Coffee with Samso – Pioneer Minerals and the Search for America’s Next Tungsten System
- Noel Ong
- Jan 1, 2026
- 5 min read
Coffee with Samso | Episode 214 | Hotel Indigo - Adelaide Markets | Adelaide | South Australia
Guest: Michael Beven – CEO, Pioneer Minerals Limited (ASX: PMM)
Introduction
In this episode of Coffee with Samso, I sat down with Michael Beven, CEO of Pioneer Minerals Limited (ASX: PMM), in the heart of Adelaide, to unpack what is shaping up as one of the more technically compelling US critical minerals exploration stories currently flying under the radar.
The discussion focused on tungsten, antimony, and gold, but more importantly, on mineral systems thinking—how deposits form, why certain geological settings matter, and why Pioneer’s ground selection in Idaho, USA, was anything but random. As someone who has followed tungsten closely, this was a conversation that went well beyond commodity hype and into the fundamentals of discovery.
This Coffee with Samso episode is about process, geology, and long-term thinking, not short-term market noise.
The Business of the Company: Focus – US Critical Minerals Projects
Pioneer Minerals Limited is focused on advancing critical minerals exploration in the United States, aligned with US strategic supply-chain priorities.
North Pine Project, Idaho – A multi-prospect project (Springfield, Silver Cliffs, Northman) targeting tungsten and antimony, with additional gold and silver mineralisation.
Proven mineral systems – High-grade surface results confirm tungsten skarns and precious-metal vein and epithermal-style systems.
Strategic location – Located near major regional projects and a nearby tungsten–antimony processing facility, providing potential development leverage.
Pioneer’s strategy is to advance North Pine through systematic, data-driven exploration in a Tier-One jurisdiction.
Highlights from the Conversation – The Race For Critical Mineral Supremacy
North Pine Project, Idaho, is the flagship asset, located near the historic Yellow Pine Mine — the largest tungsten and antimony producer in US history and now a multi-million-ounce gold system, providing a strong discovery analogue.
Pioneer is targeting a full mineral system, where tungsten, antimony, and gold are genetically linked, rather than a single-commodity exploration play.
Springfield Prospect hosts high-grade historic tungsten, with reported grades of ~3–4% WO₃, yet remains largely untested at depth with minimal historical drilling and no modern geophysics.
Early fieldwork validates the model, returning rock-chip results of up to ~2.98% tungsten and gold values up to ~7.75 g/t, supporting both skarn-hosted tungsten and a broader gold halo.
Multiple prospects add layered upside, with Silver Cliffs targeting fault-controlled gold–silver–antimony mineralisation and Northman offering true greenfields potential at the granite–sediment contact.
Tungsten is framed as the real critical mineral, defined by extreme geological rarity, strategic importance to defence and industry, and a clear disconnect between record prices and current market awareness.
Samso Concluding Comments
Pioneer Minerals today is not the company it was when it listed as a lithium explorer.
This is now a business with:
A flagship US-based critical minerals project anchored by a proven Yellow Pine geological analogue
High-grade historic tungsten at Springfield with minimal modern exploration and strong depth potential
Early field results confirm both tungsten and gold within a broader mineral system
Multiple prospects delivering layered upside across skarn-hosted and fault-controlled settings
Direct exposure to tungsten, one of the rarest and most strategically important critical minerals globally
Why This Coffee with Samso Matters
This conversation is a reminder of why geology still matters.
In a market often shaped by momentum and headlines, Pioneer Minerals is working from the ground up — anchored in mineral systems, historical evidence, and geological reasoning. Whether Springfield ultimately delivers a Yellow Pine–scale outcome is something only drilling will answer, but the logic behind the project selection is disciplined and well-founded.
For investors who prioritise methodology over marketing, this Coffee with Samso discussion provides a rare and useful insight into how genuine exploration decisions are formed — long before the noise arrives.
In the words of Samso, get your favourite beverage and sit and listen to another great insight from Coffee with Samso.
Chapters
00:00 Start
00:10 Introduction
02:34 Michael Beven - Introduction
04:33 The Pioneer Projects - Introduction
05:00 The North Pine Project
05:38 The Yellow Pine Mine - Historical significance
07:32 The Springfield Prospect.
09:18 Geology of Springfield - The Skarn Effect
10:00 The Tungsten Mineralisation at Yellow Pine
10:26 Potential for Tungsten Yellow Pine-type Mineralisation at Springfield.
11:36 Historical Tungsten at Springfield
14:51 What is the Gold Potential for North Pine?
19:39 Silver Cliffs Prospect
22:43 Details of Pioneer Property Claims North Pine Project
25:18 Northman Project
25:59 Are the shareholders supporting the new PMM Story?
29:03 What is the Capital market saying?
30:54 How does PMM convince investors that the projects are the Real Deal? 33:40 Tungsten is the Real Critical Mineral.
36:30 Disequilibrium between Tungsten Price and Tungsten Market Interest. 40:18 Discussion on the market disparity in the Tungsten price
43:20 Is it difficult to raise money for Non-Gold projects?
47:06 Key Parameters for Investors who want to be in this sector?
50:53 Why PMM?
51:55 Conclusions
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