The United States is currently facing a critical challenge in its defense supply chain, as its war efforts in Iran are rapidly depleting advanced weapon stockpiles, necessitating a powerful metal, tungsten, whose global supply is overwhelmingly controlled by China, NBC News reports. The country is burning through crucial munitions like Tomahawk, Patriot, and Precision Strike missiles, and replacing them isn’t as simple as just ramping up production.
Tungsten is absolutely indispensable for national defense, a true “war metal” as Lewis Black, chief executive of Almonty Industries, recently put it. You’ll find this metal in everything from fighter jets to bunker buster bombs, armor-piercing rounds, and complex missile systems. It’s the kind of material that underpins modern military might, and honestly, there’s just no substitute for it. The problem is, the U.S. hasn’t had any active commercial tungsten mines running since way back in 2015.
China has truly dominated the global tungsten industry for decades, and it’s not hard to see why. They produce over 80% of the world’s supply and even use more than half of that themselves. This dominance has been fueled by a combination of government subsidies, lower labor costs, and reportedly looser regulations compared to other nations.
This situation has prompted a desperate search for alternative sources, highlighting a significant vulnerability in national security
The U.S. currently gets a lot of its tungsten through recycling, but it still heavily relies on imports, bringing in more than 6,000 metric tons of processed tungsten every single year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That’s a massive amount of dependence on an external supply chain.
This dependence became even more apparent last year when, in the midst of a trade war with the U.S., China slapped export controls on about a dozen rare earths and critical minerals, including tungsten. This move sent prices soaring to record highs. While China did agree to a tariff and rare earth truce last year, that agreement is set to expire in November, leaving a looming question mark over future supply. The global supply of tungsten has come under even more pressure since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began in February.
The Trump administration has made it a clear mission to curb this dependence on Chinese supply. The White House has already taken significant steps to address the problem, launching a substantial $12 billion stockpile of critical minerals in February. They’ve also been providing financial support for domestic mining project. On top of that, the administration is actively working to establish mineral partnerships with U.S. allies around the world, as well as pushing for a minerals trading bloc.
One promising development is found in the mountains of eastern South Korea, at a mine owned by a U.S. company called Almonty Industries. This mine holds millions of tons of tungsten ore, which is a staggering amount. Lewis Black, Almonty’s chief executive, shared that “There are very few large-scale tungsten mines on the planet,” making this South Korean operation incredibly significant. The Sangdong mine, which had been shut down for over 30 years due to competition from China, was happily reopened by Almonty in March.
Black mentioned that tungsten has always been a “war metal,” but in recent decades, it’s also become a “backbone metal” in the technology sector. You’ll find it in semiconductors, batteries, and even our beloved smartphones. Steve Allen, Almonty’s chief operating officer, echoed this sentiment, stating, “The demand for tungsten is going to only increase.” He added that “having a resilient supply chain for tungsten is going to be extremely important over the next decade, two decades.”
At the Sangdong mine itself, Almonty’s engineers are busy blasting every day in caverns carved deep into the mountains, finding new deposits of tungsten ore that actually fluoresce an electric blue. The mine has long been a part of the local landscape and was once the backbone of South Korea’s economy. Now that it’s up and running again, with newly installed high-tech safety features and a renewed global demand for tungsten, Almonty estimates it could continue operating for about 100 years.
At full capacity, Almonty plans to process about 1.2 million tons of tungsten ore annually at the South Korean mine. But they’re not stopping there. The company, which recently moved its corporate headquarters from Toronto to Dillon, Montana, for “strategic alignment” with U.S. defense interests, is also actively working to reopen a mine in Montana. Steve Allen emphasized this point, saying, “To be able to re-establish a tungsten mine in the United States is absolutely critical now and in the future.” I couldn’t agree more; domestic supply is key for true independence.
Beyond these direct mining efforts, the Trump administration has also backed a deal for a New York-based mining investment group, Cove Capital, to construct a $1.1 billion tungsten mining and processing plant in the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan. It’s interesting to note that this project reportedly includes President Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, among its investors.
However, the path to reducing dependence on China is certainly not an easy one. Restoring key munitions to prewar levels could take as long as four years, according to Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in a report last month. This timeframe would be absolutely critical in the event of a conflict with China, which makes the current shortfall even more concerning.
The weapons shortfall also has ripple effects, impacting U.S. allies like Japan, which relies on Tomahawk missiles, and South Korea, which hosts the THAAD missile system. Even the Beijing-claimed island of Taiwan is awaiting a potential $14 billion U.S. arms package, which a Trump administration statement last week indicated was on “pause” due to the Iran war.
Extracting and processing tungsten is no simple feat. Lewis Black describes the highly heat-resistant metal as being “as dense as gold and as delicate as porcelain,” which sounds like a real challenge. Tungsten mines also come with their own set of environmental considerations, producing hazardous waste and potentially disrupting local ecosystems, according to researchers and environmental campaigners.
This is a point that Ret. Col. Steve Warren, a senior aerospace and defense executive and former spokesperson for the Pentagon, brought up in an interview. He noted that “People in America don’t want to do that,” while “The Chinese are very willing to do that and at a low cost.” This stark difference in approach certainly complicates domestic production.
The U.S. tungsten industry, after lying dormant for so many years, is essentially starting from scratch. Black highlighted the profound challenge, stating, “There’s no knowledge. There’s no consultants you can go to. There’s no book you can refer to. All of that knowledge died in the ’90s.” He went on to explain that China didn’t just take market share; “They also took the human capital.”
So, how long will it take for the West to genuinely catch up with China’s tungsten industry? Black offered a sober assessment. He believes “you’ll be making a decent-sized dent in a decade,” but cautioned that “You won’t be totally self-sufficient in under 20. And to be honest, 20 will slip into 30 quite easily.”
He did offer a glimmer of hope, though, saying, “But let’s say that within two decades, you’ll be in pretty good shape.” The big question, as he aptly put it, is “what do you do between now and then?”
Published: May 25, 2026 05:30 pm