Tungsten in September: US Funding and Global Supply Deals Target China Dependence
Updated: 2 days ago
September 2026 saw a series of tungsten investment and supply agreements, led by US$450 million in US government funding committed to Elmet Group and a separate defence stockpile contract capped at US$2 billion (Figure 1). The announcements covered mining, chemical processing and manufacturing, with projects in Australia, Britain, Vietnam and the United States.
ASX-listed EQ Resources (ASX: EQR) signed a framework agreement for a Nevada processing venture, while Elmet secured arrangements with Vietnam’s Masan High-Tech Materials and Britain’s Tungsten West. US funding also extended to the Redmoor tungsten project in Cornwall.
Key Highlights
US government commits US$450 million to Elmet’s tungsten expansion.
Separate stockpile contract includes US$150 million in guaranteed funding.
EQR agrees to participate in a US processing venture and eight-year supply arrangement.
British projects secure an offtake agreement and development funding.
European APT remains elevated at US$2,700–2,900 per metric tonne unit in a 28 September report.
US funding covers production and stockpiling
Elmet announced the government investment in September, with funding directed towards expanding tungsten mining, processing and manufacturing capacity. The agreement provides for an initial US$200 million drawdown at closing, followed by further drawdowns.
The separate Defence Logistics Agency contract covers tungsten ores, concentrates and sodium tungstate. Its US$2 billion ceiling represents potential orders, with US$150 million guaranteed and funded.
The base ordering period runs through August 2031, with an option to extend through August 2033.
Elmet said stockpile deliveries would begin when sufficient additional supply became available through mining investments, offtake agreements and processing expansions. Its investment programme includes the proposed restart and expansion of APT conversion capacity at the Springer complex in Nevada.
At month's end, Elmet Technologies announced another US$36 million contract to supply molybdenum and tungsten aerospace materials to the National Defense Stockpile. Products include specialised wire and alloy billets, bars and ingots used in jet-engine components and other aerospace applications.
EQ Resources secures a role in US processing
At home, EQR announced a binding framework agreement on 15 September with Elmet and Blue Moon Metals to restart the 4,000-tonne-per-year Springer APT plant.
The proposed ownership structure gives Elmet 70%, Blue Moon 20% and EQR 10%. Elmet is to fund the first US$75 million of restart expenditure.
The framework includes an eight-year, spot-priced offtake arrangement for 4,000 tonnes in aggregate of contained tungsten trioxide in concentrate from EQR, beginning after commissioning.
EQR would also gain access to up to 1,000 tonnes annually of APT processing capacity during the first five operating years, alongside a technical role in engineering and project delivery.
Implementation remained subject to definitive agreements at the announcement date.
Vietnam and Britain secure long-term supply agreements
On 23 September, Elmet announced an agreement to acquire 4.99% of Masan High-Tech Materials for US$124.75 million.
Associated commercial agreements cover tungsten from the Nui Phao mine and conversion services at Masan’s refining complex in Vietnam. Completion was subject to approvals and other closing conditions when announced.
A day earlier, Elmet announced a long-term offtake agreement with Tungsten West, covering expected deliveries exceeding 1,000 tonnes annually of tungsten trioxide equivalent from the Hemerdon mine in Devon.
Hemerdon had initiated processing and was targeting full-scale production by the end of the first quarter of 2027. Material supplied to Elmet is to be converted through its allied refining network before downstream manufacturing.
Redmoor receives US backing; Almonty targets mine tailings
On 28 September, Strategic Minerals announced US$9.25 million in US government funding for its Cornwall Resources subsidiary to advance the Redmoor tungsten-copper-tin project.
The non-dilutive funding supports drilling, resource updates, metallurgical work, engineering and feasibility studies. The programme targets completion of technical and commercial work towards a final investment decision within 32 months of the agreed programme start.
Separately, Almonty Industries announced on 17 September a supply agreement with Sandvik subsidiary Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten to recover tungsten from existing tailings at the Los Santos mine in Spain.
The multi-year, take-or-pay agreement covers at least approximately 1,720 tonnes of contained tungsten trioxide and includes a conditional US$3 million upfront payment for offtake rights. Production depends on restarting the processing plant.
September prices: elevated overseas, weaker in China
A 15 September market report citing Chinatungsten Online quoted European APT at US$2,900–3,000 per metric tonne (Figure 2).
The report put prices 204.4% above the beginning of 2026, although 10.8% below recent highs. Chinese domestic APT was quoted separately at RMB590,000–600,000 per tonne, amid subdued buying and pressure on processing margins.
The figures show that high international prices persisted into late September, alongside softer Chinese domestic conditions. They refer to APT, a processed tungsten intermediate, rather than tungsten concentrate.
January 2027 procurement deadline approaches
September ended with approximately three months remaining before expanded US defence sourcing restrictions take effect.
From 1 January 2027, DFARS clause 252.225-7052 extends restrictions upstream to mining and feedstock production for covered tungsten materials originating in China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
The clause covers tungsten metal powder, heavy alloys and specified components, subject to exceptions. It applies to covered defence procurement rather than all commercial tungsten imports. The effective date is January 2027.
Samso Concluding Comments
September’s agreements give investors specific developments to assess: committed funding, processing capacity, offtake volumes and commissioning schedules.
For ASX tungsten companies, the commercial opportunity depends on delivering compliant material at competitive costs. Government backing and higher benchmarks can support project economics, but production performance and realised margins will determine shareholder outcomes.
Previous Samso Coverage of Tungsten
Samso has written on tungsten since 2018. The pieces below are the ones closest to this month’s developments, newest first. The entry marked in gold is a Coffee with Samso interview rather than a written piece.
14 SEPTEMBER 2026
The third note in the Eastern Australia tin and tungsten series. It prices the fields that the first two parts mapped and tested.
31 AUGUST 2026
Why the tin and tungsten fields of Eastern Australia have been long known but underdeveloped.
3 AUGUST 2026
The 1 January 2027 US defence sourcing deadline, and where Australian producers sit against it.
10 JANUARY 2026
The tungsten outlook Samso wrote at the start of 2026, on low global inventory and rising demand.
COFFEE WITH SAMSO 29 NOVEMBER 2025 Coffee with Samso: Guardian Metals Resources Plc — The Real Critical Metal - Tungsten An interview with Oliver Frieson, CEO and Executive Director of Guardian Metals Resources PLC, on tungsten. |
17 SEPTEMBER 2025
An operations update from EQ Resources on its Saloro tungsten mine in Spain.
13 JULY 2025
Ore sorting trial results at the Wolfram Camp Project, a placement, and US EXIM Bank debt support for Mt Carbine.
25 MAY 2025
An overview of the tungsten market and why Samso keeps the metal on its watchlist.
VOCABULARY APT. Ammonium paratungstate. A white powder made by chemically refining tungsten concentrate. It is the main form in which tungsten is traded and priced. Concentrate. The product of a mine’s processing plant, where the tungsten minerals have been separated from most of the waste rock. Tungsten trioxide (WO3). The oxide of tungsten. Grades, tonnages and prices in the tungsten industry are usually quoted by the tungsten trioxide a material contains. Metric tonne unit (mtu). A pricing unit for tungsten. One metric tonne unit is 10 kilograms of tungsten trioxide, which is one per cent of a tonne. Offtake agreement. A contract in which a buyer agrees to purchase a set amount of a producer’s future output. Take-or-pay. A contract term under which the buyer pays for an agreed volume whether or not it takes delivery. Framework agreement. An agreement that sets out the main terms of a deal, with the detailed contracts to follow. Non-dilutive funding. Funding that does not involve issuing new shares, so existing shareholders keep the same percentage of the company. Tailings. The finely ground material left over after a processing plant has taken out the minerals it was built to recover. Final investment decision. The point at which a company’s board commits the money to build a project. DFARS. The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, the rules the US Department of Defense applies to its purchasing. |
Cover photo: Scheelite 1, Géry Parent. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scheelite_1.jpg). Scheelite is a tungsten ore mineral. Reproduced photograph, shown under the Samso News blue glass on the article thumbnail.
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