US Department of Defense Bets $9.25 Million on Europe's Highest-Grade Tungsten Project

Strategic Minerals (AIM: SML; USOTC: SMCDF) announced on Monday that the US Department of Defense has invested $9.

25 million in its wholly-owned subsidiary Cornwall Resources Limited (CRL).

The funds will be used to accelerate the completion of the full feasibility study for the Redmoor tungsten-copper-tin project in Cornwall, UK, and to advance the project toward a final investment decision (FID).

The company stated that Redmoor is Europe's highest-grade undeveloped tungsten resource and one of the highest-grade tungsten projects globally.

Tungsten is a high-strength, high-density metal with the highest melting point of all elements, and is critical for enhancing the hardness and heat resistance of high-temperature alloys used in military equipment such as turbine blades, rocket engine nozzles, and armor-piercing projectiles.

This investment reflects the US government's support for developing a secure and reliable allied tungsten supply chain and recognizes Redmoor's potential importance to the advanced manufacturing, defense, and critical mineral supply chains of the US and its allies.

The investment is non-dilutive and imposes no restrictions on future financing or offtake.

Combined with the company's existing cash resources and other grant opportunities, this funding will enable CRL to surpass the previous pre-feasibility study milestone, with a new goal of completing a full definitive feasibility study as the final economic study before FID.

The funds will support ongoing resource infill and extension drilling, geotechnical and metallurgical drilling, updated mineral resource estimates and subsequent reserve conversion, as well as pre-feasibility and definitive feasibility studies, metallurgical, processing, and engineering studies, and pre-site development activities aimed at rapidly advancing underground mining.

Additionally, the plan involves US-related supply chain and offtake development discussions, with the goal of completing the technical and commercial work required for FID within 32 months from the agreed project start date.

Charles Manners, Executive Chairman of Strategic Minerals, said: "

We believe this investment is a clear endorsement of Redmoor's strengths and investment value.

The US government has made several major investments in recent weeks to support the tungsten supply chain of allies and the Western world.

We appreciate this investment from the US government and look forward to working with them to deliver this transformative project, accelerating the development of a new British tungsten mine that can make a significant contribution to achieving this goal.

"Dennis Rowland, Managing Director of CRL, added: "

Over the past two years, the Redmoor project plan has been significantly expanded.

Through updated resource and economic sensitivity analyses, the largest continuous surface diamond drilling program in Cornwall is currently underway to collect data for the project's two feasibility studies.

We have always intended to advance Redmoor toward a full feasibility study and into the mining stage as quickly and efficiently as possible.

This transformative funding will provide tremendous momentum for CRL and support the accelerated development of Redmoor.

"

Strategic Minerals' shares rose 14% at the close in London on Monday.

The company has a market capitalization of £168.6 million (approximately $223 million).

Meanwhile, the African country Burkina Faso recently opened a gold refinery aimed at retaining more value.

The country produced 94 tons of gold last year.

This development reflects the growing trend of resource countries prioritizing local processing and industrial chain extension, echoing Strategic Minerals' efforts to promote domestic tungsten mining in the UK, and together highlighting the profound reshaping of the global critical mineral supply chain.