques exceptionnelles, en l’occurrence une densité et une résistance aux hautes températures, en font un matériau de choix pour les équipements militaires et aérospatiaux.

La demande militaire, actuellement estimée à environ 12 % du total, est attendue à 15 % entre 2027 et 2028, portée par le réapprovisionnement des stocks de défense à l'échelle mondiale, selon Project Blue. Mais c’est le secteur automobile qui est aujourd’hui le premier consommateur mondial de tungstène, avec 25 à 30 % de la demande, d’après le cabinet Argus.

La Chine concentre l'essentiel de la production et des exportations mondiales. En 2025, Pékin a imposé de nouvelles restrictions à l'exportation, tout en réduisant ses quotas miniers. En décembre de la même année, seules 15 entreprises ont été autorisées à exporter du tungstène chinois pour la période 2026 - 2027. Cette politique de contraction de l'offre a directement alimenté la hausse des prix, en privant les acheteurs occidentaux de leur principal fournisseur.

Le Rwanda, bien placé à Washington

L'Afrique centrale pèse encore peu dans la filière mondiale du tungstène, et les deux pays qui en produisent ont des profils très différents. Entièrement artisanale, la production congolaise de wolframite (principal minerai du tungstène) s'est établie à 213 tonnes en 2025. Quant aux exportations, elles n’ont atteint que 94,5 tonnes valorisées, à 1,3 million USD. A titre de comparaison, les exportations de cassitérite (minerai d’étain) de la RDC ont atteint la même année 46 251 tonnes, pour une valeur de 652 millions USD.

Le Rwanda affiche de son côté des chiffres sans commune mesure. Avec 2 383,9 tonnes exportées en 2024 pour une valeur de 35,76 millions USD selon les chiffres officiels, le pays est le principal fournisseur africain de tungstène. L’écart avec son voisin congolais s'explique largement par la mine Nyakabingo, présentée par son propriétaire Trinity Metals comme le plus grand producteur de tungstène du continent africain.

Cette mine produit entre 100 et 110 tonnes de wolframite par mois, mais la ressource estimée dépasse 115 000 tonnes de tungstène récupérable, avec un potentiel d'augmentation significative. L’impact de la hausse des prix mondiaux sur les revenus du projet reste à évaluer, mais c’est sur un terrain plus stratégique que les retombées de la conjoncture actuelle seront intéressantes à observer.

Dans un contexte où les Etats-Unis doivent affronter les conséquences des restrictions chinoises, qui peuvent affecter leur industrie de Défense, le Rwanda s’est déjà positionné. Kigali et Washington ont signé en août 2025 un accord commercial inédit qui a débouché, dès septembre, sur l’arrivée d’une première cargaison officielle de tungstène rwandais aux États-Unis.

Cette première livraison est le fruit d’un partenariat entre l’américain Global Tungsten and Powders et Trinity Metals, dont le fonds TechMet est actionnaire. Ce dernier bénéficie lui-même du soutien financier de la Development Finance Corporation (DFC), une agence américaine d'investissement, signe d’un engagement de long terme de la part de Washington. Sur ce terrain, la RDC est encore absente.

La collaboration croissante avec les USA, impliquant la mise en place d'une réserve d'actifs miniers critiques, ouvre néanmoins des perspectives intéressantes pour Kinshasa. Des investisseurs américains sont de plus en plus actifs en RDC, autant pour l’exploration que la production. Si ce cadre ne concerne pas encore le tungstène, l’hypothèse que la nécessité pour les USA et leurs partenaires de diversifier l’approvisionnement puisse favoriser une montée en régime de la production congolaise de tungstène n’est pas à exclure.

Les cours du tungstène atteignent des records sur fond de réarmement

RFI le : 01/05/2026 Par : Marie-Pierre Olphand

Le marché du tungstène est de plus en plus serré et les prix battent des records. Ce qui tire les prix vers le haut, c'est une demande militaire de plus en plus forte pour ce métal réputé pour sa dureté et sa résistance à des températures élevées.


Le tungstène est prisé par le secteur de la défense en raison de sa dureté et de sa résistance extrême à la chaleur : son point de fusion est le plus élevé de tous les métaux, 3 422 °C, ce qui permet aux composants qui en contiennent d'être ultra-résistants et de supporter des températures élevées sans se déformer.

Le tungstène est présent dans les blindages, les superalliages des moteurs des avions et surtout dans la plupart des munitions, explique Raphaël Danino-Perraud, chercheur associé à l'Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri). Avec plusieurs milliers de missiles utilisés, la guerre au Moyen-Orient est devenue un accélérateur des besoins en tungstène, des besoins qui pourraient augmenter cette année d'au moins 10 % pour le seul secteur militaire.

L'offre chinoise toujours restreinte

Cette demande pèse sur les prix car, du côté de l'offre, la Chine ne suit pas. Dans ce secteur, comme dans beaucoup d'autres, c'est l'empire du Milieu qui donne le ton. Le pays contrôle entre 75 et 80 % de l'approvisionnement, mais a mis en place l'année dernière plusieurs mesures de restriction à l'exportation. Ces limitations s'ajoutent au vieillissement des mines et au manque d'investissement qui a engendré une baisse de la production et « une pénurie structurelle d'approvisionnement en tungstène en Chine », selon Argus Media.

Le décalage entre l'offre et la demande se traduit dans les prix : le produit issu du premier raffinage du minerai brut, le paratungstate d'ammonium (APT), s'affiche à 3 000 dollars la tonne, soit une hausse de 200 % depuis janvier et de 500 % en un an, selon Argus Media.

Des prix incitatifs pour le secteur minier

Les prix actuels pourraient favoriser l'investissement et accélérer le développement ou la relance de plusieurs mines au Royaume-Uni, aux États-Unis et au Canada.

Les prix faciliteront peut-être également la montée en puissance d'une autre mine de tungstène, en Corée du Sud, qui vient d'être rouverte après une trentaine d'années d'inactivité.

Allied Critical fast-tracks tungsten production plans with $40M financing

Staff Writer | April 24, 2026

Tungsten developer Allied Critical Metals (CSE: ACM) has secured $40 million in two separate financings in support of its plans to start pilot-scale production in Portugal this year.


The first financing is a private placement of common shares with an existing shareholder and a new investor for total proceeds of $25 million. The shares will be priced at C$2.05 apiece, almost identical to the stock’s market open price on Friday. The company did not disclose the two investors.

The second is a $15 million bond or senior loan with the existing shareholder to fund the pilot plant at its Villa Verde project, where the company planned to begin construction and operations this year.

The same investor has also committed to buy 50% of the tungsten concentrates that will be produced at the pilot plant, subjected to a floor price of $1,000/mtu. The facility is currently licensed to produce 150,000 tonnes per year of ore throughput for a period of five years. Should the licensed capacity double, the investor can purchase an additional 25% of the product under the same terms.

Fully funded
With this financing package, the pilot project is expected to be fully funded to achieve initial production.

“The pilot plant at Vila Verde is on track this year to bring online tungsten concentrates to a global market that is starved for the metal,” Allied Critical Metals CEO Roy Bonnell said in a press release.

Tungsten, a critical mineral used in everything from chips and drilling equipment to armor-piercing weaponry, has soared this year amid a tightening market that’s currently dominated by China, which had already placed export restrictions on the metal.

Chinese exports have fallen by nearly 40% since the new controls were implemented, according to data from tungsten consultancy Wolfram Advisory. Since then, tungsten prices have increased more than five-fold, and related products are now trading at their ⁠highest level in nearly a century, based on USGS data.

“In a world where tungsten is a precious resource and with pricing above $3,000/mtu, this financing is strong support for our plan to fast-track tungsten concentrate production,” Bonnell said.

In addition to the pilot plant, the company also plans to use the funds to advance its Borralha project, one of the largest undeveloped tungsten resources within the European Union. A preliminary economic assessment for the project envisages an 11-year mine producing 1,708 tonnes of WO₃ (tungsten oxide) annually.

Allied Critical Metals’ stock jumped more than 7.2% on the financing announcement on Friday. At about C$2.10 apiece, it is trading near the all-time high that it hit earlier this month. The company has a market capitalization of C$355.1 million ($259.6 million).

Sangdong tungsten mine in South Korea returns to production after 30 years

Staff Writer | March 16, 2026 | 4:59 pm Critical Minerals Suppliers & Equipment Asia USA Tungsten

Almonty Industries (NASDAQ: ALM) (TSX: AII) has completed the first phase of commissioning at the Sangdong tungsten mine in South Korea, marking its return to production after more than 30 years.


Phase 1 of the Sangdong mine in Gangwon province is now commissioned and producing, with the processing plant designed to handle approximately 640,000 tonnes of ore annually, yielding roughly 2,300 tonnes of tungsten concentrate per year, the company announced on Monday.

A planned Phase 2 expansion, expected to come online in 2027, is designed to increase processing capacity to approximately 1.2 million tonnes of ore annually, doubling tungsten output to roughly 4,600 tonnes per year, the company added.

Sangdong has an expected mine life exceeding 45 years and an average ore grade of approximately 0.51% tungsten trioxide (WO₃), roughly three times the global average. At full capacity, Sangdong is expected to supply around 40% of the global tungsten demand outside China, Almonty said.

Tungsten is a smaller market, but the industries that depend on it are getting exponentially bigger, and it is the material of choice for a key defense application – what the military calls penetrators – high-density, armour-piercing projectiles. It’s also required in US Department of Defence (now Department of War) contracts.

Tungsten production in the US ceased in 2015. The US had been mining tungsten, but it was no longer commercially viable due to low prices and competition from China, which controls over 80% of global production.

Historical producer
The Sangdong mine was historically one of the world’s largest tungsten producers before operations were suspended in the early 1990s following a prolonged downturn in commodity prices. Since acquiring the project in 2015, Almonty has invested more than $100 million to redevelop the site as a modern underground mining operation with a newly constructed processing plant.


The redevelopment includes approximately four kilometers of underground tunnel development, a mineral processing plant equipped with SAG and ball mills supplied by Metso, and advanced operational monitoring systems.

“The completion of Phase 1 at the Sangdong tungsten mine marks the culmination of more than a decade of investment and development,” Almonty CEO Lewis Black said in a news release.

“This is a significant milestone in the effort by the United States and its allies to diversify supply chains for critical minerals away from China, which currently produces approximately 88% of the world’s tungsten supply.”

With commissioning of Phase 1 complete, the company said its focus now turns to optimizing throughput and advancing the mine toward full commercial production.

“Looking ahead, the Phase 2 expansion and the development of our tungsten oxide facility and the adjacent Sangdong molybdenum deposit will form the foundation of what we refer to as the ‘Korean Trinity’,” Black said, referring to “a fully integrated mineral value chain” comprised of the production, refining and upgrading of tungsten.

Tungsten Soars 557% Amid Middle East War
By Andrew Topf - Mar 18, 2026, 1:00 PM CDT

- Tungsten prices have surged 557% due to tight supply, Chinese export restrictions, and rising military demand amid global conflicts.
- The metal is critical for defense (missiles, ammunition, aircraft) and heavily dominated by China, which produces the vast majority of global supply.
- Efforts to diversify supply are underway, but new production will take years—leaving markets tight in the near term as defense demand grows.

................................

QazMoly nears $240M US funding for tungsten project in Kazakhstan

Posted By: FREDERIC TOMESCO February 27, 2026

Kazakh company QazMoly said it could get as much as $240 million (C$328 million) in United States funding to develop its Drozhilov project in Kazakhstan if a deal can be struck to sell tungsten output to U.S. interests.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank expressed its interest in potentially financing the project in a letter to U.K.-based Fosbury Capital, which is acting as Drozhilov’s exclusive off-taker and financing partner, QazMoly said Thursday. The potential financing package would cover a “significant portion” of the project’s capital requirements, QazMoly said in a statement.

Any EXIM Bank financing would be conditional on all of the project’s tungsten off-take being sold to the U.S., QazMoly said. The U.S. government considers tungsten a strategically critical mineral.

Tungsten prices have surged fivefold over the past year as underinvestment and tightening Chinese supply push the market towards what BMO Capital Markets warn could become a severe global shortage. Global inventories are low and another deficit is forecast for this year, the bank said this month.
..........................

US Antimony says Ontario project holds tungsten resource worth $4.6B

Staff Writer | March 3, 2026

United States Antimony said a new resource for its Fostung tungsten project in Ontario shows the deposit holds raw metals that would be worth about $4.6 billion at current prices.


The technical report, prepared by SRK Consulting, revealed a total inferred resource of 14.62 million tonnes grading 0.17% tungsten trioxide, containing 53.6 million lb. of the metal. It replaces a prior estimate of 12.4 million tonnes grading 0.213% under a previous ownership.

The estimated value of the inferred resource is based on a current tungsten price of $1,890 per metric ton unit, before mining and processing costs, US Antimony said.

Tungsten, due to its unique properties of having an exceptionally high melting point, nearly unmatched hardness and extreme density, is now used in many modern industrial applications, including aerospace, defense, electronics and energy.

Following years of prolonged underinvestment and export restrictions by top producer China, price of the metal has exploded. According to Fastmarkets data, the price of tungsten trioxide has almost tripled over the past year.

Quick development
Located 70 km west of Sudbury, the Fostung property represents a key part of US Antimony’s business model to fast-track critical minerals projects for the North American market. The Texas-based company is currently the only fully integrated producer of antimony outside of China and Russia, operating a large smelting facility in Montana capable of producing 5 million lb. of the metal.

With eyes on adding tungsten production, US Antimony last year acquired the Fostung project from Transition Metals (TSXV: XTM) for $5 million cash and a 0.5% royalty. The aim is to quickly develop the project into an initial open-pit mine using existing infrastructure, then expanding into underground mining.

“We acquired the Fostung tungsten property in June of last year with the view that this deposit had the greatest potential to become the next North American producer of tungsten,” Joseph Bardswich, executive vice president and chief mining engineer, said in a press release. “Our business model is to ‘fast-track’ mining projects in an effort to meet the demands of our US military for certain critical minerals.”

China controls the vast majority of the worldwide tungsten supply and about 80%-85% of global processing capacity. The US and Canada have not produced any tungsten concentrates since 2016.

“We are eager to continue with the recommended next phases of drilling, bulk sampling and metallurgical testing to advance the Fostung deposit from an inferred to a measured and indicated resource,” Bardswich added.

The company said it is now in the process of filing a request for US government funding under the Defense Production Act Title III in an effort to expedite its mining plan. Fostung will likely be the first tungsten ore mined in either the US or Canada in over 10 years, the company said.

US Antimony shares fell 8.3% to $9.76 apiece in early afternoon US trading amid a broad market selloff. The company has a market capitalization of about $1.3 billion.

New Frontier finds high tungsten levels at Harts Range in Australia
RC drilling of 27 holes over 1,803m revealed notable concentrations of tungsten oxide.

Shree Mishra March 6, 2026

Les prix du tungstène encore soutenus par les restrictions chinoises en 2026

RFI le : 26/02/2026

Les prix du tungstène continuent leur ascension. Ils reflètent un décalage entre l’offre et la demande pour ce métal réputé pour sa dureté qui sert à fabriquer aussi bien des munitions que des aciers, des pointes de forage, ou des pièces d’usure des machines industrielles. Les restrictions décrétées par la Chine il y a un an continuent de peser sur les prix.


Il y a un an, Pékin officialisait la mise en place d'un système de permis d'exportation qui tient compte des usages que les importateurs veulent faire du tungstène, sous-entendu usage civil ou militaire. Fin décembre, les autorités chinoises ont resserré la vis : elles ont limité à 15 le nombre d'entreprises autorisées à exporter du tungstène, comme elles ont aussi réduit le nombre d'entreprises autorisées à exporter de l'argent et de l'antimoine. Une manière de centraliser le contrôle des activités export et peut-être au final de limiter les volumes expédiés à l'étranger.

Offre minière chinoise en baisse
Ce qui n'arrange rien à la situation, c'est que l'offre minière en Chine a aussi diminué. Elle aurait baissé de 10 % en 2025, selon les estimations du cabinet d'étude Project Blue. Plusieurs raisons sont avancées : le vieillissement des mines, la baisse des teneurs des minerais et l'augmentation des coûts de production.



Fin 2025, plusieurs mines de petite taille et de taille moyenne ont aussi été suspendues pour ne pas avoir respecté les normes qui leur étaient imposées : sécuritaires et environnementales. Cette tendance à la baisse de l'offre pourrait se poursuivre encore cette année, selon Project Blue, en raison du manque d'investissements dédiés à l'exploration.

Prix multipliés par deux

Malgré la baisse de sa production minière, la Chine contrôle toujours l'essentiel de l'approvisionnement mondial en tungstène – entre 75 et 80 % selon les sources. Les prix se sont donc logiquement envolés ces derniers mois suite à la mise en place des restrictions à l'exportation. Selon Project Blue, les prix annuels moyens du tungstène ont plus que doublé depuis 2020 et pourraient encore rester à des niveaux élevés cette année.

La demande mondiale ne fait que croître. C'est même le cas en Chine où les importations ont augmenté significativement en 2025, selon l'Institut d'études géologiques des États-Unis (USGS). Le tungstène possède le point de fusion le plus élevé de tous les métaux – 3 422°C –, il est donc difficilement remplaçable. Selon certaines estimations, la demande pourrait être exponentielle dans les années à venir dans plusieurs secteurs industriels, dont celui de la défense.

Une production limitée, hors de Chine

Hors de Chine, les sources alternatives de tungstène sont limitées. Selon les données de l'USGS, la production hors de Chine est concentrée au Vietnam et en Russie. On peut ajouter d'autres producteurs plus petits tels que le Rwanda, qui a commencé à exporter aux États-Unis, la Bolivie, l'Australie, et depuis 2025, le Kazakhstan – dont la production dans la mine de Boguty a débuté.

La production européenne est mineure et se concentre en Espagne et au Portugal. Ensemble, ces pays produisent moins de 20 000 tonnes, contre 67 000 tonnes pour la Chine. Ces producteurs ne pourront donc pas combler l'écart entre l'offre et la demande en 2026, résume Project Blue.

Allied Critical Metals secures key permit for Borralha Tungsten Project
The Borralha Tungsten Project, a past-producing site, is set to operate as a modern underground mining facility.

Shree Mishra January 13, 2026

llied Critical Metals has secured a favourable environmental impact declaration from the Portuguese Environment Agency for its fully owned Borralha Tungsten Project in northern Portugal.

The declaration is subject to standard regulatory conditions (Declaração de Impacte Ambiental Favorável Condicionada – DIA).

This regulatory approval marks a major step, enabling the project to advance to the Project of Execution and RECAPE (Environmental Compliance Report of the Execution Project) stage, along with subsequent licensing phases as outlined by Portuguese environmental regulations.

Allied Critical Metals CEO Roy Bonnell said: “The issuance of the Environmental Impact Declaration for the Borralha project represents an important regulatory milestone for Allied.

“This approval reflects the quality of the technical and environmental work completed to date and allows the company to advance the Borralha project into the next stage of permitting and detailed engineering, subject to compliance with the conditions set out by the Portuguese authorities.”

The Borralha Tungsten Project is designed as a modern underground mining operation.

This brownfield project has a historical production record from its northern section, where more than 10,280 tonnes (t) of wolframite concentrate were extracted between 1904 and 1985. The concentrate had an average grade of 66% tungsten trioxide.

The environmental impact declaration, based on which the DIA decision was made, evaluated diverse factors including social, cultural and ecological impacts.

It suggested measures such as underground mining techniques to limit surface disruption, rehabilitation plans for historic mining sites and protection strategies for water resources.

The declaration includes measures such as closed-loop water management, dry-stacked tailings and environmental monitoring plans to mitigate impacts.

The project aligns with the EU Critical Raw Materials Act, which aims to diversify supply sources for critical industrial and defence sectors within the EU.

In addition to securing the DIA, Allied Critical Metals has received a letter of recognition from idD Portugal Defense.

This acknowledgment highlights Allied Critical Metals’s role in revitalising tungsten production in Portugal and underscores the project’s strategic importance for both national and European defence supply chains.

Located in Montalegre’s Parish of Salto near Borralha village, the project is expected to stimulate regional employment and economic activity through local procurement initiatives and long-term investments.

Post-DIA approval, Allied Critical Metals intends to prepare documentation for further project execution stages and proceed with detailed engineering studies. The company will also conduct additional environmental assessments as required by conditions of approval and continue engagement with relevant stakeholders.

Restrictions chinoises, économie de guerre… le tungstène, ce métal critique indispensable à l’industrie qui flambe en silence

Les prix du tungstène ont presque triplé en un an. Face aux tensions d’approvisionnement qui entourent ce métal très dur, majoritairement produit en Chine et indispensable dans l’industrie manufacturière et dans la défense, la recherche de sources d’approvisionnements alternatives s’accélère.

Nathan Mann le 19 décembre 2025 à 09h30


Les outils coupants en carbure de tungstène sont utilisés dans toute l'industrie.

Ultra résistant à la chaleur et à l’usure, très dense, relativement abordable… Dans la grande famille des métaux critiques, le tungstène se démarque par son poids géopolitique. Très majoritairement issu de Chine – responsable de 82% de la production minière en 2024, selon les services géologiques américains (USGS) – le métal relativement méconnu est partout.

Il sert, entre autres, à produire des munitions perforantes anti-blindage, des boucliers anti-radiations,... (abonnés)

Allied Critical grows Portugal tungsten resource ahead of PEA

Staff Writer | November 20, 2025

Canadian tungsten explorer Allied Critical Metals (CSE: ACM) rose on Thursday after reporting a significant resource increase for its Borralha project in Portugal ahead of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) next year.


The resource now totals 13 million tonnes grading 0.21% WO₃ (tungsten trioxide) in the measured and indicated category, plus 7.7 million tonnes grading 0.18% WO₃ in the inferred category. This estimate incorporated the Phase 1 drilling completed at Borralha this year, focusing solely on the Santa Helena Breccia for a total of 4,210 metres.

Compared to the previous resource estimate in 2024, most of the increases were in the higher-confidence M+I category, rising from just under 5 million tonnes at the same grade to 13 million tonnes. The inferred resource rose by 600,000 tonnes, but at a slightly lower grade.

Major milestone
The updated resource, says Allied Critical CEO Roy Bonnell, is a “major milestone for the Borralha project,” which he calls one of “Europe’s most compelling tungsten assets.”

“The Borralha project continues to impress by continuing to produce record tungsten intercepts. With our next core drilling campaign planned for early 2026, we are confident that this project will continue to expand,” he said in a press release.

The project comprises a land package of 3.8 sq. km. with past production history on its northern side. Between 1904 and 1985, the site produced over 10,280 tonnes wolframite concentrate with an average grade of 66% WO₃, according to company estimates.

The next steps for the project will be the PEA, which it expects to deliver in the first quarter of 2026. At the same time, the project’s environmental and permitting processes remain underway, the approvals of which are also expected in Q1 2026.

In addition to Borralha, the Vancouver-based junior also holds the Vila Verde tungsten-tin project, located 45 km to the south. This project has a historical inferred resource of 7.3 million tonnes.

Shares of Allied Critical Metals gained 6.8% by midday Thursday, for a market capitalization of C$80.8 million ($57.3 million).

Larvotto achieves 90% tungsten recovery at Hillgrove project
The company said test-work indicates that a simple and cost-effective processing circuit would produce a saleable tungsten concentrate.

November 19, 2025

Larvotto Resources said metallurgical test-work at its 100%-owned Hillgrove project in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, has delivered a 90% tungsten recovery rate, supporting the viability of producing a saleable tungsten concentrate as a byproduct alongside existing antimony and gold operations.

The test-work indicates that a simple and cost-effective processing circuit could be implemented to generate a marketable tungsten concentrate.

Ongoing optimisation studies are in progress, utilising gravity separation, acid leaching and other refinement techniques to further enhance the process.

The initiatives are expected to further boost recovery rates and concentrate quality.

Test-work conducted so far suggests that Hillgrove could generate a third, high-value commodity, tungsten concentrate, with limited additional capital investment and low operating costs.

This development could improve the overall project economics and add another revenue stream to the site.

Larvotto Resources managing director Ron Heeks said: “Whilst tungsten has historically been mined with antimony and gold at Hillgrove as it is usually present in the same veins, it has never been extracted in the process plant.

“However, given this year’s record-high tungsten prices, as well as the Hillgrove processing plant already containing a dedicated tungsten gravity circuit that was never utilised, we decided to investigate the viability of tungsten recovery as a byproduct alongside gold and antimony.”

The latest mineral resource estimate (MRE) for Hillgrove stands at 8.77 million tonnes (mt) at an average grade of 0.05% tungsten trioxide (WO₃), containing a total of 4,774 tonnes (t) of WO₃.

Most of this resource is attributed to the Brackins Spur and Clarks Gully areas.

Larvotto has also identified additional tungsten potential within the wider Hillgrove field, highlighted by recent exploration at the Freehold prospect.

Significant high-grade intercepts include 0.6m grading 2.23% WO₃ from 76.7m in hole SLV004, and 0.5m at 3.43% WO₃ from 154.8m in SLV006.

Heeks added: “With recent drilling at Freehold confirming that all anomalous tungsten results are associated with antimony-gold mineralisation structures, we remain very enthusiastic about the potential of adding tungsten to our production schedule at Hillgrove.”

Cove Capital to mine Kazakhstan tungsten in Trump-announced deal

Reuters | November 6, 2025

Mining investment firm Cove Capital will develop a large tungsten deposit in Kazakhstan with the state mining firm JSC Tau-Ken Samruk under a deal to be announced by the Trump administration on Thursday.

The agreement is part of a suite of deals announced between Washington and Astana to tighten economic partnerships between the countries.

Cove Capital will control 70% of a joint venture and sales of the metal, with Tau-Ken Samruk controlling the remaining 30%, according to a document seen by Reuters. Costs to develop the Northern Katpar and Upper Kairakty projects – in the country’s east – are estimated at $1.1 billion, while the US Export-Import Bank has issued a letter of interest to fund $900 million.

Tungsten, used to harden steel for a range of industries, is considered a critical mineral by the US government. The US has not mined the metal since 2015 and China is by far the world’s largest producer. Supplies of the metal from the Kazakhstan projects will be used “to prioritize US government and American commercial needs,” according to the document.

“This is a generational win for the US and its critical minerals needs,” Cove CEO Pini Althaus told Reuters.

Althaus, who was previously the CEO of USA Rare Earth, said US President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick personally helped negotiate the deal to prevent Chinese companies from developing the asset.

“This has just been a very under-explored part of the world, from a US point of view, and vice versa,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said at a C5+1 business conference event at the Kennedy Center on Thursday, which included Kazakhstan officials.

Mine construction should start within two years and production should commence within 3-1/2 years, with refining also occurring inside Kazakhstan, Althaus said.