The West Is Running Out of Tungsten Patience, This Junior Just Added the Expertise to Move Fast
Issued on behalf of Western Star Resources Inc.
China controls roughly 80% of the world's tungsten supply. Washington has banned its procurement from Chinese sources. And a junior with past-producing assets in Nevada and New Mexico just brought in one of North America's most experienced geological consulting groups to define the drill targets that could change that equation.
USA News Group News Commentary
VANCOUVER, B.C., July 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Tungsten does not make headlines the way lithium or copper does. It is not the subject of presidential executive orders, does not appear on EV battery spec sheets, and has no celebrity advocates in the clean-energy transition. What it does have is a supply problem that is, by any serious measure, more acute than almost any other critical mineral the West has identified.
China controls approximately 80% of global tungsten production and an even higher share of refining capacity. The United States currently produces virtually none of its own tungsten. The metal is formally designated as critical by both the U.S. and Canadian governments, is essential to defense manufacturing including armor-piercing munitions, missile components, and radiation shielding and is the backbone of the cutting tool and hard metal industries that underpin modern manufacturing. In short, tungsten is irreplaceable, and the West's dependence on a single adversarial supplier for it is a vulnerability that policymakers are only beginning to address with the urgency the situation demands. Against that backdrop, Western Star Resources Inc. has been quietly assembling past-producing tungsten assets in two of North America's historically significant tungsten districts Nevada and New Mexico and on July 21, 2026, it announced the addition of the geological firepower that could accelerate the timeline from historical data to drill-ready targets significantly.
Companies mentioned: Western Star Resources Inc. (CSE: WSR) (OTC: WSRIF) (FRA: 4K2), Almonty Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: ALM) (TSX: AII) (ASX: AII) (FSE: ALI1), Fireweed Metals Corp. (TSXV: FWZ) (OTCQX: FWEDF) (FSE: M0G), American Tungsten Corp. (TSXV: TUNG) (OTCQB: TUNGF) (FSE: RK90), Allied Critical Metals Inc. (CSE: ACM) (OTCQB: ACMIF) (FSE: 0VJ0)
THE DAHROUGE APPOINTMENT: WHAT IT SIGNALS
The appointment of Dahrouge Geological Consulting to Western Star's technical team is not a routine press release. Dahrouge is a North American mineral exploration, consulting, and project management group with offices in Edmonton, Montreal, and Denver the Denver office being the base of operations for the Western Star engagement, chosen specifically for its regional expertise in the geology of the American Southwest and Rocky Mountain tungsten districts.
The mandate is precise and well-defined. Dahrouge has been reviewing and analyzing the technical data at the Eagle Point Mine in New Mexico with a specific objective: to define drill targets across the known surface mineralization and to consolidate all existing data into a comprehensive technical presentation and model. The intermediate goal, as described by CEO Blake Morgan, is to develop a comprehensive drill program targeting the historical non-compliant resource. From there, the company intends to move toward a formal Mineral Resource Estimate following the maiden drill program planned for 2026.
"We are thrilled to have added Dahrouge to our existing geological team as we continue to advance our past-producing tungsten assets in Nevada and New Mexico," stated Blake Morgan, CEO of Western Star Resources. "Dahrouge has been reviewing and analyzing the technical data at the Past Producing Eagle Point Mine in New Mexico in order to define drill targets across the known surface mineralization and to consolidate all the data into a well-developed technical presentation and model. The Board will get some news out to the market regarding this as soon as possible."
Jacob Anderson, Certified Professional Geologist at Dahrouge, added that the firm is committed to working aggressively to advance understanding of Eagle Point's resource potential, while helping to de-risk and expand the mineral resource of the project. For a company at Western Star's stage, having a consulting group of Dahrouge's caliber explicitly focused on de-risking the resource is a meaningful signal. It indicates the company is approaching the project with methodological discipline rather than the exploratory optimism that characterizes many early-stage juniors.
THE ASSETS: PAST PRODUCERS IN PROVEN BELTS
Western Star's portfolio is built on a thesis that has worked in other critical mineral cycles: past-producing mines in historically significant districts carry a geological head start that greenfield projects cannot match. The company is advancing past-producing tungsten assets in two distinct North American districts.
The Eagle Point Mine in New Mexico is the near-term focus. New Mexico has a long history of tungsten production, and Eagle Point carries a historical resource that was not defined under current NI 43-101 standards making it non-compliant for current disclosure purposes, but also representing a body of geological work that informed decades of prior mining activity. Dahrouge's mandate is to translate that historical data into a modern, drill-testable model. The goal is not to rely on the historical resource as reported, but to use the geological intelligence embedded in decades of past work to define the targets most likely to yield a compliant MRE under current standards.
The Nevada assets add a second dimension to the portfolio. Nevada is one of the most mining-friendly jurisdictions in North America and has hosted significant tungsten production historically, including at the Tungsten Hills and Mill City districts. Western Star's Nevada holdings give the company exposure to a second tungsten belt with its own historical production record and the permitting infrastructure advantages that established Nevada mining districts provide. The company has indicated that the technical work being led by Dahrouge will cover both the Nevada and New Mexico assets as it builds toward a comprehensive drill program.
WHY TUNGSTEN'S MOMENT HAS ARRIVED
The strategic case for tungsten has been building for years. It crystallized decisively in 2023, when China began restricting tungsten exports as part of a broader policy of leveraging critical mineral dominance as geopolitical leverage a playbook it has also deployed with gallium, germanium, and graphite. The United States responded by designating tungsten as a critical mineral, banning its procurement for defense applications from Chinese sources, and beginning to direct research and development funding toward domestic and allied-nation alternatives.
The market response has been tangible. Ammonium paratungstate the primary traded form of refined tungsten has reached historically elevated price levels in 2025 and 2026, driven by supply tightness and the growing premium that Western defense and industrial buyers are willing to pay for non-Chinese sourcing.
At current APT prices above US$3,000 per metric ton unit, projects that would have been marginal a decade ago are generating compelling economics. That price environment is one reason the tungsten junior space has attracted meaningful capital in 2026, with several companies completing significant financings and advancing drill programs at a pace not seen in the sector in years.
For Western Star, the timing of the Dahrouge appointment reflects an awareness that the window for establishing a credible tungsten development story in North America is open now and may not remain open indefinitely as larger, better-capitalized companies continue to advance their own projects. Moving from historical data to drill-ready targets quickly, with experienced geological support, is the most direct path to the kind of news flow that attracts the market's attention in a sector as thinly covered as tungsten.
THE TUNGSTEN NAMES INVESTORS ARE WATCHING
Western Star sits at the earliest stage of a tungsten sector that spans the full development spectrum from a company that just entered commercial production at a world-class mine to juniors still working to define their first compliant resource. Understanding where each player sits in that spectrum helps frame the context in which Western Star's Dahrouge appointment should be evaluated.
Almonty Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: ALM) (TSX: AII) (ASX: AII) (FSE: ALI1) is the producing benchmark for the Western tungsten sector and in June 2026, it reached a milestone that the entire sector has been waiting for. Almonty commenced processing plant throughput operations at its Sangdong Mine in South Korea, beginning to feed approximately 139,700 tonnes of stockpiled run-of-mine ore through its newly commissioned processing plant to produce saleable tungsten concentrate. The company exited Q1 2026 with approximately 120,000 tonnes of ore stockpiled at an average grade of 0.24% WO₃, with Q2 development mining adding another 19,700 tonnes at an improved 0.35% WO₃ grade. Management estimates the contained metal in the stockpile carries an illustrative gross in-process value of approximately US$68 million at current prices. Sangdong was once one of the world's largest and highest-grade tungsten mines before it was shuttered in the early 1990s. Its return to production as a Western-aligned, non-Chinese supply source at a moment when APT prices are at historic highs and defense procurement bans on Chinese tungsten are in force represents exactly the kind of supply security outcome that Western governments have been funding and policy-supporting. Almonty's trajectory from developer to producer is the destination that every other tungsten junior in the Western world is ultimately working toward.
Fireweed Metals Corp. (TSXV: FWZ) (OTCQX: FWEDF) (FSE: M0G) holds what is described as the world's largest high-grade tungsten deposit at its Mactung project in the Yukon, straddling the Northwest Territories border. Mactung hosts a 41.5 million tonne Indicated Resource at 0.73% WO₃ and a 12.2 million tonne Inferred Resource at 0.59% WO₃ a scale and grade combination that is genuinely unmatched among undeveloped tungsten deposits globally. In March 2026, Fireweed engaged internationally recognized engineering and technical consultants to complete an updated Feasibility Study, targeting completion in early 2027. A 2026 field program is underway at both Mactung and the company's Macpass zinc-lead-silver project.
As a Lundin Group company with deep pockets and a disciplined technical approach, Fireweed represents the large-scale, long-duration end of the Western tungsten development spectrum. Its feasibility study process and the institutional confidence it reflects illustrate the tier of capital that world-class tungsten deposits can attract when the strategic backdrop is as compelling as it is today.
American Tungsten Corp. (TSXV: TUNG) (OTCQB: TUNGF) (FSE: RK90) is the most directly comparable peer to Western Star in the North American tungsten junior landscape. American Tungsten is advancing the Ima Mine Project in Lemhi County, Idaho a past-producing underground tungsten mine with significant historical output between 1945 and 1957 through a clearly defined phased development approach.
Phase 1 focuses on evaluating and potentially processing existing surface tailings as a lower-capital pathway to near-term production. Phase 2 targets rehabilitation and restart of the historic underground mine. In June 2026, the company launched a comprehensive metallurgical testing program led by Bomenco Minerals Engineering Corp. and SGS Laboratories, alongside geotechnical investigations to support tailings and waste rock storage facility design. A 35,000-foot surface and underground drilling program is also underway at the Ima Mine. American Tungsten's progression from historical data to active drilling and metallurgical testing at a past-producing Idaho mine is the most direct available template for the path Western Star is now beginning to execute at Eagle Point.
Allied Critical Metals Inc. (CSE: ACM) (OTCQB: ACMIF) (FSE: 0VJ0) represents the most advanced junior developer in the sector outside of Almonty, and its recent financings illustrate the scale of capital that a well-positioned tungsten development story can now attract. Allied is advancing the Borralha and Vila Verde tungsten projects in northern Portugal both past-producing assets in a historically significant European tungsten district and in April 2026 closed a US$40 million financing package, including a US$15 million commitment from a strategic investor entitled to 50% of tungsten concentrate from the Vila Verde pilot plant.
The company is now fully funded for the next 12 months with over $45 million in cash liquidity, running a 20,000-metre 2026 drill program at Borralha, and has published PEA economics showing an after-tax NPV of CAD$473 million and an IRR of 49% at a tungsten price of US$1,000 per MTU prices that are materially below current spot levels. Allied's trajectory past-producing brownfield asset, experienced team, strategic investor providing both capital and offtake, robust PEA economics is a blueprint that Western Star's management will be watching closely as it advances Eagle Point toward its own maiden drill program. These companies are referenced to illustrate the sector only.
They do not imply any partnership, endorsement, affiliation, or comparable financial performance, and differ substantially from Western Star in size, stage, and asset type.
WHY THE TIMING MATTERS
In most commodity cycles, the window between a critical mineral being recognized as strategically important and the capital markets fully pricing that recognition is measured in years. The tungsten window opened in earnest in 2023 when China's export restrictions removed any remaining ambiguity about the supply risk.
It has been widening steadily since, as Almonty's Sangdong mine enters production, as Fireweed's Mactung feasibility study advances, as Allied Critical Metals closes a US$40 million financing package, and as the U.S. government continues to signal that domestic and allied-nation tungsten sourcing is a defense procurement priority.
Western Star's response to that window is to move quickly and methodically. The Dahrouge appointment is not a headline-grabbing announcement it is the kind of unglamorous, necessary technical work that separates junior companies that eventually define resources from those that remain perpetually at the 'historical resource' stage. Translating decades of historical mining data at Eagle Point into a modern, drill-testable geological model is the first step on a path that leads, if the geology cooperates, toward a compliant resource, a maiden drill program, and eventually the kind of economic study that allows the market to begin assigning value to what is in the ground.
The path is long, and the risks are real. But the sector context has rarely been more favorable for a junior making that first move. And in tungsten a metal where the supply security case is urgent, the producing alternatives to China are few, and the capital market attention has only recently begun to catch up to the strategic reality moving fast with experienced geological support may be exactly the right approach.
CONTINUED… Learn more about Western Star Resources Inc. at: https://www.westernstarresources.com.
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SOURCES:
[1] Western Star Resources Inc. "Western Star Resources Inc. Retains Dahrouge Geological Consulting" (July 21, 2026; primary source for Dahrouge appointment, Eagle Point mandate, CEO Blake Morgan quote, Jacob Anderson CPG quote, Denver office base, MRE and drill program timeline; CSE: WSR, OTC: WSRIF, FRA: 4K2): https://www.westernstarresources.com.
[2] Almonty Industries Inc. "Almonty Commences Processing Operations at Sangdong Mine, Marking Transition to Saleable Tungsten Concentrate Production" (July 1, 2026; 139,700t ROM stockpile at 0.25% WO₃; ~$68M illustrative gross in-process value; Q2 2026: 19,700t mined at 0.35% WO₃, 214.6m underground development; plant commissioned; NASDAQ: ALM, TSX: AII, ASX: AII, FSE: ALI1): https://almonty.com/almonty-commences-processing-operations-at-sangdong-mine/.
[3] Fireweed Metals Corp. "Fireweed Metals Commences Mactung Tungsten Project Feasibility Study" (March 9, 2026; Mactung: 41.5Mt Indicated at 0.73% WO₃, 12.2Mt Inferred at 0.59% WO₃; FS completion targeted early 2027); "Fireweed Metals Commences 2026 Field Program" (June 4, 2026; activities across Mactung, Macpass, regional infrastructure); TSXV: FWZ, OTCQX: FWEDF, FSE: M0G: https://fireweedmetals.com/fireweed-metals-commences-mactung-tungsten-project-feasibility-study/.
[4] American Tungsten Corp. "American Tungsten Advances Metallurgical and Infrastructure Studies at the IMA Mine" (June 16, 2026; Bomenco/SGS metallurgical program, NewFields geotechnical investigation); "American Tungsten Ramps-Up Exploration Operations; Initiates 35,000 ft Drilling Program" (May 26, 2026); TSX Venture Exchange listing approved May 27, 2026; TSXV: TUNG, OTCQB: TUNGF, FSE: RK90: https://americantungstencorp.com.
[5] Allied Critical Metals Inc. US$40M financing closed April May 2026 (US$25M placement at CA$2.05/share; US$15M strategic investor commitment with 50% Vila Verde pilot plant offtake); fully funded >$45M; 20,000m 2026 Borralha drill program underway; PEA: after-tax NPV(8%) CAD$473M, IRR 49% at US$1,000/mtu WO₃; CSE: ACM, OTCQB: ACMIF, FSE: 0VJ0: https://alliedcritical.com.
[6] U.S. Geological Survey / U.S. Department of Defense tungsten designated as critical mineral; DOD ban on procurement of tungsten from Chinese sources; APT spot prices exceeding US$3,000/mtu in 2025 2026; China controls approximately 80% of global tungsten production and refining capacity.
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Qualified Person Disclosure. The scientific and technical information in this article has been reviewed and approved by Jasper Mowatt (MIMMM 0486653 / MAusIMM 3178851), a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Mowatt is a consultant to Western Star Resources Inc. and is therefore not independent of the company.
Cautionary Note on Exploration Results. Western Star Resources Inc. is an early-stage exploration company. The Eagle Point Mine and the company's Nevada assets do not have mineral resources or mineral reserves that are current under National Instrument 43-101. Any historical resource estimates referenced are historical in nature, were not prepared under current NI 43-101 standards, are considered non-compliant, and should not be relied upon; a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify them as current mineral resources, and Western Star is not treating them as current mineral resources. Historical production figures and grades have not been verified by a qualified person. Geological targets and any drill targets described are conceptual, exploration is inherently uncertain, and there is no assurance that exploration will result in the definition of any mineral resource or that any historical mineralization will be confirmed. References to other companies' resources, reserves, production, financings, or economic studies describe those companies only and are not indicative of Western Star's own prospects.
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