The official export credit agency of the United States has tapped Mount Carbine mine owner EQ Resources as it looks to secure critical mineral supplies.

EQ Resources said it had received a letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United
States (EXIM) to support the expansion of the Mount Carbine tungsten project.

Under EXIM’s new Supply Chain Resiliency Initiative (SCRI), it is able to consider a 10-year debt facility of up to $US34 million – about $52 million – for the capital expansion and further development of the Far North Queensland mine.

The aim of the SCRI is to finance overseas mines to develop sources of critical minerals outside of China, reducing the risk of supply chain disruption for the United States.

“We are pleased to work with US EXIM and our US customer base to strengthen resilience in a critical defence- and energy-related supply chain,” EQR executive chairman Oliver Kleinhempe said.

“With two operating mines in Australia and Spain, EQR has positioned itself as a reliable and ambitious partner.

“Recent geopolitical events and aggressive trade policies have contributed to a severe shortage of supply in the tungsten market. EQ Resources is positioned well with its Mount Carbine expansion plans to meet the demand of US customers.”

EQ Resources said EXIM would conduct its standard due diligence prior to issuing a final commitment for the expansion funding.

The miner announced in February that it had become a member of the US Defense Industrial Base Consortium, which oversees investments under the US Defense Production Act.

EQ Resources said that membership aligned with its strategic collaboration with US-based manufacturer Elmet Technologies, which includes a $30 million offtake agreement over five years.

The company has previously announced plans to double production capacity at its Mount Carbine operation as soon as funding has been secured.

The capacity expansion would allow the operation to boost the throughput of low-grade ore from the historical low-grade stockpile (>10Mt) as supplement feed to the tungsten ore mined from the open pit and potential future underground.

The 2022 Mount Carbine underground scoping study details a development plan for the long-term exploitation of the site’s tungsten deposit.

Only 19 per cent of the in-situ Mount Carbine mineral resources are categorised as ore reserves and only those were modelled in the current open-cut mining schedule.

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