As the owner of the most recently producing tungsten mine and processing plant in the USA, American Tungsten & Antimony (ASX: AT4) is in an extremely advantageous position to capitalise on an all time high tungsten price of US$3,185/mtu, and recently banked an extra $10 million through a heavily oversubscribed placement. As the company gears up for its imminent Mainboard Nasdaq Listing, former Secretary of the Department of Interior, and current Independent Director of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (NASDAQ: DJT), David Bernhardt has been appointed as AT4’s Chairman of the Advisory Board – which is an incredibly strategic move that will aid in the pursuit of non-dilutive federal funding sources and permitting processes. With the mill refurbishment at Dutch Mountain in Utah around 4 months away from completion, AT4 will be drilling extensions to its most recent source of ore – the Fraction Lode Mine, which previously ran a head grade of 1.7% WO3. Results from an extensive sampling program at Tennessee Mountain were released today, which recorded high-grade channel samples of 1m at 0.59% WO₃ and 2m at 0.53% WO₃ from outcropping skarn – which have finalised the targeting of AT4’s maiden 29 hole, 3,000m drilling campaign at this Nevada asset which has previously produced at up to 1% WO₃. The company will also soon be drilling the Black Jack and Tan Jack prospects at Antimony Canyon, which has samples up to 17.94% Sb in a favourable geological setting.
As Secretary of the Interior, David was previously responsible for oversight of around 500 million acres of federal land, including permitting, resource development and environmental management frameworks central to US mining and energy sectors. David founded the powerful Washington-based Bernhardt Group in June 2025, right as the Trump administration’s big critical minerals push was getting underway, with the company providing advisory and lobbying services – especially to resources companies. AT4 was admitted to the US Defence Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC) last month, and now has direct access to US defence supply chain programs, as well as engagement pathways with the Department of War and other critical minerals initiatives. There are multiple DOW and Department of Energy funding programs that AT4 has applied for, which if approved would likely be an extreme rerate catalyst for the company.
The underlying fundamentals of what drives value in AT4 remain just as attractive as they were towards the start of the year, when the company traded around $0.20/share with a $260 million market cap as it acquired the Dutch Mountain Project and Processing Facility. AT4’s key value drivers are the tungsten and antimony prices, the prospect of commencing near-term production while these commodity prices remain elevated, and the ability to attain strategic funding from US government bodies to finance this production, while also demonstrating exploration upside at the superb assemblage of projects that the company has acquired over the past year. AT4 is currently trading at $0.056/share – implying a $85.4 million market cap, with a cash balance above $20 million and an enterprise value of just $65.4 million.
Tungsten continues to reach new astronomical heights, with the latest price of US$3,185/mtu in Rotterdam marking a 350% gain so far this year and 900% over the past 12 months. Antimony has been steady at US$30,000/t, which while down from the insane peak of US$62,000/t that was first hit in April 2025 – is still 3x above where it was before China slammed the door shut on its exports of the critical metal.
This shift in value creation from M&A during a time of rising commodity prices to extracting value from the acquired assets is typically a volatile period where there is significant shareholder turnover, which can create an attractive entry point as valuations become irrational – and the heavy institutional backing in the placement infers that is currently occurring.
There are a few notable factors that likely explain the recent pullback in AT4’s share price, most of which will soon be resolved – presenting a unique buying opportunity over the next month. There are 291 million options exercisable at $0.03 and expiring on the 30th of June, which have been progressively exercised and likely sold – a process that should yield at the end of the financial year, which is also when tax loss selling will stop. The war in Iran has also done what any significant geopolitical turmoil does to small caps – drain liquidity from the small end of the market, regardless of the valuations people end up selling at. The US and Iran appear to be very close to a deal, and the 30th of June is fast approaching, all the while AT4 has been progressing its tungsten mill refurbishment while also launching numerous drilling campaigns at its tungsten project portfolio and Antimony Canyon – as well as aggressively chasing government funding schemes which it is in an excellent position to receive.
The processing plant at Dutch Mountain is fully permitted and on private land, which negates the federal permitting process that could have taken up to 7 years – although it’s unlikely recommencing operations would have faced much opposition given the urgently critical nature of tungsten and the recently mined nature of the site. The 146ktpa mill has capacity to expand to 310kpta and last operated in 2017, while the tenement package contains numerous past-producing mines such as the Fraction Lode Mine, which produced 275t of skarn and vein-hosted scheelite at an estimated head grade of 1.7% WO3, and the Е. H. В. Lode claim, which historically produced 2,374t averaging 1.3% WO3.
The Utah government has continued to be extremely supportive of AT4’s operations, with the recent awarding of a 40% state tax credit. This comes after a major government-level critical minerals event that AT4 hosted in Utah during May, which brought together senior US Government, State and industry stakeholders, including Utah Governor Spencer Cox. Last year, the Utah State Legislature and the Utah Community Impact Board (CIB) provided an US$11 million loan to accelerate the development of Ares Strategic Mining’s (CSE: ARS) fluorspar and gallium mine – with an incredibly attractive 7 year loan period at less than 4.5% annual interest and no repayments for the first 3 years. This was then followed by a 5 year US DoD contract with an initial award of US$168.9 million and a total ceiling of up to US$250 million through future task orders.
The Fraction Lode Mine and its 25km distance from the processing facility can be seen below in a map of the Dutch Mountain Tungsten Project:
Source: AT4
Today’s sampling results at Tennessee Mountain, which contains a historical resource estimate of 780kt grading between 0.3%-0.5% WO₃, have bolstered the planned drill hole locations which are mapped out below, and will test the extensive strike outside of the historic Garnet Mine. There were also peak rock chip results up to 20,693ppm (2.07%) Mo, with an additional 3 samples grading between 2,055ppm and 4,352ppm Mo – which is consistent with a fertile, intrusion-related tungsten-molybdenum skarn system:
Source: AT4
Below is a sampling map of ACP, with the upcoming targets Black Jack and Tan Jack having recorded results up to 17.94% Sb in November – which followed on historical results up to 10.82%. The Emma prospect is circled, which is where the most recent drilling undertaken yielded 11.03m at 3.1% Sb from 25.91m including 2.62m at 12.54% Sb from 29.2m, and 8.47m at 2.67% Sb from 31.15m including 2.2m at 9.69% Sb from 36.88m – intersecting mineralisation that is analogous with the Xikuangshan Antimony District, China’s most prolific antimony district and the location of the Twinkling Star Mine that holds a 400kt resource and annual production capacity of 30kt:
Source: AT4
The geophysics completed by AT4 can be seen below, through the view of a cross section that highlights multiple targets at 50-100m depth and along strike from the many historic high-grade mines at ACP. The 12 lines for a total of 43 line kilometers revealed a shallow, domed conductive layer that flanks a deeper conductive core, which is interpreted as the system’s hot-fluid feeder in a high-sulfidation epithermal environment. Drilling and sampling has demonstrated that antimony is most prevalent on the shoulders of the feeder around Emma, where silica-hardened rock that is resistive overlies conductive, clay-altered zones along distinct resistivity contacts. There are plenty more of these conductive-resistive contact zones for AT4 to drill, which have strong potential to build on existing high-grade results:
Source: AT4
With the key suppressing factors driving the recent decline in AT4’s share price likely to soon see material relief, and a bolstered cash balance heading into a high volume period of significant newsflow – there is a strong chance of the company rerating upwards in the near term.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and marketing purposes only, and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation to invest. All opinions expressed are our own. We may receive fees or other forms of compensation in connection with the publication of this content, and may own shares in any of the mentioned companies. Please do your own research and seek professional advice before making any investment decisions.