- The European Union is establishing its first joint critical minerals stockpile—initially prioritizing tungsten, gallium and rare earth elements—to strengthen national security and reduce import reliance on China.
- The shift towards domestic supply chains highlights three well-positioned, ex-China operators: EQ Resources, Leading Edge Materials and Metlen Energy & Metals.
- Fueled by skyrocketing commodity prices and aggressive local expansion plans, these three companies represent high-conviction watchlist candidates for investors looking to capitalize on Western industrial independence.
In May, the European Union selected tungsten, gallium and rare earth elements (REE) as the initial constituents of its first joint critical minerals stockpile, which will be designed to reduce reliance on imports from China, the world leader when it comes to critical minerals refining and production, a position it has had no qualms about leveraging in recent trade disputes.
This article is a journalistic opinion piece which has been written based on independent research. It is intended to inform investors and should not be taken as a recommendation or financial advice.
Talks are now underway with major EU ports to store the minerals, marking a pivotal step in the bloc’s move to strengthen its defense, technology and energy transition industries, whose reliance on critical minerals makes them a key matter of national security.
The stockpile, led by ten EU countries, including France, Germany and Italy, was initially announced in December and mirrors a similar scramble among Western allies, including the United States, to bolster their industrial independence.
The EU’s focus is expected to expand across commodities found on NATO’s official list of critical minerals, such as graphite and germanium, making it high-time to consider mining companies positioned to benefit by putting their high-quality tungsten, gallium and REE assets in service of the European supply chain.
EQ Resources
Tungsten, officially recognized as a critical mineral in the EU, US, Japan, Korea and Australia, among others, is prized for its durability, density and heat resistance, making it a key input for everything from mining equipment, to ammunition, to radiation shielding for X-ray machines, granting it a global market estimated at US$18 billion pointed decidedly up and to the right.
However, China, the world’s top producer, controls more than 85 per cent of supply, putting Western countries and allies at the mercy of the communist nation’s limited appetite for international cooperation, which has contributed to prices tripling to more than US$3,000 per metric ton unit of tungsten trioxide (WO3) since February.
Understandably, these free-market countries, with EU constituents chief among them, are keen to identify more tungsten assets in stable jurisdictions to control prices and ensure their domestic industries are less likely to be caught in the crossfire of future trade disputes.
Enter EQ Resources, market cap A$1.19 billion, whose spot-price offtake agreements to supply Europe, Asia and North America make it one of the world’s largest ex-China tungsten producers. Let’s break down the company’s pair of producing 100-per-cent-owned mines, each of which resides in an established tungsten district with robust exploration upside:
- EQ’s Barruecopardo mine in Salamanca, Spain, delivered fiscal 2025 production of 119,410 mtu from a resource estimated at 22.9 million tons grading 0.20 per cent WO3, boasting a reserve mine life of 4.9 years and a reserve-to-resource-ratio of 45 per cent expandable through exploration opportunities on 8 adjacent licenses. Looking ahead, EQ is focused on optimizing newly installed processing and sorting capacity, as well as improving the consistency of feed grade and pit operations, as it prepares to break ground on a 37 drillhole, 12,200 m resource infill and expansion drilling program.
- EQ’s Mt. Carbine open-pit mining operation in North Queensland, Australia, for its part, produced 48,782 mtu in fiscal 2025, drawing from a resource of 41.4 million tons grading 0.23 per cent WO3, sporting a 4.8-year reserve life and plenty of room for conversion with a reserve-to-resource-ratio of 23 per cent. EQ intends to harvest further project upside by doubling its crushing circuit, having already purchased the required equipment, as well as kicking off a 27 drillhole, 7,830 m drilling program to expand known mineralization and increase conviction in an underground feasibility study. The company’s exploration efforts will extend to the Wolfram Camp, ~60 km south of Mt. Carbine, where leadership has identified the potential for high-grade ore based on a historic estimate of 823,150 mtu WO3 and five prospective exploration targets.
EQ’s growth plans are in the hands of a team led by Managing Director Craig Bradshaw, whose extensive global tungsten experience includes serving as the former CEO of Masan High-Tech Materials, operator of the Nui Phao Tungsten Mine and Processing Complex in Vietnam, as well as Managing Director of H.C. Starck Tungsten Powders GmbH, a global producer of tungsten chemicals, powders and carbides active in Germany, China and Canada that was sold to Mitsubishi Materials Group in December 2024.
The company also benefits from guidance from top investor Oaktree Capital Management, one of the world’s top alternative investment managers, whose 15.01 per cent position in the company significantly de-risks its goal of taking the edge off of global tungsten demand.
EQ Resources stock (ASX:EQR) last traded at A$0.24 and has added 500 per cent year-over-year.
Leading Edge Materials
When it comes to jump-starting the EU rare earth elements supply chain, Leading Edge Materials, market cap C$62.85 million, is raising its hand loud-and-proud, actively developing its 100-per-cent-owned Norra Kärr project in Sweden, which ranks as the bloc’s most advanced heavy REE project.
Norra Kärr’s globally relevant deposit, currently standing at 110 million tons indicated averaging 0.5 per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO), is notable for its high-grade dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb), heavy REEs essential to the manufacturing of permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, robotics and defense applications, including jet engines and missile systems. This is in addition to strong by-product potential thanks to significant concentrations of zirconium (Zr), niobium (Nb), hafnium (Hf) and nepheline syenite, whose varied industrial use-cases could improve project economics.
Seeing as China also dominates global REE production, the project is an essential consideration when it comes to capitalizing on global magnet rare earth oxide consumption, which is expected to increase more than 5x from US$7.8 billion in 2024 to US$44.1 billion by 2040 (see slide 11 of Leading Edge’s latest investor deck) as allies tighten their grip on critical mineral supplies.
Norra Kärr adds conviction to its robust deposit by residing in a region with well-developed infrastructure, including the nearby E4 road corridor, access to renewable power, a potential rail connection in the city of Mjölby only 45 km away, plus a container port at Norrköping only 73 km away.
The project is in the midst of permitting and pre-feasibility work to build upon a 2021 preliminary economic assessment that estimated a post-tax net present value (10 per cent) of US$762 million, production of 5,341 tons TREO per year and a 26-year mine life, as well as better align itself with the European Raw Materials Alliance, which has highlighted the project as a key lever to strengthening critical mineral independence.
Leading Edge Materials complements Norra Kärr with a pair of projects that could vastly expand its critical minerals revenue and partnership potential. These include:
- Its wholly-owned, past-producing Woxna graphite mine, also in Sweden, one of Europe’s only built and permitted graphite production facilities, boasting a significant resource of 2.61 million tons averaging 9.13 per cent graphitic carbon (Cg) measured and indicated, plus 390,000 tons averaging 8.72 per cent Cg inferred. Graphite is one of the top components in lithium-ion batteries, specifically for anode material, in addition to numerous industrial applications spanning steelmaking, lubricants and various automotive and aerospace parts. The company is currently refining Woxna’s processing methods to enhance commercial upside and partnership appeal.
- Its 90-per-cent-owned Bihor Sud nickel and cobalt project in Romania, a high-grade, exploration-stage asset located in the Tethyan Belt, home to several major polymetallic deposits. A field program to assess mineralization and delineate drill targets is underway, keen to validate historical grades up to 28 per cent nickel and more than 6 per cent cobalt, well beyond the concentrations required for high-purity industrial deployment.
Leading Edge keeps its growth initiatives on the straight and narrow thanks to a leadership team that has had a hand in building some of the world’s most recognizable resource brands, including Ivanhoe Mines, Kinross Gold, Noranda, Falconbridge and GoviEX Uranium, granting the company multiple blueprints to outgrow its current micro capitalization.
Leading Edge Materials stock (TSXV:LEM) last traded at C$0.26 and has added 41.67 per cent year-over-year.
Metlen Energy & Metals
Our third and final stock with a high-conviction chance of appearing on the EU’s critical mineral radar is Metlen Energy & Metals, market cap £5.92 billion, a global industrial company positioned to accelerate the green energy transition thanks to its complementary energy and metals divisions
Metlen’s Energy Division, currently the largest private company in Greece, is active across the industry spectrum, spanning project construction to retail supply, including thermal, electricity, hydrogen and natural gas.
Metlen’s Metals Division runs the only integrated bauxite, alumina and primary aluminum operation in the EU, boasting production capacity of more than 190,000 tons of aluminum and 865,000 tons of alumina per year.
Concurrently, the metals division is making headway in the area of renewable metallurgy, using proprietary technologies to extract critical metals from industrial waste, including gallium, a metal classified as critical in the EU because of its applications in the production of semiconductors, aerospace and defense electronics, AI systems, as well as photovoltaic technologies.
The Interministerial Committee for Strategic Investments of the Hellenic Republic recently approved Metlen’s €300 million investment to develop Greece’s gallium production, as well as expand its nearby bauxite mines and alumina refinery, to reduce import reliance and support European industrial resilience, with the company expecting the the project to benefit from approximately €118 million in grants and tax incentives.
Despite sociopolitical tensions boiling over at numerous points across the globe, prompting volatile reactions from the sensitive energy, industrial and defense markets, Metlen’s leadership team is cautiously optimistic about the remainder of 2026 thanks to a well-populated project pipeline, with plans in place to add €2 billion in EBITDA over the medium term through strategic expansions and operational efficiencies ( see slide 11 of the October 2025 investor deck).
These plans, while ambitious, deserve conviction thanks to Metlen’s proven ability to convert invested capital into cash generation, having grown EBITDA every year from €284 million in 2018 to €1.08 billion in 2024 (slide 8) and more than tripled its dividend from €0.43 in 2021 to €1.50 in 2024, all while delivering top-line growth to the tune of €2.05 billion in Q1 2026, up by 37 per cent year-over-year, confirming the robust nature of its business model.
Steadied by 54 per cent institutional ownership, plus a 22 per cent stake owned by Executive Chairman Evangelos Mytilineos, Metlen stock (LSE:MTLN) has managed a 5.6x return since 2018, last trading at €41.39.
Takeaway
While it’s impossible to know which critical minerals projects the EU will designate as continental priorities until this becomes public knowledge, the mere mention of its first three minerals in focus – tungsten, gallium and rare earth elements – makes related, high-quality companies immediately watchlist-worthy.
Should you decide to make an investment, your decision should ultimately hinge on a company’s ability to consistently foster shareholder value by harvesting exploration, development and/or production upside, as our three candidates introduced above are positioned to for years to come.
Join the discussion: Find out what investors are saying about critical minerals mining stocks on the EQ Resources Ltd., Leading Edge Materials Corp. and Metlen Energy & Metals SA Bullboards and make sure to explore the rest of Stockhouse’s stock forums and message boards.