Prices for the critical metal tungsten have gone ballistic, increasing tenfold to more than US$3000 a metric tonne (mtu) unit in western markets in the last 12 months.

The price surge is serving to power up the development ambitions of a bunch of ASX-listed juniors, as well as carrying the market cap of tungsten producer and sector leader, EQ Resources (EQR), from $110 million 12 months ago to $1.33 billion.

Tungsten has long been considered one of the most critical of the critical metals because of China’s 85% control of the market as well as the metal’s widespread and growing list of critical applications.

Even so, the metal barely registered with ASX investors. It was seen as a small and obscure market while the metal languished for years in a US$300-US$350/mtu price range.

However, the ballistic price rise of the last 12 months means that ASX-listed tungsten stocks are enjoying intense investor interest as reflected in the market cap growth for EQR, a producer from tungsten mines in Queensland and Spain.

The step-up in investor interest was highlighted by the recent acquisition of 16.8% in EQR by iron ore multi-billionaire Andrew Forrest through his personal investment vehicle, Wonongarra.

He said the investment came as the “world has woken up to how fragile critical mineral supply chains have become”.

“Tungsten is essential to the machines that build our homes, hospitals, cities and modern-day energy systems, as well as the semiconductors in every phone and computer. Yet global supply is remarkably concentrated,’’ Forrest said.

The seeds for the tungsten boom were sown in May 2024 when the Biden administration introduced measures due to come into force in January next year that ban US companies from sourcing their tungsten requirements from China on national security grounds.

Then came the tariff war with China kicked off by the Trump administration which prompted a tit-for-tat response from Beijing in February 2025 when it placed new restrictions on tungsten exports, effectively choking off Chinese supplies.

Tungsten Mining (TGN) is ready-made to capitalise on the boom in tungsten demand and prices.

While other companies on the ASX are newcomers to the critical mineral, TGN has been tungsten-focused since its debut on the ASX in 2012.

Through acquisitions and exploration TGN has put together a portfolio which includes not one but two near-term mine developments – Watershed in north Queensland and its flagship Mt Mulgine project in the Murchison region of Western Australia.

Location of Tungsten Mining's Watershed project. Pic: supplied

First production from Watershed is planned for the first half of 2027 with the globally-significant Mt Mulgine planned to produce first tungsten in early 2029.

TGN’s production plans have been shaped to leverage tungsten prices that have rocketed from US$465 a metric tonne unit (mtu) in the June 2025 quarter to US$3000-US$3270/mtu.

This is primarily due to China, which accounts for more than 80% of the tungsten market, restricting supplies to the west.

TGN chairman Gary Lyons said the western nations only had themselves to blame for China’s rise to dominance in the tungsten market.

“The west sat idle for the last 20 or 30 years and allowed China to move forward and build significant tungsten mines and refineries, and go downstream from there. Now it's time for the west to play catch up,” he said.

Lyons said that with two near-term development projects on its books at a time of serious shortages of tungsten, TGN was ready to be the first to market with a supply response.

The potential for Watershed to be brought into production is a function of it having been the subject of a definitive feasibility study by its previous owner and TGN’s recently released preliminary economic evaluation (PEE) report.

The PEE outlined a costing of $274m with life-of-mine operating margin of 56% using conservative tungsten prices. Its pre-tax net present value was estimated at $1.3bn.

Junior critical metals specialist Red Mountain Mining (RMX) has added a strategically located historic tungsten project in the US to its portfolio.

Acquiring the Pioneer tungsten project in Montana comes as tungsten prices have soared to record levels in response to China turning off the tungsten supply taps to the western world.

Pioneer covers claims that lie adjacent to the big Gentung tungsten deposit owned by US tungsten heavyweight, the US$3.8 billion Almonty Industries.

Given RMX is a $10.5m company on the ASX, its pick up of the Pioneer claims (Mammoth, Lost Creek and Greenstone) stands as a coup for the junior company which is also advancing antimony projects in NSW and the US.

Red Mountain Mining's Pioneer project. Pic: supplied

RMX director of corporate development Nic Matich said the expansion into tungsten at Pioneer reflected the group’s strategy of the last couple of years to acquire critical minerals projects with historical data close to known major deposits.

The right jurisdiction is another consideration and there has to be strong government and investor interest in the critical metal.

That is certainly the case with tungsten.

The US has directed its military and industrial complex to source all of their tungsten needs from non-Chinese sources from January next year.

In the meantime China – the dominant tungsten producer - has all but stopped exports.

RMX has hit the ground running at Pioneer. Rock chip sampling has returned values of up to 0.32% tungsten from the Greenstone claim.

The company said the results confirmed the presence of garnet skarn-hosted mineralisation with further sampling planned to define the extent, variability and continuity of the mineralisation ahead of drill testing one or more targets.

“From our perspective, there is all the potential for a discovery,” Matich said.

The broader region has a recorded production history of 680,000t of tungsten ore in the 1950s and from 1970-1975.