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 5, 10, 15 years ago, for the most part, you could rely on global trade and if you needed a metal, China would would happily supply it and you'd buy it off them and and it would land when you need it and you could make the things that you needed. But that is that is not the case anymore. the global tungsten market is incredibly tight right now as you can imagine on the back of these restrictions and bans out of China when you know just just sort of very simply put you know when the country that mines

and supplies 86% of total global supply says we're not going to export any of that outside of our country anymore you can imagine how tight the market you're watching Silver News Daily subscribe for more they told you silver was boring they told you it was just another metal but what happens when the world's biggest exporter suddenly slams the gates shut, cutting off supply to the very industries that need it most. Right now, China is triggering a chain reaction that could send silver prices hurtling toward $150

an ounce. And almost nobody is ready for it. The US military is scrambling. Solar manufacturers are panicking and silver inventories are vanishing at a speed that has Wall Street quietly terrified. Just last month, a key Chinese export ban stunned global markets. Silicon metal, rare earths, and now silver is being whispered in the same breath. Why? Because China doesn't just mine silver. They refine it, export it, and control the bottleneck. And with the green energy boom devouring supply, the timing

couldn't be worse. This isn't just a trade move. It's a geopolitical shock wave. One that could ignite the biggest silver squeeze we've ever seen. So, what does this mean for prices? And how close are we to a full-blown silver crisis? Stick with me because by the end of this, you'll see why $150 silver might not be a fantasy. It might be the new floor. Yeah. I mean, there's probably lots of factors there and people better to speak on that than myself. But, you know, the way I see it is the last, you

know, call it four, five, maybe six, seven years. There's been a lot of easy money in the system. you know, there's been a lot of investors who've gone, well, I can I can put money in Bitcoin and and make, you know, 10 20% whatever it is in the time frame that they're looking to invest. So, there's been a lot of easy money um made in the system and now I think that has come to a grinding halt. So investors who are were sort of looking for higher risk investments that we're typically

delivering um that is that has seemed to to change and and the tides are changing now and really junior mining has been sort of a risk on investment thesis. So we're seeing now I think a rotation from what's been really easy money in the system to investors having to do a lot more sort of hard work and figure out what they want to invest in. Um, so we we're seeing a rotation now I think just in the last few months alone. Um, and it's great to see because you know it's been an unloved sector. Absolutely. But

it's it's now I think become so abundantly clear to um the more generalist investor I would say especially when they're hearing about critical metals almost every week from mainstream media is that these metals really matter and more importantly it is incredibly um critical for US national security for you know economic prosperity for general excellence of the country to have do domestic sources of these males um so it's we're seeing the rotation Now, you know, tungsten is is in our view one of

the more critical metals right now because of those export restrictions and bans out of China because of the need of that metal in the defense sector along with a lot of other really important developing and and and sort of high-tech technologies like nuclear fusion um and you know like I said data centers and and and solar wind I mean there's there's a tungsten component to pretty much all those different industries. So the US has no domestic mine production. They rely on or have formerly relied on

China for the majority of their imports and now they can't. So a lot of eyes are turning to companies like you know Perpetual Resources is a good example in the antimony space and we've seen them perform exceptionally well. MP materials is a good example on the rarer side. These are two companies with projects in the US focused on key input defense metals for national security. And once again, tungsten is in that same boat. It's needed for US defense, national security, a lot of other important

industries. So, we've positioned ourselves as the leader in US tungsten. And now we're starting to see a lot of more a lot more interest from mainstream media and and US retail and institutional investors say, "Hey, we've seen what has happened in the rare earth and antimony space and what the underlying equities have done. You're the deacto leader in US tungsten." And we're seeing the same sort of story start to unfold. In just in terms of how I reference it also, you know, antimony

has had an export bannon effect for I think over a year now. The price has gone up over 4x. The underlying equities have performed exceptionally well. The antimony space might be in the sixth or seventh inning. I think there's still a lot of uh room to grow there in the ads space. But tungsten, we just got the export restriction announcement out of China February 4th. So we're only one month out right now. So we're sort of in the first inning here in the tungsten space, but we've seen the ball game play

out in antimony and rare earths. So we're positioned really perfectly here and we're excited to see how this unfolds. But our job and our main mandate is to be a big part of the solution for us domestic tungsten. So we're focused on just pushing those projects forward as quickly as we can. China isn't just a player in the silver market. It's the puppet master. While the world obsesses over mining output, few realize that over 2/3 of the world's silver refining capacity sits in Chinese

hands, it's not the raw ore that matters. It's the finished industrial grade silver that powers everything from solar panels to missile guidance systems. And now, in a chilling escalation of its economic warfare playbook, China is threatening to lock that supply behind its borders. Think about it. In July, they hit the world with a gallium and germanmanium export ban, targeting the West's semiconductor ambitions. Analysts scoffed until prices soared and governments scrambled. Now, silver's on the radar, and the

implications are even more severe. Unlike other critical metals, silver isn't stockpiled in bulk by governments. It's used up, burned in circuit boards, dissolved in solar cells, embedded in tech with no chance of recycling. If Beijing cuts exports or even hints at a restriction, the global supply chain grinds to a halt. And who gets hit first? The very countries pushing hardest for clean energy and military modernization. The US, already dependent on Chinese refining, finds itself exposed. And with silver prices rising,

strategic stockpiles look more like relics of the past than a shield for the future. Yeah, you know, you nailed it there. Uh and I think that's another reason why the tungsten space is differentiated from a lot of these other key rare and defense metals is the fact that the downstream capacity exists in the US. So like you mentioned if you even if you mine rares so you mine antimony in the US one of the challenges is to actually take that concentrate and turn it into usable products for the

military or for any other industries. A lot of that material and in some cases all of it has to go to China because all the refining capacity exists there and none exists in the US. So the reason tungsten is so different is that we can actually mine a tungsten concentrate on US soil from our projects once they're in production. That concentrate can then get moved from our sites in Nevada to uh our offtake LOI offtake partners GTP. They have a what's called an AP plant in Tanda, Pennsylvania.

And there they can actually there's a chemical process to turn that concentrate into usable tungsten products, tungsten carbides, tungsten oxides, a downstream products which then can be used to convert into things needed for the military like munitions and tank armors and you name it. Um, so that's very different and that means that there's a fully circular supply chain that can exist for tungsten and it never has to leave US soil as long as we have a domestic mine source, which is

what we are focused on at Guardian Metal. Um, so when it comes to timelines, as I mentioned, our goal is to push these projects forward as quickly as we can. Um, we're in a position where we believe both of our projects can be in production before Trump leaves office. But in terms of getting to production even quicker, we've acquired another project recently called Tempou, which as I mentioned was the largest tungsten mine in the 1980s. And the reason that project is of interest is because number one, there's

existing infrastructure on site. So we have, you know, the mill site, we have uh the substation, we have a concentrate loadout base. Everything has been evaluated by the engineers. It's in good shape. We can reuse it for future development. but also that project is located on what is called patented or private mining claims which means the amount of permitting you need to do to get into production is a lot less than if you're on federal lands. So that project means that we can move forward

very quickly because of the infrastructure and the and the type of claims that are there. The other thing just to note there and we're just doing the work on this now. So, we need to kind of prove this up, but there's existing stock piles um from the 1980s mine that were not processed. So, we're looking at evaluating how much material is there, the grades of that material, but our goal is to find a way to get producing tungsten units in the US as quickly as we can. So, we're going

through the normal perimeitting process for the main commercial operations at both of these projects, but then looking at other opportunities with it at Tempayute. And there's also tailings there as well, which we're doing some work on to say, hey, we could actually potentially start producing tungsten units sooner, and this is the timeline. So, there'll be more information about that out in the coming weeks and months, but um we're looking to produce units as quickly as we possibly can. We have a

whole team of engineers um looking at exactly that right now. The green energy revolution is here and it's built on silver, solar panels, electric vehicles, energy efficient infrastructure. Every pillar of this transformation demands silver and demand is skyrocketing at a pace the market simply cannot match. In 2023 alone, over 140 million ounces of silver were consumed by the solar industry, setting a record that's already expected to be shattered this year. Governments around the globe are

funneling billions into net zero pledges. And that means more panels, more grids, more silver. But here's the catch. Silver isn't just helpful in solar production. It's irreplaceable. No other metal matches its conductivity and reliability in photovoltaic cells. And with nextgen solar tech like Topcon and heterogunction cells rolling out, silver usage per panel is going up, not down. The math is brutal. You need more silver per unit, but mining production is barely growing. That disconnect is

turning the solar boom from a bullish catalyst into a full-blown crisis for supply. The more we chase clean energy, the faster we accelerate the silver squeeze. And this isn't a future problem. It's unfolding in real time. Projects are already being delayed due to tight supply. Manufacturers are locking in long-term contracts just to stay afloat. And every ounce that disappears into a rooftop or solar farm isn't coming back. This isn't hype. It's demand on a collision course with reality. Yeah. And

just to to touch on the first point you made there, I mean, you nailed it, which is, you know, 5, 10, 15 years ago, for the most part, you could rely on global trade and if you needed a metal, China would would happily supply it and you'd buy it off them and and it would land when you need it and you could make the things that you needed. But that is that is not the case anymore. That is absolutely not the case anymore. We're seeing very restrictive export um policies coming out of China now. the

global tungsten market is incredibly tight right now as you can imagine on the back of these restrictions and bans out of China when you know just just sort of very simply put you know when the country that mines and supplies 86% of total global supply says we're not going to export any of that outside of our country anymore you can imagine how tight the market gets um but yeah so how does that affect us I mean I've mentioned our position um in the US so just as a a quick kind of outline line

of what we're doing. So, we are Guardian Metal Resources and we own two significant hungen deposits located in the very mining friendly state of Nevada. One of those assets is host the largest undeveloped tungsten deposit in the US and the other deposit or project we own um was formerly the largest operating tungsten mine in North America in the 1980s. So two significant deposits in Nevada trying to push those projects as forward as quickly as possible because if the US has a domestic mine source of tungsten which

we can provide from our two projects obviously the trade war is still going to affect a lot of other metals and inputs and things like that but effectively we can help be a huge um part of the solution for tungsten because if you two operating mines in Nevada producing tungsten for US industry that really is a big part of the solution. So what are we seeing now? Um as I mentioned, you know, just just the fact that the new administration is talking about critical metals and and tungsten explicitly over the last it's

about 2 months since um the new president took office. I think it's important because it's shedding a light on how important these critical metals are in the fact that we can't rely on countries like China or Russia or North Korea for these inputs anymore. So that's an important part of what we're seeing just sort of the the general exposure. But more importantly is what is actually happening in silver isn't just a green metal. It's a war medal. Inside every smart missile, advanced

drone, and encrypted communication system lies one critical irreplaceable component, silver. Its unmatched conductivity and resistance to corrosion make it essential to military technology. And as global tensions heat up from Eastern Europe to the South China Sea, the demand for military grade silver is rising fast. But here's the twist no one saw coming. The US military is now competing with the solar industry for the same shrinking silver supply. And with China threatening to choke exports, Pentagon insiders are

reportedly warning of strategic vulnerabilities. Some defense analysts are even calling for emergency mining operations, opening up decommissioned sites, subsidizing domestic production, and fast-tracking approvals for new exploration. Meanwhile, tech manufacturers are lobbying for federal stockpiles to be refilled with whisperers of a national silver reserve program quietly floating through Washington. The stakes are enormous. If silver becomes scarce, it's not just about rising prices. It's about

national security. The military-industrial complex can't afford to be left without silver. And neither can the private sector. For the first time in decades, industries that rarely acknowledged each other are now in direct competition. And when governments start stockpiling the same metal as corporations, one thing is certain, supply won't be enough. one, there's now, I believe, 45% tariffs on any Chinese tungsten imports into the US. But probably much more important than that is the fact that as of February

4th, China announced restrictions. And what I'm hearing now is effectively a full ban of all tungsten exports from China to the US plus everyone else in the world. So we're seeing now and and and if your listeners are familiar with the Antimony story, that's exactly what happened in Antimony, you know, over a year ago was China announced an actual outright export ban of that metal and the price of that metal has gone up materially and there's obviously been a huge push for, you know, supporting

domestic US-based projects to try to have this metal min soil. So now we're seeing the exact same things happen in tungsten. The market is incredibly tight. Uh and probably the most important thing is we at Guardian Metal Resources have positioned ourselves as as the leader in US focused tungsten exploration and development. Um so tungsten is important because of all these sort of trade factors I I mentioned. But the reason why it's so important and critical is the fact that it's a key input metal for the defense

sector. And in particular, if you want to produce munitions, then there's a long list of different munitions that require tungsten because it's very high melting point metal and it's also incredibly dense. So if you don't have access to tungsten, the US military when it wants to to to build munitions, tank armors, um it's used in in in fighter jets, that's just a small portion. It's also used in nuclear fusion and solar and wind and data centers, you name it. But right now, more than ever, the US

needs a domestic mine source. And us at Guardian, as the leader, are trying to push forward our projects in the US as quickly as we can to provide a safe domestic source of that metal for the US military, but also all the other industries that require this very important metal. Silver production isn't just lagging. It's collapsing under the weight of demand. For four consecutive years, the world has faced a silver deficit. in 2024 is shaping up to be the worst yet. Global mining output is

stagnant, hovering around 820 million ounces annually. While industrial demand alone is set to surpass 1.2 billion ounces, that's not just a shortfall. It's a supply cliff. The problem goes deeper than surface numbers. Oil grades are declining, especially in major producers like Peru and Mexico, meaning more rock has to be moved to yield less silver. Add to that the rising costs of energy, labor shortages, and tightening environmental regulations, and you have a recipe for restricted output with no

relief in sight. And here's what makes it even more dangerous. New silver mines take over a decade to become operational. So even if prices explode tomorrow, the supply response will be glacial. Meanwhile, recycling isn't writing in to save the day. Unlike gold, much of the silver used in electronics and solar panels is lost forever, unreoverable at scale. So, while headlines talk about silver as a volatile commodity, the reality is much more sobering. We're burning through a finite resource faster than it can be

replaced. Investors see it, manufacturers see it, even governments are beginning to see it. But the general public still asleep at the wheel just as the shortage becomes irreversible. How are how are things changing to support companies like Guardian? And you mentioned executive orders. We've seen I think about three now which are very targeted at domestic production of critical and defense metals and in particular one that came out about 2 weeks ago was very hyperfocused on speeding projects on US soil up and also

directing and redirecting federal funds to these projects. Um because you know we need domestic tungsten now, not 10 years from now. Um so the government is really now kind of stepping up and and looking at ways to support companies like Guardian Metal. And it's so important because you know these tailwinds four or five years ago, even two years ago didn't exist. Um and as you know in this industry, Don again, it's all about timing, right? It's all about how these tailwinds can all come

together at the right time to support important projects and companies like ours. So, we're we're we're we're kind of waiting for a bit more detail on how this all plays out, but we're, you know, we're hearing how the new administration is is very much pushing permitting reform almost you could call it, which is, hey, this is we've made it very difficult to permit and and and get projects into production on US soil. How can we streamline that process? And our company, as we have two projects that

are going through those processes now, um can be very beneficial for us. but also the need to allocate federal funds to these projects as well because if if we can tap into non-dilutive funding through the US government, it means we can just focus on moving really really fast. So, it's it's still early days here. I mean, it's all kind of shaking out now and there's a lot of moving parts right now, but we think we're positioned really really well. The tungsten market is incredibly tight.

It's been one of the kind of the focal metals as this trade war has unfolded and obviously with everything going on with the the tariffs and all the the announcements over the last few days. It's become even more important that companies like Guardian, especially on the tungsten front, we push forward and just crack on with getting these projects as close to production and into production as quickly as we possibly can and looking at tapping into government resources and tailwinds to help us get

there um as as efficiently and and and time effectively as possible. Now, throw geopolitics into the mix and the silver crisis takes on a whole new level of volatility. The last 5 years have seen an escalating breakdown of global supply chains. First it was tariffs, then a pandemic, then war. Each shock revealed just how fragile our interconnected world truly is. And silver, like so many critical resources, is caught in the crossfire. China and the United States are no longer just economic rivals. They're

adversaries in a growing trade war where commodities are weapons and supply chains are battlegrounds. When China slaps export controls on metals like gallium and geranium, it's not just an economic move, it's a message. And silver could easily be next. According to a comprehensive review on geopolitical disruptions, supply chain resilience now depends on regionalization and technological decentralization. But those fixes take time and silver doesn't wait. The US is particularly vulnerable because it imports over 70%

of its silver supply with a large chunk of that refined in China. That's a single point of failure and a highly strategic one. Add in Russia's ongoing war, sanctions cutting off Eastern trade routes, and rising instability across South America, home to major silver reserves. And it becomes clear that supply isn't just about geology. It's about diplomacy, military positioning, and global strategy. In this environment, silver isn't just undervalued, it's under threat. And when

geopolitics strangles availability, markets don't ease up, they erupt. Yeah. And no, I mean it's it's really interesting that again since we spoke last um and since um the new administration came into power January 20th, it almost feels as though we're hearing about critical metals every day or at least every week. Um so certainly I think it's it's a topic that is is now starting to reach a lot of more generalist investors and they're probably wondering why are we hearing

about critical metals so often? What what are they and why do they matter? Um, and I think a big part of that is as we're seeing today, um, as this sort of global trade war continues to sort of motor on, it has become abundantly clear that, you know, the US as the kind of global superpower needs safe domestic sources of of a whole list of critical metals. Um, because if you don't have those metals, those key inputs, then a lot of the these high important technologies and defense and you name it, they can't

operate. they can't manufacture the things that they need. Um, and and kind of where I'm going with this is is tungsten is a metal where China for many many decades has controlled total global supply. Uh, and right now as we speak, it's about 86% of total global supply comes from China. Uh, and if you look down the list of other major um producers of tungsten, uh, you have North Korea and Russia also in the top five. So taking those three countries combined, you're at almost 90% of total

global mine supply of tungsten coming from those countries and the important kind of data point to add on top of that is the fact that the US has zero domestic mine supply. Um, so it's a net importer of that metal and obviously right now I would say probably now more than ever or at least in in the in in in multiple decades has the importance of having safe domestic sources of these metals become so important. It it's it's probably as critical as it's ever been because what we're seeing now is number

while the physical silver market tightens, a storm is also brewing in the financial arena. one that could detonate the price far beyond anything fundamentals alone would dictate. It's the beginning of what many are calling the great silver short squeeze. For years, bullion banks and institutional players have been sitting on massive short positions, quietly suppressing silver's price by flooding the paper markets with contracts that have little to no physical backing. But as physical supply dries up and delivery demands

increase, this entire house of cards is shaking. The ComX, the central hub for silver futures trading, is showing alarming signs. Registered inventories are plummeting, down over 70% from their peak, and open interest remains elevated, meaning more contracts are being traded than there's silver available for delivery. That's not just a red flag. It's a countdown. Retail investors watching this unfold are beginning to move. The Reddit fueled silver squeeze of 2021 was just the prelude. This time it's

smarter, more coordinated, and backed by fundamentals that simply cannot be ignored. Some hedge funds are quietly increasing long exposure, while premiums on physical silver coins and bars are surging well beyond spot prices. And here's the kicker. When this squeeze breaks, it won't just be a spike, it could be a reset. Because once confidence in paper vanishes, the market will be forced to repric based on real world scarcity. And that repricing it could make 150 silver look conservative.

Yeah. I mean, I think what differentiates us is is our position in the US. Um, you know, there's a few other I mean, obviously, China dominates the market, but there's a few other tungsten um, you know, North American traded tungsten companies out there, but their projects are not in the US. Um, they're projects in South Korea, uh, Canada, Australia. And I think right now what we're seeing is a huge impetus on mind in America, made in America above anything else. So if you if you care

about minds in America, tungsten, that's why we are positioned differently than every other company. Uh and this didn't happen overnight. We didn't just hop on the tungsten kind of bandwagon and say, "Hey, we're the tungsten company." We acquired Pilot Mountain which is believed to host the largest tungsten in the US over four years ago before anyone was talking about tungsten. We could took a contrarian view. We understood that China dominated the market. We understand how important that metal was

for defense and a lot of other sectors and we bought that asset 100%. We've been pushing it forward and now it it's been a lot of hard work and a lot of hard yards trying to get people to care but now they're really starting to care. So what sets us apart is we are focused on minds in America tungsten and and there's very few other companies um who can say the same thing and once again because we positioned ourselves four years ago we've been able to acquire the key assets in the US but also establish

key relationships including an offtake that we have LOI offtake with a company called global tungsten powders which is the largest tungsten processing company outside of China. So we've really firmly established ourselves as the de facto leader in US tungsten and now as people wake up to what's happened here in the tungsten space and seeing the similarities between this and rare earth and antimony going hey this is a company that's actually really interesting they've done a good job to position

themselves and we're seeing kind of all the stars aligning which once again as I mentioned you know timing and and kind of how all these things come together is so important in this space so we found ourselves exploring for the right metal tungsten at the right time during a global trade war at the right place in the US and more importantly in Nevada which is one of the best places in the entire world to explore develop and mine for these metals. Everything is converging geopolitical fractures,

industrial frenzy, dwindling mine output and financial market fragility. This isn't just a bullish case for silver. It's a seismic setup. One that could send silver erupting past its all-time high and deep into uncharted territory. China's export bans were the spark, but the explosion is being fueled by forces far more powerful. A global transition to green energy, military rearmament, and a collapsing illusion of supply stability. As government scramble to secure critical materials, and

institutional shorts teeter on the edge, the price suppression era is running out of time. What comes next could be violent, fast, and irreversible. For the smart money, this moment isn't about speculation. It's about preparation. The next silver spike may not offer second chances. So stay alert, subscribe for the latest market insights, and remember, this is not financial advice. Always speak to a professional before making any investment decisions.