American Tungsten drills high grades at former Idaho mine

American Tungsten (CSE: TUNG) has provided its first assay results from underground drilling at the IMA project in Idaho, showing high grades of tungsten plus silver from multiple holes. Shares of the Canadian miner surged.

Located in Lemhi county, the IMA project is the site of a former tungsten mine that operated between 1945 and 1957. During that time, it produced nearly 200,000 metric ton units of tungsten trioxide (WO3), along with millions of pounds of copper and zinc and over 1,000 ounces of silver. From the 1960s onwards, the property was explored for molybdenum and tungsten by various operators.

American Tungsten bought the project in 2024 with the aim of bringing the underground mine back into production. Before that, the company plans to conduct exploration drilling to define a mineral resource while restoring the mine infrastructure to assess the potential restart.

To date, a total of 10 underground drill holes totaling approximately 3,800 feet have been completed on the rehabilitated D-level of the mine. The drilling is being conducted in a series of upward inclined fan holes from new drill stations in the footwall of the No.5 and No.7 vein systems.

‘High-quality’ tungsten asset

In a press release on Tuesday, the company released the first set of results, with three holes returning 31 feet grading 0.48% WO₃ and 1.84 oz/t silver, 11.1 feet grading 1.08% WO₃ and 2.05 oz/t Ag, and 16.3 feet grading 0.54% WO₃ and 1.79 oz/t Ag, respectively.

“These results show strong grades over significant widths, underscoring the high-quality nature of the IMA tungsten asset, which has never been systematically targeted with modern exploration methods,” American Tungsten CEO Ali Haji said in the release.

Tungsten is a critical mineral used widely in industrial and technology applications. The US has not had any domestic production since 2015, and so relies heavily on supplies from China, which accounts for 80% of the global mine output.

Shares of American Tungsten rose nearly 9% to C$2.59 apiece by midday after the announcement, giving the company a market capitalization of C$129.5 million ($95.6 million). Year to date, the stock has risen by nearly 60%.

“They will support the definition of a mineral resource — an important step toward bringing the mine online. The results also identify a silver system that is expected to help offset operating costs,” Haji said.

Silver prices recently rallied to record highs of above $120/oz., and despite a massive selloff at the end of January, it remains up 160% over the past year.

According to American Tungsten, the next major focus for the company is to advance metallurgy and move the IMA project toward development.