Guardian Metal expands footprint at Tempiute tungsten project – stock surges  

Guardian Metal Resources (NYSE.A:GMTL, LON:GMET) said on Wednesday it has expanded its mineral rights position significantly at its Tempiute tungsten project in Nevada, 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 company’s stock surged in London and New York on the news.  

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

Formerly the Emerson mine, a significant past producing tungsten mine, which was originally discovered in 1916, the project has been explored and mined intermittently over the last century, most recently being in operation by Union Carbide from 1977-1984. 

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. 

Tungsten prices in April broke a record-high, fuelled by China’s tightening export controls and surging military demand, with supplies stretched thin. 

Gallium, another critical mineral, has also been identified at Tempiute, the company said.  

Guardian Metal said it is evaluating near-term resource and tungsten production opportunities across the extensive former producing mine, with the identification of tailings from decades of historical production adding a “compelling new dimension” to the project. 

“Tempiute has a long and well-documented tungsten production history, and we believe the historical tailings represent a unique opportunity warranting further investigation, one that could provide near-term support to the U.S. tungsten supply chain alongside a meaningful reclamation outcome,” Guardian Metal CEO Oliver Friesen said in a news release.   

“Our initial assessment has confirmed the presence of tungsten across a substantial surface footprint,” Friesen said. “As a result we are advancing towards an auger drilling program which will help us better understand the characteristics of the material subsurface.” 

Guardian Metal’s stock closed the day up over 19% in London and up 9% in New York . The company has a £ 472.6 million ($638.5 million) market capitalization.