Guardian Metal, Montana Mining Association forge US tungsten processing alliance

Guardian Metal Resources (NYSE.A: GMTL, LON: GMET) has entered a strategic partnership with the Montana Mining Association in conjunction with the Montana Technological University and the Army Research Laboratory to collaborate on a tungsten mining and recovery pilot program.  

Guardian Metal will supply stockpiled legacy ore from its Tempiute tungsten project in Nevada, selected as a US feedstock source, with an initial ~250-400 tonnes of stockpiled legacy ore to be transported from Tempiute to Philipsburg, Montana, for trial processing at the partner milling and processing facility. 

The program is focused on upscaling domestic tungsten-rich sources of historical mine tailings and legacy ore stockpiles to evaluate pathways toward commercial production of tungsten metal powder for defense-relevant applications within the U.S. 

Tempiute is a skarn-type tungsten-zinc-copper-silver project with existing infrastructure located less than 250 miles southeast of the company’s Pilot Mountain tungsten project.   

Tempiute, formerly known as the Emerson Tungsten mine, is a significant past producing tungsten mine, which was originally discovered in 1916 and most recently operated during the 1980s.  

The tungsten market had an estimated value of around $5 billion in 2023. It is the material of choice for a key defense application — penetrators — which are high-density, armour-piercing projectiles. It’s also required in US Department of Defence (DoD) contracts. As a critical defense metal, tungsten has been designated as a strategic priority by the US government.   

Guardian Metal said its mission is to advance Tempiute and Pilot Mountain as a cornerstone of U.S. tungsten supply, directly supporting national efforts to reshore production.  

In May, the company expanded its mineral rights position at Tempiute, staking 193 claims and increasing its footprint by over 375% to secure what it believes to be the full extent of the project’s tailings.    

“The selection of Tempiute as a feedstock source is a strong endorsement of the strategic significance of Guardian Metal’s entirely Nevada-based tungsten project portfolio,” Guardian Metal CEO Oliver Friesen said in a news release.  

“At a time when tungsten supply security has never been more critical to U.S. defense and industrial capability, this initiative represents a tangible step toward building an entirely domestic supply chain, free from reliance on foreign sources,” Friesen said.  

First shipments of legacy ore are expected by late summer 2026, subject to completion of metallurgical test work currently underway at partner laboratories in both the U.S. and U.K., and pilot-scale test work to be completed on-site in Montana.