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    American Tungsten’s Idaho IMA mine: drill results and restart lens for engineers

    February 11, 2026|

    Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

    American Tungsten’s Idaho IMA mine: drill results and restart lens for engineers

    First reported on MINING.com

    30 Second Briefing

    American Tungsten has reported its first underground drill assays from the rehabilitated D-level at the historic IMA tungsten mine in Lemhi county, Idaho, with three key intercepts including 31 ft at 0.48% WO₃ and 1.84 oz/t Ag, 11.1 ft at 1.08% WO₃ and 2.05 oz/t Ag, and 16.3 ft at 0.54% WO₃ and 1.79 oz/t Ag. Ten upward-inclined fan holes totalling about 3,800 ft have been drilled from new footwall stations on the No.5 and No.7 vein systems to support a maiden resource and restart study. The company, which acquired the former producer in 2024, is now prioritising metallurgy and mine infrastructure restoration as it evaluates a potential underground restart in a US market with no domestic tungsten output since 2015.

    Technical Brief

    • Underground drilling is on the rehabilitated D-level, using upward-inclined fan holes from new footwall stations.
    • IMA mine previously produced nearly 200,000 metric ton units of WO₃ between 1945 and 1957.
    • Historic output also included “millions of pounds” of copper and zinc plus over 1,000 oz silver.
    • Ten underground holes totalling ~3,800 ft have been completed in the No.5 and No.7 vein systems.
    • The current programme is the first systematic application of modern exploration methods at IMA.
    • American Tungsten acquired the project in 2024 specifically targeting an underground restart scenario.
    • US tungsten supply risk is acute, with China providing ~80% of global mine output and no US production since 2015.

    Our Take

    With China accounting for about 80% of global tungsten mine output, a revived tungsten operation in Idaho positions American Tungsten as a potential domestic supply option at a time when US policymakers are actively seeking to de-risk critical mineral chains.

    The reported WO₃ grades above 1% over short underground intercepts at the IMA project site suggest this former mine could support a selective, higher-margin underground operation rather than a bulk-tonnage model, which is consistent with how many Western US tungsten veins have historically been mined.

    A potential US$25.5M loan against a roughly C$129.5M market capitalisation signals that project-level financing could be material relative to American Tungsten’s equity base, giving lenders and offtakers significant leverage over development timelines and offtake terms if the Idaho asset advances.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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