American Tungsten Corp. (TSXV: TUNG, OTCQB: DEMRF)
Building America’s Defense Critical Metals Supply
Masan High-Tech Materials (MSR), Vietnam’s leading tungsten supplier, is expanding exploration and mining at its Nui Phao and Nui Chiem sites, unlocking an estimated 115 million tonnes of additional tungsten-polymetallic resources as global investors from Japan, Australia, Europe and the U.S. circle the world’s second-largest producer of the strategic metal.
The move comes against a backdrop of deepening shifts in the global critical minerals supply chain, with China — which accounts for 83% of worldwide tungsten output — having imposed export restrictions since February last year that have sent prices surging.
Under Vietnam’s National Mineral Master Plan, the Nui Phao expansion area holds roughly 55.19 million tonnes of resources, while the Nui Chiem site contains about 60 million tonnes, bringing the total to 115 million tonnes of tungsten-polymetallic ore.
At MSR’s current permitted mining capacity of approximately 3.5 million tonnes of ore per year, the additional resource base could support another 20 to 30 years of mining and processing operations. The company also plans to lift tungsten oxide production capacity to more than 8,000 tonnes to meet rising demand.
MSR said the expansion requires no significant capital expenditure, as it will leverage existing mining and processing infrastructure along with prior geological data.
Spanning 921 hectares, the Nui Phao project ranks among the largest and most important sources of tungsten outside China. The ultra-dense metal is critical to a wide range of applications, from semiconductors and drilling equipment to armor-piercing weaponry.
Vietnam produced an estimated 3,000 tonnes of tungsten last year, making it the world’s No. 2 producer behind China, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. China’s export restrictions, implemented in February 2024, have further tightened global supply of the metal.
Tungsten prices have climbed sharply in recent months as nations ramp up defense spending. MSR counts Honeywell and Mitsubishi among its clients and is betting the price rally will continue.
“The expansion of the Nui Phao resources base is aligned with the government’s orientation to develop Vietnam’s mining sector in a modern and sustainable direction, linking resource extraction with deep processing and higher domestic value-added,” Danny Le, chairman of Masan High-Tech Materials, said in an emailed statement.
The expansion, Le added, “opens the potential for another 20–30 years of mining and processing, but also strengthens MSR’s long-term strategic position at a time when scaled, deeply processed non-China tungsten supply is increasingly scarce.”
Parent company Masan Group is exploring the sale of up to a 5% stake in its mining division to international investors. MSR is in negotiations with potential investors from Japan, Australia, Europe and the United States.
In parallel, the company is preparing to transfer its listing from Vietnam’s Unlisted Public Company Market (UpCom) to the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, potentially as early as the first quarter of 2027, to tap broader funding for its mining operations.
MSR is targeting profit of between 1.7 trillion dong and 2.5 trillion dong this year.
Analysts say the Nui Phao expansion does more than cement MSR’s position as a leading integrated tungsten platform outside China — it reflects a deeper restructuring of the global critical minerals supply chain.
With downstream demand from semiconductors, electric vehicles, aerospace, renewable energy and defense all on the rise, Vietnam is moving up the value chain from a mere resource exporter toward deeper processing and higher domestic value-added.
As foreign capital and technology flow in at an accelerating pace, the Nui Phao expansion could emerge as a key case study for how Southeast Asian nations can capture a bigger share of the global critical minerals economy — and what it means for the post-China supply order.
