Why a 1950 Defense Law Matters Again for Tungsten, Antimony and Titanium

News Provided by American News Group on behalf of Western Star Resources Inc.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — American News Group News Commentary – The Defense Production Act of 1950 provided financial assistance to private enterprise for the production of goods and services necessary for national security, and its Title III, Section 302, provided for the encouragement of exploration, development and mining of critical and strategic metals and minerals, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Under that law, the Interior Department established the Defense Minerals Administration in December 1950, intended to serve, along with other duties, as a direct contracting agency for minerals exploration, and in November 1951 it established the Defense Minerals Exploration Administration (DMEA), a program confined to exploration for critical and strategic minerals that continued until 1958. Seven decades later, Title III money is again flowing to mineral projects, and defense agencies are backing domestic supply chains for antimony, cobalt and titanium. At least one tungsten property now being readied for drilling still carries DMEA-era paperwork. Companies mentioned in today’s commentary include: Western Star Resources Inc. (CSE: WSR) (OTC: WSRIF) (FRA: 4K2), Fireweed Metals Corp. (TSXV: FWZ) (OTCQX: FWEDF), Nova Minerals Corp (NYSE American: NVA) (ASX: NVA), Electra Battery Materials Corporation (NASDAQ: ELBM) (TSX-V: ELBM), IperionX Limited (NASDAQ: IPX) (ASX: IPX).

A 1955 Contract That Was Signed but Never Executed

One of those DMEA files covers a tungsten property in Hidalgo County, New Mexico. According to Western Star Resources Inc. (CSE: WSR) (OTC: WSRIF) (FRA: 4K2), scheelite was discovered at its Eagle Point Tungsten Project in 1940, and the property’s only recorded production was shipped during the Second World War. In 1955, the U.S. Government drafted and signed a DMEA exploration contract (Docket DMEA-3701) agreeing to fund 75% of a program of shaft sinking and diamond drilling on the property. The contract was never executed, the planned drilling was never carried out, and no work has been conducted on the property since 1957, the Company said in its October 7 release.

On September 15, Western Star announced that it had acquired fourteen lode mining claims contiguous with the western boundary of Eagle Point, together with the benefit of a Surface Use Agreement that provides exclusive surface-use rights for mineral operations for an initial five-year term, with renewal options for up to 25 years. The new claims cover the western extension of the mineralized skarn system and incorporate historical trenches and excavations documented in 1950s U.S. Government examination reports filed under the DMEA program. The Company said a portion of those workings has never been followed up with modern geophysics, systematic sampling or drilling. Closing of the acquisition was announced as subject to customary conditions, including the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals.

“Securing the western extension with the surface rights already in hand is exactly how we want to grow Eagle Point; decisively, and with long-term surface access locked in. The New Claims contain part of the historical trench network that helped define this system, and they have never been touched by modern exploration,” said Blake Morgan, President and CEO of Western Star.

On October 7, the Company reported the first modern assays from Eagle Point. Fourteen of 23 surface samples returned more than 0.10% WO₃, including grab samples of up to 0.55% WO₃, from scheelite-bearing skarn that 2026 mapping has intermittently traced along approximately 2,600 feet of the limestone-granite contact. A continuous 13.1-foot channel sample averaged 0.11% WO₃, with an estimated true width of approximately 12.5 feet. The Company cautions that its grab and stockpile results are not indicative of the grade or width of mineralization. The results will guide a planned 17-hole, approximately 6,070-foot drill program, which Western Star believes will be the first drilling at Eagle Point in more than 70 years, and the Company is advancing drilling logistics and permitting.

In Nevada, Western Star on October 20 defined the priority drill targets at its White Star Tungsten Project in Elko County, bringing its planned 2026 Nevada drill program across White Star and the Rowland Tungsten Property to 10 holes totalling approximately 5,000 feet (1,524 metres) from seven drill pads. The Plan of Operations is being prepared by KC Harvey Environmental for submission to the U.S. Forest Service, in parallel with a Nevada Bureau of Mining Regulation and Reclamation reclamation permit, with the objective of drilling Rowland and White Star in a single campaign. Hole locations remain preliminary and subject to field verification and permitting.

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Title III Returns to Tungsten

Tungsten has not been mined commercially in the United States since 2015, according to the USGS, which puts U.S. net import reliance for tungsten above 50% in every year from 2021 through 2025. In its 2026 tungsten summary, the agency also reports that in Canada and the United States, multiple projects received awards under the Defense Production Act, Title III, including projects in Nevada, New Brunswick and Yukon.

Fireweed Metals Corp. (TSXV: FWZ) (OTCQX: FWEDF) says it was awarded US$15.8 million from the U.S. Department of Defense under Title III of the Defense Production Act of 1950 to advance its 100%-owned Mactung tungsten project in Yukon toward a final investment decision, through a program that culminates in a new feasibility study. In its September 15 release, the company said its 2026 Mactung drilling program was complete, with 2,099 metres drilled in support of the Feasibility Study currently under way, while three rigs continued working at its Macpass zinc-lead-silver project, where it reported massive sulphides in a 180-metre step-out hole at Tom South. On October 22, Fireweed said it had received conditional approval to graduate to the Toronto Stock Exchange.

“Drilling at Tom South continues to deliver with another successful high-grade and very wide intersection in our farthest eastern step-out to date from known mineralization,” said Ian Gibbs, President and CEO of Fireweed.

From Award Letters to Equipment on the Dock

In Alaska, Nova Minerals Corp (NYSE American: NVA) (ASX: NVA) is building an antimony processing and refining facility at Port MacKenzie that is funded by a US$43.4 million award from the Department of War under Title III of the Defense Production Act. All key plant equipment, including two ball mills and a jaw crusher, had arrived at Port MacKenzie by October 6, following a 500-ton shipment of processing and refining equipment that arrived on September 6. Nova said the arrival enables construction of the facility to begin in the coming weeks, subject to receipt of the remaining permits. The plant is designed to process stibnite-bearing material and, initially, produce antimony metal and military grade trisulfide, with first antimony expected in 2027. At its Estelle project, the company completed an approximately 8,000-metre drill program this season.

“This equipment delivery brings Nova Minerals a step closer to establishing a secure, vertically integrated antimony supply chain for the United States domestic market,” said Christopher Gerteisen, CEO of Nova Minerals.

Across the border in Ontario, Electra Battery Materials Corporation (NASDAQ: ELBM) (TSX-V: ELBM) arranged approximately US$82 million in aggregate funding for construction of its cobalt sulfate refinery in Temiskaming Shores, including US$20 million from the U.S. Department of War and US$28 million in combined support from the Government of Canada and Invest Ontario, the company said on August 12. The refinery is designed to process approximately 18,000 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide feed per year to produce 5,120 tonnes per year of contained cobalt in a battery-grade cobalt sulfate. Select commissioning activities are targeted to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026, with mechanical completion targeted for the second quarter of 2027 and commercial production targeted for the fourth quarter of 2027. On October 13, Electra signed a non-binding term sheet with commodity trader WMC for a five-year working-capital and commercial partnership supporting the refinery.

“With mechanical completion targeted for the second quarter of 2027, we are now building the team and operating systems needed to commission the refinery and bring it into production safely and reliably,” said Trent Mell, CEO of Electra.

Defense Contracts Reach the Factory Floor

IperionX Limited (NASDAQ: IPX) (ASX: IPX) said on August 31 that the U.S. Army had awarded Task Order 2 under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract for Low-Cost, Domestic Titanium for Defense Applications, under which project-specific orders are collectively capped at US$99 million. The task order has a stated base value of US$18.5 million, of which US$11.5 million is currently funded and obligated, and it supports equipment and manufacturing systems to expand titanium powder-to-part capacity at the company’s Virginia facility, including a program for titanium track pins, bolts and fasteners for defense applications. On September 16, IperionX reported that its GenX continuous titanium production platform had been validated through its first four production campaigns, processing more than 500 kilograms of titanium powder across four runs totaling 41 hours.

“This second U.S. Army task order represents an important step in scaling IperionX’s titanium powder-to-part manufacturing platform,” said Taso Arima, CEO of IperionX.

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Article Source: Western Star Resources Inc. news releases dated September 15, October 7 and October 20, 2026.

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