Australian-based EQ Resources’ plan to build a large multi-layered international tungsten supply chain continues to gain momentum with its direct entry into the US via a deal aimed at accelerating the revival of a Nevada tungsten mine and chemical refinery.

ASX-listed EQR, which now has a market value of circa-A$2.3 billion, has signed an agreement with the owner of the Springer tungsten mines, mill and ammonium paratungstate plant, Blue Moon Metals, and US aerospace and defence manufacturer The Elmet Group, to form a new joint venture and establish Springer as an integral part of a key domestic strategic metal value chain.

Elmet has a contract with the US Defense Logistics Agency to supply up to US$2 billion of materials to help rebuild national defence stocks. It plans to channel up to $150 million of a recent $450 million US Department of War investment in the company into Blue Moon and Springer to help reactivate mining and milling by the end of 2027 and APT conversion in the second half of 2028.

Elmet signed a 2024 offtake deal with EQR to take tungsten concentrate from the miner’s operations in Australia and Spain. It will own 70% of the proposed Springer JV with Blue Moon (20%) and EQR (10%) and has created Elmet Refining & Trading to oversee upstream metal sourcing and delivery.

As well as its established connection with Elmet, EQR brings funding, expanding primary tungsten supply and unique operational expertise to the JV.

It has Mt Carbine in north Queensland and Barruecopardo in Spain’s Salamanca province, which produced a combined circa-119,000 metric tonne units of tungsten in FY2026. EQR thinks it can ramp up output from both sites to 385,000mtu and last month hit an annualised rate of c229,000mtu when sales reached a record A$55.1 million. An mtu is 10kg of tungsten. EQR units sold for US$2269/mtu in August.

An important dimension of the company’s production build-up has been its increasingly effective use of advanced ore sorting technology.

Described as the “core of EQR’s efficiency model” in its 2025 annual report, X-ray transmission, or XRT, ore sorting is materially impacting the company’s unit costs and cash flows as it grows production.

“By debulking ore upstream and increasing the grade of the material fed into the gravity circuit the ore sorters effectively raise the metal content per tonne of feed,” EQR said of work done in Spain.

“This ensures that even without materially expanding gravity plant capacity overall tungsten output increases in line with higher feed grades.

“The approach mirrors EQR’s operational philosophy at Mt Carbine — focusing on sorting efficiency rather than sheer plant scale, to deliver sustainable growth with reduced energy consumption, lower wear on equipment and a smaller environmental footprint.”

EQR aims to bring its IP to Springer, under licence, as part of a plan to revitalise what was historically one of the largest tungsten operations in the US, as a feed source for a viable 4000tpa APT hub.

A final agreement has to be reached but financial and technical support for Blue Moon and heavyweight sponsorship of the APT plant augurs well for delivery of new US midstream tungsten supply.

“This investment represents an important step toward securing a resilient supply of tungsten, a material that is critical to America’s defence, industrial and economic future,” Elmet Group CEO Peter Anania said.

EQR managing director Craig Bradshaw said the deal was pivotal to the company’s growth strategy.

“It provides an eight-year offtake agreement for 4000 tonnes of contained WO3 from our mines, as well as a leading role in the engineering and project delivery of the Springer Plant, all while validating the ore sorting technology EQR has developed across our operations,” he said.

“Partnering with Blue Moon and The Elmet Group, with the sponsorship of the US Department of War, cements EQR’s position as a globally significant supplier of this critical mineral and opens a strategic new market for our Australian and Spanish production.”

Craig Bradshaw is speaking at IMARC 2026 and EQ Resources is an exhibitor (Stand MH233) at the event.