Tungsten War in Nevada | Science News

Science News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Aug 3, 2026 · 1m

A massive tungsten deposit discovered in Nevada threatens to upend a decades-old agreement between NASA and a mining company, sparking a high-stakes clash over national security versus scientific research. The site, Railroad Valley — vital for calibrating Earth-observing satellites — now holds potential for over two million tons of tungsten, a metal critical for munitions like Tomahawk missiles. With the U.S. having stopped domestic mining a decade ago and relying heavily on Chinese imports, this find could reshape America’s defense supply chain. The company, 3 Proton Lithium, sees it as both…