The Unlikely Metal Powering AI: Why Tungsten Matters More Than Ever

What tungsten actually does in an AI chip

Faster and supercharged AI microprocessors require unprecedented transistor density and ultra-efficient electrical connections. This computational shift calls for a material with exceptional electrical conductivity and heat resistance, such as tungsten.

Tungsten serves as a “key material” in transistors and as a contact metal in chip interconnects. The metal also boasts the highest melting point of any metallic element, recorded at 3,422 degrees Celsius.

These two unique qualities combined means tungsten can withstand extreme operating temperatures, making it a vital component for power devices, densely packed semiconductor structures and high-speed hardware interconnects that enable rapid data transfer and thermal management for cooling.

Tungsten is also needed to make the tips used in circuit board drilling. AI processors require increasingly thick, multi-layer printed circuit boards (PCBs) so specialized tungsten carbide tips are essential for precision drilling the microscopic holes needed to connect these complex layers.

Beyond internal geometry, the metal is utilized for certain gases used in the manufacture of more advanced semiconductors. Tungsten derivatives like tungsten hexafluoride are critical to chemical vapor deposition or the technique used to deposit paper-thin metallic films onto microchip wafers.

Tungsten vs. tungsten hexafluoride

The physical properties of tungsten demonstrate its strength, but its ability to be used in multiple applications requires understanding it beyond its raw form. A key distinction in semiconductor manufacturing lies between tungsten as a metal and its by-product tungsten hexafluoride or WF6.

WF6 is not a natural by-product, but a synthetically produced specialty gas formed when tungsten reacts with fluorine. Highly volatile, toxic and corrosive, it is used in fabrication plants (FABs) to deposit ultra-pure, atomic-scale metal layers onto silicon wafers. This is why tungsten is also often regarded as a high-power alternative to silicon.

The chemical is increasingly becoming a reliable material in the industrial space given its fair pricing and reliable supply. Critically, WF6 accounts for less than 1 percent of a memory chip’s total manufacturing cost, with approximately 0.589 kilograms of tungsten metal subjected to react with fluorine-containing gas at a temperature of 800 degrees Celsius or higher.

The geopolitical supply bottleneck

While effectiveness and usage are proven, supply is the problem. China controls roughly 79 percent of tungsten production as of writing, creating a concentration risk similar to rare earths.

Toward the end of 2025, China announced that only 15 firms would be allowed to export tungsten in 2026 to 2027. Meanwhile, defense demand, which is currently estimated at around 12 percent of the tungsten market, is expected to grow to roughly 15 percent between 2027 and 2028.

Another supply deficit is forecasted in 2026, and analysts say that production remains highly limited by geography, plus western efforts to build alternative supply chains are “still years away from meaningful capacity.” Currently, there is no immediate market mechanism to offset a major supply disruption, yet this does not mean doors to create new ones are closed.

The CHIPS Act and Nevada's emerging potential

To mitigate geopolitical vulnerabilities and relieve pressure on foreign semiconductor hubs like Taiwan, western nations are heavily subsidizing domestic manufacturing. In the US, the CHIPS and Science Act authorized approximately US$280 billion — including US$52.7 billion specifically earmarked for domestic FAB construction, R&D and workforce development. All these point toward bringing chip fabrication back to American soil.

Despite billions flowing into state-of-the-art FAB facilities, there are still no commercial tungsten mines in operation in the US. Therefore, raw upstream materials remain vulnerable.

This stark supply deficit opens a significant window of opportunity for junior exploration and development companies, specifically non-Chinese tungsten-focused companies such as Great Western Mining. Increasingly, global technology and industrial players are showing more importance to independent, stable sources.

Great Western Mining responds

Nevada-focused Great Western Mining (LSE:GWMO,OTCQB:GWMOF) holds multiple opportunities to meet demand, given its strategic location and a promising project underway.

The company operates in Mineral County, Nevada, which was named the top jurisdiction in the world for investor attractiveness in 2025, and is aligned with the “America First” strategy that ensures political support for mineral production and processing.

Great Western Mining’s Defender-Pine Crow tungsten project spans a 2 kilometer corridor linking two tungsten workings. Historical workings at the project date back to short-term production during World War II.

Recent surface cut channel sampling across the project returned encouraging high-grade results, including 27 meters at 0.15 percent tungsten oxide, including 11 meters at 0.25 percent tungsten oxide and rock chip samples grading up to 1.75 percent tungsten oxide.

The company said it is systematically moving Defender-Pine Crow through a reverse-circulation drilling campaign in the third quarter of 2026 and proof-of-concept metallurgical flotation test work, with the goal to define a maiden mineral resource estimate and demonstrate the capability to produce high-grade scheelite tungsten concentrate suitable for industrial conversion, including WF6 synthesis.

The project is regarded as analogous to Guardian Metal Resources (LSE:GMET,OTCQX:GMTLF) Pilot Mountain deposit, which is believed to be the largest undeveloped tungsten deposit in the US.

Investor takeaway

The AI and technology market focus is broadening beyond software developers and GPU designers to include the physical materials that make high-speed computing possible.

Tungsten's essential role in chip interconnects, high-density PCBs and advanced thermal management places it directly at the intersection of computing hardware and national supply security.

With no commercial domestic production currently active in the US, high-grade tungsten resource explorers like Great Western Mining advancing toward domestic production hold strong potential to answer the constant prompt to meet the demands of the AI supply chain.

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