The Mount Carbine tungsten mine in Far North Queensland posted a monthly revenue record of $19.9 million in August as expansion works continue.

It helped push EQ Resources’ (ASX: EQR) revenue across its tungsten operations, which also include Barruecopardo in Spain, to $55.1 million,

Production at Mount Carbine totalled 6349mtu (metric tonne units) of tungsten concentrate for the month, representing an increase of 38 per cent on the previous month’s output.

The concentrate produced there attracted an average realised price of $US2113 per mtu last month.

Related: Tungsten expansion works draw on local expertise

The company is riding a positive wave in tungsten pricing, with Fastmarkets recently reporting a 631 per cent increase in tungsten APT prices on exports out of China (FOB) between June 2025 and June 2026 and a 575 per cent year-on-year increase out of Rotterdam and Baltimore (CIF).

EQ Resources sells tungsten concentrate, whereas APT containing 88.5 per cent tungsten trioxide is a refined downstream product manufactured from concentrate.

The company receives an agreed payability against the relevant APT benchmark, with its realised price also reflecting concentrate grade, product specifications, commercial terms and the timing and mix of sales.

It says the increase in tungsten pricing has been driven principally by structural supply constraints rather than a sudden change in underlying demand.

“China controls more than three-quarters of global tungsten supply, and its export controls have materially restricted the flow of tungsten intermediates into international markets. This has exposed how limited available inventories and immediately scalable production are outside China,” a company spokeswoman said.

EQ Resources’ producing mines in Australia and Spain, placed the company within the Western and allied supply chain at a time when customers were increasingly focused on availability, traceability and security of supply, she said.

The critical mineral has applications in defence, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, AI infrastructure, energy and industrial tooling.

EQ Resources has a $39 million expansion project underway at Mount Carbine to double the operation’s crushing capacity while streamlining and automating materials handling functions.

Meanwhile fellow Australian tungsten play Tungsten Mining (ASX: TGN) is expected to announce a final investment decision this month for the development of the $274 million Watershed project, also in Far North Queensland.

That project already has an approved environmental authority, granted mining leases and an Indigenous land use agreement in place for an open-pit development.

Tungsten Mining this week announced the outcome of a prefeasibility study for its Mount Mulgine tungsten project in Western Australia, hailing it as showing potential for the world’s largest and lowest-cost tungsten project.

The company intends to move to a definitive feasibility study, with a final investment decision on Mount Mulgine targeted for Q1 2028 and first production planned in 2029.