Western Star Resources Inc. (CSE: WSR) (OTC: WSRIF) (FRA: 4K2) has announced the acquisition of a 100% interest in the past-producing Eagle Point Tungsten Mine in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, a move that underscores the growing urgency to secure domestic supplies of critical minerals. The property, located in the Granite Pass area of the Little Hatchet mining district, has a documented history of tungsten production and federal government backing, yet remains largely unexplored with modern techniques.
According to the company, the Eagle Point mine was active during the Second World War, shipping approximately 1,800 tons of ore grading about 0.5% WO3. Historical estimates, based on surface trenching, suggested 100,000 to 150,000 tons at similar grades, but recent sampling by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has revealed significantly higher potential. A composite outcrop sample assayed 27.6% WO3 (219,000 ppm W) and 0.98% Mo, indicating the presence of high-grade scheelite mineralization at surface.
“Eagle Point is the kind of asset you build a company around,” said Blake Morgan, CEO and President of Western Star, in the press release. “It brings together everything we look for in one place—high-grade tungsten, a documented production history, eight separate skarn bodies exposed at surface, and a tier-one U.S. jurisdiction—yet it has never once been touched by modern exploration.”
The United States currently has no domestic commercial tungsten production, with approximately 85% of global supply controlled by China, according to the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025. Tungsten is designated a critical mineral essential for defense, aerospace, energy, and advanced manufacturing. The acquisition aligns with recent U.S. government directives to fast-track domestic tungsten projects, with federal grants and defense-sector support available for qualifying assets.
The property consists of 24 lode mining claims covering the historic Eagle Point workings. The mineralization is a contact-metamorphic tungsten skarn deposit, with scheelite occurring in garnet-rich tactite zones along a granite-limestone contact. Historical records show that the U.S. government examined the property multiple times between 1941 and 1957, and in 1955, the Defense Minerals Exploration Administration (DMEA) approved a contract to fund 75% of a drilling program. However, the contract was never executed, leaving the principal exploration objectives untested.
Western Star plans to initiate a systematic exploration program including a high-resolution drone magnetic survey, rock-chip and soil geochemical sampling, and field mapping with ultraviolet fluorescence surveying. The results will guide drill targeting and permitting. “Recent USGS work returned a sample grading more than 27% WO3, with a meaningful molybdenum credit on top, and the deposit was considered prospective enough that the U.S. Government approved and funded an exploration contract over it in the 1950s—one that was never drilled,” Morgan added.
The acquisition terms include a cash payment of C$150,000, issuance of 4,000,000 common shares to the vendors, and a 1.5% net smelter returns royalty, of which 1.0% can be repurchased for C$1,000,000. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. The company emphasizes that historical estimates should not be relied upon as current mineral resources, as a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify them under NI 43-101 standards.
With the U.S. critical mineral supply chain under pressure, the Eagle Point acquisition positions Western Star to potentially contribute to domestic tungsten production, leveraging past government interest and high-grade surface showings that have never been drill-tested.
