The Department of Defense awarded $6.2 million to Golden Metal Resources on July 22, 2025, under Title III of the Defense Production Act to fund a pre-feasibility study at the Pilot Mountain tungsten mining site, located southeast of Hawthorne, Nevada. Golden Metal Resources is the wholly owned operating subsidiary of publicly traded Guardian Metal Resources PLC. The funds come from the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022 and support Executive Order 14241 on Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production, signed March 20, 2025. The United States has not mined tungsten in nearly a decade.
What it means
Golden Metal Resources will use the award to complete metallurgical test work, engineering studies, environmental assessments, and related technical investigations at Pilot Mountain. Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy Dr. Vic Ramdass said in the release that “tungsten is an essential alloying metal for aerospace, ground vehicles, munitions, and many other defense systems.” Acting MCEIP Director William “Greg” Davis said the investment “will put the Nation on a path to achieve production capability for commercial-scale levels of tungsten, a key metal for numerous DoD systems.”
This is one of three awards the DPA Purchases Office has made for tungsten sourcing since 2024, and one of nine awards the office has made since the start of fiscal year 2025. The DPA Purchases Office is overseen by the Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization directorate.
Key facts
- Award amount: $6.2 million to Golden Metal Resources
- Authority: Title III of the Defense Production Act; funds from the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022
- Site: Pilot Mountain, southeast of Hawthorne, Nevada
- Recipient: Golden Metal Resources, wholly owned operating subsidiary of Guardian Metal Resources PLC
- Tungsten awards by DPA Purchases Office since 2024: three
- Total DPA Purchases Office awards since start of FY 2025: nine, valued at $326.1 million combined
- Total recipient cost shares since start of FY 2025: $83.4 million
- U.S. tungsten mining gap: nearly a decade
Source: Department of Defense news release (war.gov)