U.S. government researchers visit a Korean mine as the race against China for critical minerals heats up

cnbc.com:

BEIJING — U.S. government researchers recently visited a South Korean mine to assess progress towards boosting supply of a critical metal called tungsten from areas outside China, the mine operator said Wednesday.

The Sangdong Mine, owned by a subsidiary of Canada-based Almonty Industries, is set to resume operations this year. Tungsten is an extremely hard metal used for making weapons, semiconductors and industrial cutting machines.

With China dominating over 80% of the metal's supply chain, Almonty claims the mine could potentially produce 50% of the rest of the world's tungsten supply.

The U.S. has not commercially mined tungsten since 2015, according to the latest annual report from the U.S. Geological Survey, a government agency that analyzes the availability of natural resources.

Four mineral resource scholars visited the Sangdong Mine in a trip led by Sean Xun, assistant chief at the agency's National Minerals Information Center, the report said.

The U.S. Geological Survey would make a «significant update» on its assessment of the mine in its 2025 report due out in the first three months of next year, it added.

The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside of U.S. business hours.

The Biden administration has identified critical minerals and announced tariffs on tungsten and others as part of a broader effort to bolster national security.

«Of the 35 mineral commodities deemed critical by the Department of the Interior, the United States was 100 percent reliant on foreign sources for 13 in 2019,» according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Almonty has said it's spending at least $125 million to reopen the Sangdong Mine, which closed in the 1990s.

China, in the past year and a half, has