Contracts · Critical minerals
Army backs Perpetua’s Idaho tungsten exploration with up to $40 million
Only the first phase of funding is committed; Perpetua expects that phase to cost about $18 million, split equally with the Army.
Perpetua Resources announced an Army award of up to $40 million on Oct. 26 for tungsten exploration at Idaho’s Stibnite Mining District.1
Perpetua Resources Awarded Up to $40 Million in U.S. Army Funding
tungsten exploration project
approval will be required for each incremental phase of additional funding
The initial 18-month phase is expected to cost approximately $18 million and be shared equally between Perpetua and the U.S. Army.
only the first phase of funding has been committed
Source: Perpetua Resources release, Oct. 26, 2026
Sources
Perpetua will design and implement the project and says it will match the Army’s contribution. Perpetua expects the initial 18-month phase to cost approximately $18 million, shared equally with the Army. Only the first phase of funding has been committed, and each additional phase requires approval. The timing, scope and cost of later phases depend on exploration, testing, engineering and permitting results.1
Funding will support drilling to define a potential tungsten mineral resource, collection of material for laboratory and bench-scale metallurgical testing, and permitting and engineering of an exploration decline. The proposed program includes metallurgical testing of an existing 550-kilogram sample collected during prior exploration.1
The award comes through the Army’s Defense Ordnance Technology Consortium from the Portfolio Acquisition Executive Agile Sustainment & Ammunition at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. It brings total U.S. government awards to Perpetua for critical minerals to $126 million since 2022, the company says.1
Perpetua says the United States has had no commercial tungsten mining since 2015 and relies wholly on imports from a small number of countries. The 36-month program will evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of producing tungsten concentrate at Stibnite.1
Sources (1)
- Perpetua Resources, "Perpetua Resources Awarded Up to $40 Million in U.S. Army Funding to Advance Domestic Tungsten Supply for American Defense," PR Newswire, Oct. 26, 2026 www.prnewswire.com