The global tungsten market has experienced unprecedented price volatility in 2026, with concentrate prices more than tripling since the start of the year. Tungsten concentrate grading 50% to 70% WO₃ was assessed at $750 to $850 per metric tonne unit at the beginning of 2026, according to Fastmarkets, but has surged to $2,500 to $2,800 per mtu since late May. This dramatic price increase reflects a market heavily concentrated in Chinese supply, with China accounting for approximately 67,000 tonnes of the world's estimated 85,000 tonnes of mine output in 2025.
The Chinese government has further tightened supply by naming only 15 companies permitted to export tungsten for 2026 and 2027. The price surge is being driven by geopolitical considerations and U.S. procurement policy. Under DFARS 252.225-7052, effective January 1, 2027, the U.S.
Department of War may not acquire tungsten or tungsten heavy alloys mined, refined or produced in China, Russia, North Korea or Iran. This restriction extends through the entire supply chain from mine to finished metal products, leaving defense suppliers approximately 15 months to establish alternative sources. The United States currently has no operating commercial tungsten mine, creating significant supply pressure and spurring exploration activity in historical tungsten districts in the American West that were extensively worked during the 1940s and 1950s but later abandoned as prices declined.
Modern exploration techniques are now being applied to these dormant districts. Soil geochemistry, drone-borne magnetics and three-dimensional modelling are revealing targets that historical hand-mapped surveys never tested. Western Star Resources Inc. has emerged as an active explorer in Nevada, completing a 568-sample soil program across its Rowland and White Star tungsten properties in Elko County.
At White Star, the company collected 253 samples on a nominal 50-metre station spacing using lithium borate fusion analysis by ALS Global, a method selected because partial digestions can under-report tungsten hosted in scheelite and wolframite minerals. Western Star's White Star project defined two discrete tungsten-in-soil anomalies. The North Zone comprises 15 anomalous samples across approximately 215 by 240 metres, peaking at 156 ppm tungsten and sitting across the contact between Cretaceous quartz monzonite and tactite and calc-silicate hornfels, described as the classic setting for a tungsten skarn.
The South Zone, approximately 700 metres to the south, returned the program's highest value of 2,230 ppm tungsten, or 0.28% WO₃, from 5 anomalous samples across approximately 135 by 95 metres. This zone lies over the same tactite horizon that hosts the past-producing Mission Cross mine just to the north. Western Star also reported results from its Rowland property in September 2026, where 315 soil samples defined two anomalies with a peak value of 4,240 ppm tungsten, or 0.53% WO₃, from ground approximately 250 metres from historical workings.
Combined with White Star, the two Nevada properties now carry four tungsten-in-soil anomalies defined from 568 total samples. The company has also completed three-dimensional magnetic inversion modelling across the district, identifying approximately 25 kilometres of fault structures interpreted as fluid conduits feeding the tungsten skarn system. Western Star plans to conduct infill sampling at 25-metre spacing, extend sampling eastward, complete additional horizon sampling, and select drill pad locations to test all four anomalous zones at depth.
Western Star is advancing a third asset, the Eagle Point tungsten project in New Mexico, where it has outlined a planned 17-hole drill program totalling approximately 1,850 metres, subject to finalizing permitting and logistics. The company notes that Nevada drilling has not yet been permitted or scheduled and will require additional financing to execute its exploration plans. Meanwhile, Almonty Industries achieved a significant milestone in the Asian market.
The company announced on September 21, 2026 that its Sangdong tungsten mine processing plant in South Korea received final operational certification on September 17, following trial operations that began in June 2026. More than 90% of Phase I production is contracted for 21 years from first delivery, with an offtake agreement with GTP, part of the Plansee Group, totalling 4,410,000 metric tonne units, with a minimum of 210,000 mtu per year once operations ramp up. Sangdong is one of the few large-scale tungsten operations outside China.
The strong tungsten market environment extends benefits to adjacent strategic metal sectors. Trekor Metals Limited provided an update on its Aley niobium project in northeastern British Columbia, noting that niobium, like tungsten, is a critical metal used to strengthen steel and superalloys where global supply is heavily concentrated. Aley carries 84 million tonnes of proven and probable reserves at 0.50% Nb₂O₅, supporting a planned 10,000 tonne-per-day plant that would produce approximately 14,000 tonnes of ferroniobium annually over a 24-year mine life.
Materion Corporation reported record second-quarter 2026 results with net sales of $613.9 million, up from $431.7 million a year earlier, and adjusted earnings per share of $1.90, up from $1.37. The advanced materials supplier, whose products serve aerospace, defense, semiconductor and space markets, reported a record backlog up approximately 30% and raised its full-year adjusted earnings-per-share guidance to $6.80 to $7.20. The company also reported approximately $15 million of new commercial-space business.
Critical Metals Corp. announced heavy rare earth breakthrough results from its Tanbreez project in Greenland on September 16, 2026, reporting more than 99% dissolution of eudialyte concentrate into 19 ultra-high-purity rare earth products. A refinery study projects annual revenue of approximately $1.8 billion to $2.2 billion on capacity of 100,000 tonnes per year of concentrate, with capital costs of approximately $1.85 billion plus or minus 25%, an after-tax net present value at 10% discount rate of approximately $4.5 billion and an internal rate of return of approximately 55%. Market analysts project robust long-term growth for tungsten.
The Business Research Company forecasts the global tungsten market will grow from approximately $6.66 billion in 2026 to approximately $9.62 billion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate of about 9.6%, built on steady industrial demand. However, the current price surge reflects market conditions significantly exceeding these historical baseline expectations. Source: StockTitan/U.S.
Metal News, data from Western Star Resources Inc., Almonty Industries Inc., Materion Corporation, Trekor Metals Limited, Critical Metals Corp., Fastmarkets, and The Business Research Company.
Source: stocktitan.net