Tungsten Mining Companies 2026: The World's Largest Tungsten Producers Ranked

Who are the biggest tungsten mining companies?

The biggest tungsten mining companies are Chinese state-linked groups: China Minmetals, Xiamen Tungsten, CMOC and Jiangxi Tungsten, which together account for roughly 45% of China's output. Outside China, the largest producers are Masan High-Tech Materials (Vietnam), Jiaxin International (Kazakhstan), Almonty Industries (South Korea and Portugal), EQ Resources (Australia and Spain) and Sandvik's Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten (Austria).

China mined about 67,000 of the world's 85,000 tonnes of tungsten in 2025, according to the USGS. That makes the tungsten mining industry unusually concentrated: a handful of Chinese groups set most of the world's supply, and only a few companies elsewhere produce at scale.

This guide ranks the major producers, explains who mines and who processes tungsten, and lists tungsten companies by country, including the US, Australia, Canada and Europe. For tickers and share-trading details, see our companion list of tungsten stocks.

Largest tungsten mining companies ranked (2026)

Ranking is approximate. Scale figures are company or USGS disclosures and are not directly comparable: some report tonnes of tungsten, some tonnes of concentrate, some metric tonne units (mtu, 10 kg of WO₃ each). "DFARS covered country" refers to the US defence rule that, from 2027, excludes tungsten mined in China, Russia, North Korea or Iran (explained here).

The Chinese tungsten majors

China Minmetals

China Minmetals is a state-owned metals and mining group. Its tungsten businesses include China Tungsten & Hightech Materials, one of the 15 companies allowed to export tungsten from China in 2026–2027, and Zhuzhou Cemented Carbide, a leading carbide toolmaker. Minmetals does not publish a group tungsten output figure, but industry sources consistently rank it as the largest tungsten company in the world.

Xiamen Tungsten

Xiamen Tungsten is often described as one of the most vertically integrated tungsten companies in the world, running mines, APT (ammonium paratungstate) refining, powders, carbide, cutting tools and tungsten wire. It reports about 12,000 tonnes a year of smelting capacity, which it describes as the world's largest, and RMB 46.5 billion of group revenue in 2025. It is also on China's approved list of tungsten exporters.

CMOC Group

CMOC is best known for copper and cobalt, but it is also a major molybdenum and tungsten producer. Its Sandaozhuang mine in Henan produced 7,114 tonnes of tungsten and 13,906 tonnes of molybdenum in 2025, according to the company. Its shares trade in both Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Jiangxi Tungsten Holding Group

Jiangxi Tungsten sits in the Ganzhou region of southern Jiangxi, the province that received the largest share (about 21,300 tonnes) of China's 2025 first-batch mining quota of 58,000 tonnes. The group mines, concentrates and refines tungsten into APT and other products.

Chinese producers face quotas, export licensing and falling ore grades: average grades have dropped from about 0.42% to 0.27% WO₃ over two decades, according to the China Tungsten Industry Association. See our guide to China's tungsten export controls.

The largest tungsten producers outside China

Masan High-Tech Materials (Vietnam)

Masan High-Tech Materials owns the Nui Phao mine in northern Vietnam, which produces nearly all of Vietnam's roughly 3,000 tonnes a year, and an integrated refining complex. In September 2026, US-based Elmet Group (Nasdaq: ELMT) agreed to buy a 4.99% stake for US$124.75 million, valuing Masan High-Tech at about US$2.5 billion, with a contract to supply about 1,250 tonnes of WO₃ equivalent a year for at least eight years.

Some company lists still describe Masan as the owner of H.C. Starck's tungsten business. That changed in December 2024, when Masan completed the sale of H.C. Starck to Mitsubishi Materials.

Jiaxin International Resources (Kazakhstan)

Jiaxin's Boguty mine in Kazakhstan started commercial production in April 2025 and was the biggest new source of tungsten that year. The company says Boguty is the world's largest open-pit tungsten mine by resources. Its major shareholders include Chinese state-linked groups.

Almonty Industries (South Korea, Portugal)

Almonty runs the long-established Panasqueira mine in Portugal and the Sangdong mine in South Korea, which received final operating certification on 17 September 2026. More than 90% of Sangdong's Phase I output is contracted to Global Tungsten & Powders. Almonty now trades only on Nasdaq (ALM) and in Frankfurt, after leaving the TSX and ASX in 2026, and has moved its headquarters to Montana.

EQ Resources (Australia, Spain)

EQ Resources produced a record 51,233 mtu of WO₃ in the quarter to 30 September 2026 from Mt Carbine in Queensland and Barruecopardo in Spain, with record quarterly revenue of A$158.8 million.

Sandvik and Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten (Austria)

Swedish engineering group Sandvik has owned Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten since 2009. Its Mittersill underground mine in the Austrian Alps feeds Sandvik's own powder, carbide and recycling operations, which Sandvik says form the only integrated tungsten smelting operation outside Asia and Russia. Sandvik also bought US powder maker Buffalo Tungsten in 2023. Some company lists attribute Mittersill to Plansee, but it is owned by Sandvik.

Tungsten miners vs tungsten processors

"Tungsten companies" covers more than miners. The supply chain has four stages, and many of the best-known names are not miners at all:

Refining is the bottleneck. China produces about 85% of the world's APT, according to S&P Global, so a new mine outside China still needs a non-Chinese refiner to meet US defence rules.

Tungsten mining companies in the USA

There is no commercial tungsten mine production in the US, and there has been none since 2015, according to the USGS. US-linked tungsten companies fall into three groups:

Developers with US projects

• Guardian Metal Resources (NYSE American: GMTL) is developing Pilot Mountain and Tempiute in Nevada through its subsidiary Golden Metal Resources. Its June 2026 pre-feasibility study plans about 15,916 tonnes of WO₃ over an eight-year mine life, with first production targeted for late 2028.
• American Tungsten (TSX-V: TUNG, OTCQX: TUNGF) is advancing the past-producing IMA Mine in Idaho and preparing a preliminary economic assessment.

US processors

• Global Tungsten & Powders in Towanda, Pennsylvania, part of Austria's Plansee Group, makes tungsten powders and is Almonty's main offtaker.
• Kennametal (NYSE: KMT) makes carbide tools and recycles tungsten scrap.
• Elmet Group (Nasdaq: ELMT) in Maine supplies tungsten materials and components and has a supply deal with Masan.

US-backed projects abroad

• Cove Kaz Capital Group, a US-backed developer, owns 70% of the Northern Katpar and Upper Kairakty tungsten deposits in Kazakhstan, which hold about 1.4 million tonnes of WO₃ in JORC resources, with planned production of about 12,000 tonnes a year. It has agreed a business combination intended to list on Nasdaq as Kaz Resources.

Tungsten mining companies on the ASX (Australia)

• EQ Resources (ASX: EQR): producer at Mt Carbine, Queensland, and Barruecopardo, Spain
• Group 6 Metals (ASX: G6M): producer at the Dolphin mine on King Island, Tasmania, which has a reserve of 4.43 million tonnes at 0.92% WO₃ and is moving from open-cut to underground mining
• Tungsten Mining NL (ASX: TGN): developer of Watershed in Queensland, targeting first production in H1 2027 subject to financing, and Mt Mulgine in Western Australia, where a September 2026 pre-feasibility study targets first production in Q2 2029

Australia holds about 570,000 tonnes of tungsten reserves, the second-largest after China, according to the USGS.

Tungsten companies in Canada and Europe

• Canada: Fireweed Metals (TSX-V: FWZ) owns Mactung in Yukon, and Northcliff Resources (TSX: NCF) is developing Sisson in New Brunswick. Canada has no producing tungsten mine today.
• UK: Tungsten West (AIM: TUN) began processing ore at Hemerdon in Devon in September 2026.
• Spain: Abenójar Tungsten (LSE: ABT) listed in October 2026 and is building El Moto, targeting first production in Q1 2029. See our tungsten IPO tracker.
• Portugal and Austria: Almonty's Panasqueira and Sandvik's Mittersill are Europe's longest-running tungsten mines.

Where Pure Tungsten fits

Pure Tungsten Inc. is a private tungsten mining company focused on supply from outside the DFARS covered countries:

• Ssangjon mine, South Korea: a restart with a fully built mill, production targeted for Q4 2026 at 1,000 tonnes a year
• Maykhura, Tajikistan: a past-producing mine in joint venture with TALCO, with about 2 million tonnes at 0.93% WO₃ plus about 900,000 tonnes of tailings at about 0.4% WO₃, and a JORC report expected in Q1 2027
• Target: 4,000 tonnes a year by 2028, and an IPO or reverse takeover in London or New York in H2 2027

Pure Tungsten is raising C$10 million at C$0.80 per share (minimum C$5,000) in a pre-IPO round. Pre-IPO shares are illiquid and high risk, and restart projects can face ramp-up, metallurgy and funding challenges. Read more about Pure Tungsten's stock and IPO plans, or request the Pure Tungsten investor pack.

How to compare tungsten mining companies

1. Producing or not? Producers earn revenue at today's prices; developers depend on financing and construction.
2. Where is the mine, and where is it refined? Origin now matters for US defence buyers and for price premiums outside China.
3. Who buys the concentrate? Long-term offtake with refiners such as Global Tungsten & Powders reduces sales risk.
4. What does it report? Check whether output is in tonnes of tungsten, tonnes of concentrate or mtu before comparing companies.
5. How exposed is it to price swings? Tungsten prices are volatile and policy-driven; see our tungsten price guide.

For a step-by-step comparison of ways to invest, read how to invest in tungsten.