RCS - Guardian Metal Rsrc. - Novel Paper on Tungsten Needs for Nuclear Fusion

Guardian Metal ResourcesAnnouncement

05/03/2025 09:15

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RNS Number : 4332Z  Guardian Metal Resources PLC  05 March 2025

5 March 2025

Guardian Metal Resources plc

('Guardian Metal' or the 'Company')

Novel Paper Published on Tungsten Needs for Nuclear Fusion

Significant Future Tungsten Demand by Fusion Technology Confirmed

Guardian Metal Resources plc (LON:GMET, OTCQX:GMTLF), a strategic development
and mineral exploration company focused on tungsten in Nevada, USA, is very
pleased to announce the publication of a study titled 'Supply and Demand of
Tungsten in a Fleet of Fusion Power Plants' in the Fusion Engineering and
Design journal.

This study is the first scientific paper to directly quantify the amount of
tungsten that is expected to be required in nuclear fusion technology in the
context of a tungsten supply chain. The study predicts, in the scenarios
analysed, if global tungsten production stays stagnant for the roll out of
500MWth and 2000MWth scale fusion reactors, the fusion industry will require
100% of global production by 2056 and the global tungsten production would
need to grow by 10 to 16 times from its current level by the end of the
century. For context, over its full 40-year lifespan, a single 2,000 MWth
ARIES-ST reactor would need approximately 2.6 times the tungsten currently
consumed in the U.S. every year for all use cases. The results strongly
underpin the need for new mined sources of the metal to meet the growing
future demand from fusion technology.

The study was co-funded partially by Guardian Metal with technical method and
analysis conducted by the Company's partners Oxford Sigma Ltd ("Oxford
Sigma"). Oxford Sigma is a Fusion Technology company with a vision to tackle
energy security and climate change by accelerating the commercialisation of
fusion energy. Their mission is to deliver materials technology, materials
solutions, and fusion design services. Oxford Sigma aims to produce advanced
materials technologies, agnostic to fusion approach, for the materials
ecosystem. Their fusion core materials are engineered to enable longer term
operations for fusion pilot plants, with the aim of roll out to the
first-of-a-kind commercial power stations. Oxford Sigma is internationally
recognised as a key fusion materials and technological leader.

Oliver Friesen, CEO of Guardian Metal, commented:

"The demand outlook for tungsten has significantly changed as of today and our
investment case at Guardian Metal, as a leader in U.S.-focussed tungsten
exploration and development, has grown much stronger. With billions of dollars
being invested globally across the fusion space during just this year alone,
we hope that the results of this study will serve as a wakeup call in regards
to the supply chain implications - specifically for tungsten - posed by this
ground breaking technology. Simply put, current global tungsten output is
vastly insufficient to meet growing future demand from fusion technology and
as a result, significant investment will be required across the entire
tungsten supply chain.

 

We at Guardian Metal are delighted that tungsten availability will be a
cornerstone consideration for this ground-breaking technology, and our goal is
to be a western world producer of this critical metal for fusion and defence,
as well as a wide array of other important industries that require this
metal."

 

Study Highlights:

§ Tungsten is a leading candidate for both plasma facing and shielding in
both spherical and D-shaped tokamaks, given its core properties including high
melting point, high thermal conductivity, high neutron shielding and low
sputtering yield (loss of material when hit with energetic particles).

 

§ To enable the widespread adoption of nuclear fusion power plants, a
reliable tungsten supply chain is essential. The tungsten industry is required
to grow by an order of magnitude or more under the role out of reactors
assumptions in the study.

 

§ Two specific reactor designs were studied, the results of which have
concluded that:

 

o ARIES-ST reactor over 40fpy (full power-years) at 500MWth (megawatt thermal)
consumed 4,231 tonnes of tungsten and 29,034 tonnes at 2,000MWth.

o EU-DEM01 reactor over 40fpy at 500MWth consumed 3,945 tonnes of tungsten and
9,554 tonnes at 2,000MWth.

 

§ If the UK or US were to develop and operate fusion power fleets without
domestic tungsten sources, their supply would likely fall drastically short of
requirements for reactors alone, not counting existing essential industry and
military uses, without heavy investment and expansion of mined tungsten
capacity.

 

§ Given that current global consumption is approximately 100,000 tonnes per
annum, the study models that  global tungsten supply is a founding
cornerstone issue for a future fleet of fusion power plants.

 

The full study can be found at:

 

E. Day-San, G.C. Blackett, M. Dornhofer, A.K. Manduku, M.D. Anderton, L.
Tanure, T.P. Davis, 'Supply and demand of tungsten in a fleet of fusion power
plants', Fusion Engineering and Design,

 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2025.114881
(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2025.114881)

 

Guardian Metal Resource has two leading advancing tungsten projects in the USA
and has the objective to be the leading company to re-establish tungsten
production in the USA. The Company also is acknowledged in the paper above as
follows:

The authors would like to thank Guardian Metal Resources Plc for providing
financial support for A. Manduku's internship during the summer of 2024. This
internship was also supported by the UK Atomic Energy Authority's Fusion
Industry Program (FIP) internship scheme and Oxford Sigma during 2024.

For further information visit www.Guardianmetalresources.com
(http://www.goldenmetalresources.com) , oxfordsigma.com
(https://oxfordsigma.com/) or contact the following:

 Guardian Metal Resources plc  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7583 8304

 Oliver Friesen (CEO)
 Shard Capital Partners LLP    Tel: +44 (0) 20 7186 9000

 Lead Broker

 Damon Heath/Erik Woolgar
 Oxford Sigma Ltd              Tel +44 (0) 1865 509665

 

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