RE: RNS11 Jul 2024 09:54
11 July 2024
Guardian Metal Resources plc
('Guardian Metal' or the 'Company')
USA Tungsten Update
Guardian Metal Resources plc (LON:GMET, OTCQX:GMTLF), a mineral exploration company focused on tungsten, copper, silver, gold and lithium within Nevada, USA, is pleased to advise shareholders of important developments potentially impacting the Company's tungsten interests, namely 100% owned flagship Pilot Mountain Project ("Pilot Mountain" or the "Project") located within the Walker Lake Mineral Belt in Nevada, USA.
On 8 July 2024 the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services published a report to accompany S. 4638, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025.
The Report included consideration of the criticality of the tungsten commodity and an extract from this Report is provided below:
https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fy25_ndaa_committee_report.pdf
Extract of the Report (Title VIII Acquisition Policy, Acquisition Management and Related Matters - Items of Special Interest - Page 301)
"Domestic source of antimony and tungsten:
"The committee is aware of the importance of the critical materials tungsten and antimony within the defense industrial base. The Senate report accompanying S. 4543 (S. Rept. 117-130) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (Public Law 118-31) included language on concerns surrounding the antimony supply chain. The Defense Logistics Agency stockpiles antimony, and there are existing efforts through the Defense Production Act to invest in a diverse domestic antimony capability. The committee recognizes that China and Russia dominate the global tungsten and antimony supply chains, and remains concerned, as a result of the Russian war on Ukraine, about the stability of the antimony and tungsten supply chain. The committee encourages the Department of Defense to ensure that the domestic source of antimony and tungsten supply chains are not limited to a single source.
"Therefore, the committee directs the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy to brief the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives, not later than March 31, 2025, on: (1) The ongoing efforts to cultivate a diverse supply chain for antimony and tungsten, to include the Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment (MCEIP) office's investment efforts; (2) Any updated concerns regarding the supply chain for antimony and tungsten, to include efforts to develop more than one domestic or allied sources within the supply chain; (3) Ongoing interagency challenges with permitting or regulatory hurdles for MCEIP's investments; and (4) Any other matters the Secretary deems appropriate."
Oliver Friesen, CEO of Guardian Metal, commented:
"The Report extract above further demonstrates the importance of developing sources of tungsten in the USA.
"We believe Guardian Metal's 100% owned Pilot Mountain project in Nevada, U