Pentagon invests $450 million in US tungsten supply — Defense News
The US Department of Defense announced a $450 million investment in The Elmet Group to strengthen the American tungsten supply chain — a critical mineral used in the production of ammunition, missiles and other weapons. As Defense News reports, the company was selected because it is the only US producer with fully integrated production of tungsten and molybdenum materials and components.
Restrictions on Chinese tungsten
The investment comes ahead of the January 1 deadline for a federal procurement rule. It will prohibit the use for US defense needs of tungsten mined, refined or processed in China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy Michael Cadenazzi said the funding is intended to help restore critical industrial capacity in the United States and strengthen the resilience of supply chains and the manufacturing base for defense systems.
According to government data, China controls about 85% of global tungsten supplies and 40% of molybdenum supplies. Critical minerals analyst Chris Berry noted that the United States has not mined tungsten since 2015, and that its price increase is, in his assessment, almost entirely linked to political decisions in Beijing and Washington.
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Where the funds will go
Elmet Group will spend $165 million to modernize manufacturing operations in Maine, Michigan and Ohio to increase productivity. The company also plans to direct about $150 million toward resuming tungsten mining in Imlay, Nevada, and $100 million toward creating a refining and trading division to support access and international partnerships.
The company, headquartered in Portland, Maine, supports more than 100 US defense programs, including Patriot, Javelin, AEGIS, Trident II and THAAD, as well as the Virginia- and Columbia-class submarine programs. Elmet also reported agreements on mining operations with the UK's Tungsten West and Vietnam's Masan High-Tech Materials Corporation.
Properties of the metal
Tungsten has the highest melting point among metals and roughly the same density as gold. When combined with carbon, it forms tungsten carbide, an extremely hard material for industrial and military applications. According to Berry, there is no full-scale substitute for most such applications, and stable supplies require not only new mines but also metal refining and processing capacity.
