China’s Tungsten Squeeze Is Triggering a Global Scramble to Rebuild Critical Supply Chains for the Semiconductor Industry

Portugal and Spain

Although relatively small players globally, Portugal and Spain could regain strategic relevance for Europe in the tungsten supply chains. Portugal remains Europe’s largest tungsten producer, while Spain maintains active mining operations.

Portugal remains Europe’s largest tungsten producer and one of the world’s top 10 suppliers, accounting for 0.62% of global output in 2024. Its Panasqueira mine continues to dominate domestic production with 79% of Portugal’s 5,400 tonnes of tungsten reserves.

Per the studies, Portugal has produced roughly 121,000 tonnes of contained tungsten between 1910 and 2020, constituting ~3.3% of the global production for the same time period, yet less than 2% of its known resources have been depleted, suggesting considerable untapped potential.

While Spain is advancing projects such as Barruecopardo and El Moto. The Barruecopardo mine, reopened in 2019 after nearly four decades of closure, is among the world’s 10 largest tungsten mines by installed capacity and was designed to supply roughly 3% of global primary tungsten output at full production.

While the El Moto project contains an estimated 91 million tonnes of ore grading 0.44% tungsten hexafluoride equivalent, with construction having begun in 2025 and first production expected around 2027, per the reports. 

Although neither country can rival China individually, both could become increasingly important pillars of Europe’s efforts to build resilient critical mineral supply chains.

The United States and Canada

The United States possesses the world’s third-largest tungsten reserves at 140,000 tonnes, but has not mined tungsten commercially since 2015, leaving it entirely dependent on imports. Between 2019 and 2022, roughly 27% of U.S. tungsten imports originated from China.

After 2022, the United States gradually reduced its reliance on Chinese tungsten by increasing imports from countries such as Bolivia, Portugal and Spain, while simultaneously investing in a longer-term strategy centred on allied projects in Canada and Australia, reviving domestic mining projects in Nevada and Idaho, and rebuilding strategic stockpiles.

However, these efforts remain years away from materially reducing import dependence, leaving the United States vulnerable to further supply disruptions in the near term.

The U.S. Department of War has backed efforts to revive U.S. tungsten production, most notably through the Pilot Mountain project in Nevada, widely considered the country’s largest undeveloped tungsten deposit. The project has received US$ 6.2 million in funding under the Defense Production Act in 2025 to support a pre-feasibility study entailing metallurgical studies, engineering work, and environmental assessments.

Its Desert Scheelite deposit contains indicated resources of 8.69 million tonnes grading 0.206% WO₃ (Tungsten Trioxide) and inferred resources of 1.78 million tonnes grading 0.169% WO₃, alongside silver, copper, zinc and gallium. It could eventually become the country’s flagship mine, although production remains years away.

Meanwhile, the historic IMA mine in Idaho, which produced about 199,449 metric tonne units of tungsten trioxide (WO₃) between 1945 and 1957, is undergoing rehabilitation as a potentially faster route to restoring domestic output due to its existing infrastructure and permitting advantages.

American Tungsten Corp. is rehabilitating underground workings, expanding drilling programmes and updating historical resources at the site. The company has launched a 35,000-foot drilling campaign comprising 33 underground and 20 surface drill holes using four drill rigs, as it works towards a modern resource estimate and evaluates the feasibility of restarting mining operations.

Now, coming to Canada, which also possesses one of the world’s largest untapped tungsten deposits and could emerge as a promising alternative supplier from the North American region. While the country has not produced tungsten since its last mine closed in 2015, Ottawa has accelerated efforts since 2024 to revive the sector through large-scale projects in Yukon and New Brunswick.

The most significant is the Mactung project, located on the Yukon–Northwest Territories border and jointly held by Fireweed Metals and the Ross River Dena Council. Widely regarded as one of the world’s largest undeveloped high-grade tungsten deposits, it contains an estimated 33 million tonnes of measured and indicated resources grading 0.88% WO₃, alongside 11.9 million tonnes of inferred resources grading 0.78% WO₃.

A 2015 feasibility study projected an 11-year mine life, average annual production of approximately 4,200 tonnes of WO₃ and total output of around 46,000 tonnes over the life of the mine.

Recognising its strategic importance, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded US$ 15.8 million in December 2024 under the Defense Production Act to accelerate development activities, while the Canadian government also committed up to CA$ 12.9 million in additional funding.

The funds are being used for resource definition drilling, engineering studies, metallurgical testing and updated feasibility work, with the broader objective of integrating Mactung into a North American critical minerals supply chain.

The Sisson project in New Brunswick contains 387 million tonnes of measured and indicated reserves grading 0.072% WO₃ and 0.023% molybdenum (Mo). A 2013 feasibility study envisaged a 27-year mine life, average annual production of approximately 5,858 tonnes of WO₃ and 1,880 tonnes of molybdenum (Mo), alongside an initial capital cost of CA$ 578.8 million.

In 2025, Ottawa elevated Sisson to its Major Projects framework and announced CA$ 8.2 million in federal support to advance permitting and development activities. The project is being promoted as a key pillar of Canada’s critical minerals strategy and could eventually restore domestic tungsten production after a decade-long hiatus.

Overall, though, much like the United States, Canada also remains years away from materially altering global supply dynamics. Neither Mactung nor Sisson has entered construction, meaning both projects are unlikely to significantly reduce dependence on imports before the end of the decade.

Nevertheless, their scale, combined with growing U.S. financial support, suggests the North American region could make a gradual shift from import dependence towards the creation of an integrated allied tungsten supply chain.

Conclusion

Overall, the latest developments surrounding China’s export control over tungsten highlight a broader transformation underway in global trade. For decades, supply chains were built around cost minimisation, but from now on, resilience is going to become equally important.

For the global semiconductor sector, and for governments in general, this means that the geopolitical race is no longer simply about producing the most advanced chips but also about controlling every upstream ingredient that makes those chips possible.

So, China’s export controls may have generated short-to-medium-term disruptions, but they are also accelerating investment in competing supply chains, which is the trend that is more important from a long-term perspective.

Tanmay Kadam is a geopolitical observer based in India. He has experience working as a Defence and International Affairs journalist for EurAsian Times. He can be contacted at tanmaykadam700@gmail.com.