Tungsten’s turning point: Mt Carbine and Dolphin mine implications for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

First reported on Australian Mining
30 Second Briefing
Surging tungsten prices and tightening supply chains are pushing Australian projects such as EQ Resources’ Mt Carbine in far north Queensland and Group 6 Metals’ Dolphin mine on King Island towards higher output and accelerated development. Mt Carbine is ramping up from tailings retreatment to open-pit and underground ore, while Dolphin is restarting historic underground workings with a new processing plant targeting high-grade scheelite concentrates. For geotechnical and mining teams, the shift raises demand for hard-rock stoping, ground support in narrow, high-stress veins, and fine-tuning of gravity–flotation circuits for complex skarn ores.
Technical Brief
- For similar skarn-style tungsten deposits, brownfield re‑entry is emerging as a faster route than greenfield permitting.
Our Take
EQ Resources’ Mt Carbine tungsten project in far north Queensland is one of only a small number of tungsten-tagged items in our database, signalling that Australian tungsten remains a niche but strategically watched segment compared with bulk commodities like iron ore and coal.
The recent appointment of former Newcrest chief development officer Michael Nossal as independent non-executive chair at EQ Resources suggests the company is gearing Mt Carbine for a more aggressive growth or M&A-ready posture, rather than treating it as a small, stand-alone operation.
With most of our Queensland mining coverage focused on coal and critical battery metals, a contract award at Mt Carbine positions tungsten alongside other ‘strategic’ metals in the state, which may help EQ Resources when engaging with government support schemes and downstream offtakers concerned about non-Chinese supply.
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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