Largest US tungsten discovery faces NASA land restriction
2026-08-05 11:16:30 [Print]
A newly identified tungsten deposit in Nevada has the potential to become the largest in the United States, yet exploration across a significant portion of the project remains blocked by a long-standing land withdrawal imposed by NASA, according to the Financial Times. This comes amid growing concern over the country's heavy reliance on Chinese tungsten supplies.
Critical minerals developer 3 Proton Lithium (3PL) reports that its Railroad Valley Minerals project hosts an inferred tungsten resource of 1.78 million tonnes. If proven commercially viable, this would make it more than five times larger than the next biggest known tungsten deposit in the US.
However, NASA has opposed mining activities on approximately one-third of the company's claims. The agency utilizes the flat expanses of the Nevada desert for calibrating satellite instruments and has stated that mining operations would interfere with this unique site, which is critical for receiving and verifying satellite signals. At NASA's request, the Bureau of Land Management withdrew roughly 17 square miles of the area from mining and exploration in 2023.
The Trump administration has designated critical minerals as a strategic priority and has placed Railroad Valley under the FAST-41 federal permitting programme, a move intended to accelerate project approvals and streamline the development process.
Critical minerals developer 3 Proton Lithium (3PL) reports that its Railroad Valley Minerals project hosts an inferred tungsten resource of 1.78 million tonnes. If proven commercially viable, this would make it more than five times larger than the next biggest known tungsten deposit in the US.
However, NASA has opposed mining activities on approximately one-third of the company's claims. The agency utilizes the flat expanses of the Nevada desert for calibrating satellite instruments and has stated that mining operations would interfere with this unique site, which is critical for receiving and verifying satellite signals. At NASA's request, the Bureau of Land Management withdrew roughly 17 square miles of the area from mining and exploration in 2023.
The Trump administration has designated critical minerals as a strategic priority and has placed Railroad Valley under the FAST-41 federal permitting programme, a move intended to accelerate project approvals and streamline the development process.
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