agreed - very little doubt about that as they will now be prepping for the next phase of ratchetting up production and positioning for western supply. Even though we have heard it a million times, I dont think people generally really quite yet understand exactly how critical tungsten is. Big business, the battery world, fusion technology, aerospace, automotive, mining & drilling would all come to a screaming halt without it Perhaps even some of these guys take their supply lines for granted and think they can just "top up" any time and place an order for more - but who do they place that order with ? Even China is cutting back on both production and export quotas (more to come on that one soon, no doubt) so they can better underpin their domestic growth plans. But in addition to China cutting back exports of tungsten, the USA, from 2026 will implement a ban on the use of Chinese tungsten in "military technologies" which will place additional pressure on supply.
So back to big business - up till now they have had the luxury of just placing that order. More diverse uses of tungsten are continually being found (e.g. fusion technology) and some will need to secure future supplies to ensure that the non tungsten component of their R&D is not wasted because it is reliant on that tungsten. So what is likely happening right now is that there is a significant "bottlenecking" of orders being placed by a growing number of businesses for a growing number of uses or technologies.
On the other side of the equation, ie, the supply side, the exact opposite is happening - tungsten production is rapidly becoming a significant issue for the western world and this is why you have companies like Elmet literally jumping up to the head of the queue to secure supply, and they wont be the last to do so. Tungsten miners are struggling - we have been through the list ad infinitum - Tungsten West, Almonty, G6M and others - all would love to be able to pick up that phone and take an order; but they cant. At EQR, we are in a very very fortunate position with two producing mines, and a third up our sleeve and perhaps one or two others to come (all in the fullness of time, of course). If this supply situation continues for much longer, or gets worse, being a "USA domestic source" will almost certainly play a huge role in our future - a future which could see vast amounts of Govt funds injected into the tungsten industry as a whole - not just EQR. But with EQR currently being the largest western producer, we will likely be on the top of that list of suppliers to take that phone call - so our new CFO, Andrew Mooney, should be very very busy indeed.
EQR Price at posting:
4.8¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
