EQ Resources Shares Jump 11.04% as Tungsten Prices Surge to Record Highs on Deepening Global Supply Crunch

SYDNEY — Shares in EQ Resources Ltd. climbed 11.04% to 42.75 Australian cents, adding 4.25 cents, as the Australian tungsten producer continued to ride a dramatic surge in global tungsten prices that has transformed the company from a speculative small-cap explorer into one of the market's standout resources stories of the past year.

The rally comes as benchmark tungsten prices have continued climbing to fresh records. Fastmarkets' European and U.S. ammonium paratungstate, or APT, price benchmark has been quoted in the range of $1,080 to $1,325 per metric tonne unit in recent weeks, according to data the company has shared with investors, up sharply from roughly $900 per mtu at the start of the year and a world away from the $350 per mtu level tungsten fetched when EQ Resources was still a roughly $100 million company. China continues to lead pricing in the sector, a dynamic industry watchers have attributed to export restrictions, exhausted export quotas and structurally declining mine output within the country, all of which have tightened global availability of the critical mineral even as demand accelerates across defense, aerospace, semiconductor manufacturing and other advanced industrial applications.

EQ Resources has positioned itself as one of the few significant Western tungsten producers outside China, operating two key assets: the Mt Carbine project in Far North Queensland, Australia, and the Barruecopardo mine in Spain's Salamanca Province. That dual-jurisdiction production base has made the company a direct beneficiary of Western governments' efforts to diversify critical mineral supply chains away from Chinese dominance, with the U.S. Department of Defense having flagged tungsten shortages as a genuine risk to domestic military manufacturing capacity.

The company's operational performance has kept pace with the improving pricing backdrop. EQ Resources posted record monthly revenue of roughly A$51 million in July, with total sales of 14,756 metric tonne units of tungsten trioxide at an average realized price of $2,386 per mtu, and followed that with another record month at Mount Carbine in August. Barruecopardo led the charge in July with production of 9,667 mtu, up 48% from the prior month and its strongest result since the previous December, generating roughly A$39 million in revenue at an average realized price of $2,449 per mtu. Mt Carbine's own production climbed 16% to 4,588 mtu over the same period, contributing a further A$12 million in revenue.

That momentum builds on a strong finish to 2025, when EQ Resources reported a 33% quarter-on-quarter jump in tungsten production to 38,292 mtu for the quarter ended December 31, a result achieved as APT prices climbed from $825 per mtu in late December to $900 per mtu by early January. The company also completed a strategic refinancing during that period, reducing Spanish debt by 5 million euros and converting an A$7.25 million Oaktree pre-royalty loan into equity, moves management said eliminated near-term capital needs and cleared the way for continued investment in expanding production, including development of the high-grade Iolanthe Vein at Mt Carbine.

EQ Resources has also strengthened its resource base directly. The company recently announced a 39% increase in ore reserves at Barruecopardo, a boost driven by operational improvements and rising tungsten prices that is expected to extend the Spanish mine's operating life through 2034, further underpinning the long-term investment case for the stock.

The company's transformation has drawn attention from some of Australia's most prominent investors. Mining entrepreneur Andrew Forrest acquired a 16.8% stake in EQ Resources for approximately A$190 million, a deal that sent shares surging 34.09% in a single session when it was announced and extended the stock's year-to-date rally at the time to nearly 269%, pushing the company's market capitalization above A$1.5 billion. In its statement to the ASX, EQ Resources said the transaction with Forrest does not affect its strategy, management or day-to-day operations, signaling continuity in the business even as the high-profile investment was widely read by the market as validation of the company's strategic positioning within Western critical mineral supply chains.

Despite the extraordinary run, EQ Resources shares have not moved in a straight line. The stock has experienced sharp pullbacks alongside its gains, including a single-day decline of more than 6% earlier this month even as the broader tungsten pricing story remained intact, a reminder of the volatility that has accompanied the stock's transformation from penny stock to billion-dollar producer over the past year.

The broader tungsten market remains small relative to other critical minerals, with total global demand estimated at roughly 100,000 tonnes annually and an overall market value of only a few billion dollars even at current elevated prices. But the metal's outsized importance to defense and advanced manufacturing applications has drawn increasing attention from Western governments ramping up military spending. The European Union has moved to significantly increase its defense budget in response to the war in Ukraine, Japan has lifted military spending to levels not seen in decades, and the United States has set a goal of reaching $1 trillion in annual defense spending, all developments that analysts say have contributed to sustained demand growth for tungsten even as China's export restrictions have simultaneously constrained global supply.

EQ Resources also recently applied to the Australian Securities Exchange to list an additional 686,225 ordinary shares issued from recent option conversions, a routine move that modestly expands the company's listed capital base and reflects its continued reliance on equity markets to help fund its growth even as operating cash flow has improved alongside rising production and prices.

With tungsten prices showing no clear signs of retreating from their current record levels and the company continuing to post successive monthly production and revenue records across both its Australian and Spanish operations, investors are likely to keep close watch on whether EQ Resources can sustain its rapid growth trajectory, even as the stock's history of sharp swings in both directions suggests further volatility should be expected along the way.

Source: https://www.ibtimes.com.au/eq-resources-shares-rise-tungsten-prices-1875538