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Tungsten has a long mining history in Nevada, but the state no longer produces the metal commercially. That gap helps explain why new exploration results at the Pilot Mountain project are attracting attention, even though the latest discoveries are not yet mineral resources.
Tungsten is used in cemented carbide tools, wear resistant components, specialty steels, electrical products and other industrial applications. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that about 60% of U.S. tungsten consumption goes into cemented carbide parts used in construction, metalworking, mining and oil and gas drilling. The United States has not mined tungsten commercially since 2015 and relies on imports for more than half of its consumption. China remains the leading producer, with estimated output of 67,000 metric tons in 2025, compared with global production of about 85,000 metric tons.
Nevada’s connection to tungsten is older than the current supply chain debate. Scheelite was discovered in the Pilot Mountains in 1916, and limited mining followed intermittently through the middle of the 20th century. A technical report prepared for Guardian Metal records historical production from the Garnet and Gunmetal areas, while noting that the district’s larger deposits remained undeveloped after tungsten prices fell. The broader state also has a history of tungsten operations, including the Nevada Scheelite district, which produced during the Second World War and operated intermittently into the 1980s.
That history does not make every modern exploration result economically significant. It does, however, provide a useful setting for the announcement from Guardian Metal Resources PLC (NYSE American: GMTL, LSE: GMET, OTCQB: GMTLF). The company said drilling at its 100% owned Pilot Mountain project has returned tungsten mineralization in the Tremor and Good Hope zones, both outside the resources used in its recent Pre-Feasibility Study.
The Tremor Zone was found during drilling near a proposed tailings storage facility. In the northern part of the zone, Guardian reported mineralization across roughly 200 metres of strike and 190 metres of dip extent. Results included 64.15 metres grading 0.20% WO3, including 14.27 metres at 0.34% WO3, in hole PM26 088. Hole PM26 097 returned several intervals, including 44.08 metres at 0.18% WO3 and a higher grade section of 10.84 metres at 0.27% WO3. Another hole returned 15.20 metres at 0.28% WO3.
The company reported that 8,140 metres of drilling across 37 holes had been completed at the Tremor Zone and in nearby areas where the company was considering mine infrastructure. Some of this drilling was intended to determine whether facilities such as the proposed tailings storage facility could be built without covering potentially valuable tungsten mineralization. Instead, the work helped identify the Tremor Zone, prompting Guardian to relocate the planned tailings facility while it evaluates the discovery.
Good Hope produced higher grade near surface results from the company’s first drilling program at the target. Hole GH26 01 returned 12.95 metres at 0.79% WO3 from 12.19 metres, while the twinned GH26 02 hole returned 13.11 metres at 0.42% WO3 from 2.13 metres. Together, the holes represent an apparent 23 metre interval averaging 0.58% WO3. Good Hope is about 1.1 to 1.3 kilometres from existing resource areas, and mineralization has been traced for roughly 100 metres along strike.
The results are encouraging, but the important qualification is that neither Tremor nor Good Hope has a Mineral Resource Estimate. More drilling and technical evaluation will be needed before either zone can be included in a formal resource or future mine plan. Guardian has already moved the proposed tailings facility because of Tremor’s potential, while saying the change is not expected to materially affect project costs or timing. For now, Pilot Mountain remains a development project with exploration upside, rather than a new producing Nevada tungsten mine.
