American Tungsten Corp. (TSXV: TUNG, OTCQB: DEMRF)
Building America’s Defense Critical Metals Supply
A new report from BMO Global Commodities Research shows the Trump administration’s $18.6 billion critical minerals investment is heavily lopsided: rare earths are soaking up most of the funds, while strategic metals like tungsten and cobalt are severely underfunded.
This imbalance threatens the U.S. goal of building an independent supply chain, with USA Rare Earth (USAR) and MP Materials (MP) emerging as the biggest beneficiaries.
The $18.6 billion in committed and uncommitted financing spans 60 projects, with $15.9 billion (over 85%) in loans, $2.1 billion in equity investments and $615 million in grants. Funding comes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM), the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the CHIPS Act. BMO analysts noted the U.S. has mobilized unprecedented capital and policy for critical minerals, though only part of the funds have been distributed.
The U.S. is prioritizing rare earths to catch up with China’s decades-long leadership—China began state-led rare earth investment in 1964 and mastered low-cost element separation technology by the 1980s, a process most Western firms still struggle with. Despite a global rare earth market worth just $3.5 billion in 2024 (far less than copper, lithium or uranium), the sector has secured disproportionate funding due to its defense value.
USAR and MP Materials have directly benefited: In February, the DFC provided $565 million to Brazilian miner Serra Verde, which USAR is acquiring for $2.8 billion (deal expected to close Q3). Last summer, the U.S. Department of Defense invested $400 million in MP Materials, North America’s only rare earth miner, becoming its largest shareholder. Graphite One (GPH) also stands to gain $2.1 billion in EXIM loans for its Ohio plant and Alaska project.
In stark contrast, tungsten and cobalt—critical for aerospace, electronics and military use—are starved of funding. Global tungsten supply is dominated by China, yet Fireweed Metals’ Mactung project (one of the world’s largest undeveloped tungsten deposits) got only $15.8 million from the DoD, while Northcliff Resources’ Sisson tungsten-molybdenum project received $15 million.
BMO warned the Trump administration has hundreds of billions in potential critical minerals funding, but tungsten, cobalt, antimony, nickel, tantalum and tin are underfunded relative to their importance. This lopsided allocation, the report concluded, could leave fatal gaps in the U.S. effort to build a complete, independent critical minerals supply chain.
