Spartan Metals Now Has the Largest Tungsten Resource in the U.S.
CEO.CA Apr 6, 2026 5:44
Summary
Spartan Metals' Victorio acquisition in New Mexico hands it the largest tungsten resource in the United States.
China controls over 80% of global tungsten supply, and Spartan is pitching Victorio as a domestic counterweight.
Tungsten near $2,250 per unit, roughly double 2008 lows, sets up a 2026 PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment, an early feasibility study) for Victorio.
Federal support is management's key lever for speed, bringing capital, permitting help, and technical expertise.
Spartan has committed up to $14 million of work over five years to earn full ownership of Victorio.
Rachel Tidball's takeaways
- Top takeaway Tidball frames the discussion around U.S. critical-mineral independence: noting China controls over 80% of the world's tungsten, she presents the Victoria acquisition as giving the U.S. its largest tungsten resource and says that has made the company a focal point of the theme.
- She highlights the recent stock surge as the reason the company may now be able to move faster, and asks whether the schedule to earn 100% of Victoria, which carries up to $14 million of committed work over five years, can be compressed with drills turning earlier.
- She cites tungsten prices above $2,250 per unit, roughly a 100% increase from lows last marked in 2008, and asks how large the valuation gap is when today's record prices are applied to the historic study for this resource.
- She presses the CEO on whether the investment case is a pure-play tungsten story or a basket of strategic metals, naming beryllium, molybdenum and silver, with the CEO adding fluorspar at Victoria and rubidium.
- She asks whether the goal for Victoria is to move into a federal funding package on national-defense grounds, citing the CEO's earlier track record of developing projects and securing U.S. government grants.