Critical widens NZ tungsten hunt as prices explode
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Murray Region
In a shrewd bid to gain more exploration acreage in New Zealand, Critical Resources has applied to expand its Croesus gold and tungsten project across the mineral-rich Barrytown granite pluton. The move comes as China’s export controls tighten and tungsten prices continue to soar amid rising Western demand for critical minerals.
The application aims to extend the existing permit to the western extension of the Barrytown granite pluton, the company said. Pluto is heavily associated with high-grade tungsten mineralization at the company’s Granite Creek mine.
The new application area covers 270 hectares of high potential land immediately adjacent to Critical’s existing tenure.
The decision to increase land ownership came immediately after the first pass reconnaissance fieldwork at Croesus; this study confirmed extensive graying change and exhumation of quartz veins at multiple hotspots within the Granite Creek watershed area.
‘APT prices have increased more than 8x since January 2025 and capturing a tungsten target of this scale is strategically important.’
Tim Wither, general manager of Critical Resources
Management says these physical field observations strongly support its current geological interpretation of a much larger, intrusion-related tungsten system across the larger Barrytown granite pluton.
Pluton in particular has witnessed outstanding historical tungsten mineralization, with past sampling at the company’s Croesus project yielding spectacular tungsten trioxide grades of up to 42.6 percent from intrusion-related systems associated with graying change.
Tim Wither, managing director of Critical Resources, said:: “Documented tungsten mineralization at Granite Creek is extremely encouraging – including historic 42.6% WO.”₃ conclusion. Expanding the warrant to capture the full mapped extent of the intrusion gives us a consistent footprint on the system we target.”
Nearby, historic floating samples from granite boulders in Critical’s Little Granite Creek area also returned outstanding results, with tungsten trioxide grading of 26.6 percent and 19.9 percent, indicating a large mineralized footprint.
At a time when the global tungsten market is undergoing major structural change, the company’s exploration move could not have been better timed. Ammonium paratungstate (APT), the key intermediate used as the global pricing benchmark for tungsten, has been subject to a strong re-rating, mainly due to China’s export restrictions, accelerating Western industrial demand and growing supply security concerns.
Prices have risen from US$335 (AU$462) per metric tonne unit (MTU) in January last year to as high as US$3200 (AU$4414) per MTU today.
The company’s broader New Zealand exploration pipeline includes two further high-potential mining belts offering low-cost, large-scale access to major regional gold and critical mineral systems. This footprint is strongly supported by the New Zealand government’s pro-investment Fast Track Approvals Act, a regulatory “one-stop shop” that significantly accelerates development timelines by eliminating historic consents and bureaucratic delays.
Critical also operates the Cap Burn gold project in Central Otago, as well as the Lammerlaw project. Beyond New Zealand, the company has quietly built out a broader portfolio of international growth, headlined by the advanced Mavis Lake lithium project in Ontario, Canada, and the high-grade Halls Peak base metal project in New South Wales.
The junior explorer appears to have a period of active short-term news flow on the horizon. The first laboratory assay results of the Lammerlaw project will be announced shortly, and Kroesos’ first pass field program assays are expected to be available in early June.
Additionally, field teams are reviewing figures from soil-geochemistry mapping and putting together plans for a follow-up reverse circulation drilling campaign to test downdip extensions at the Cap Burn gold target. Desktop surveys are also progressing at the Silver Peaks and Tokomairiro permit areas in the Otago region.
As global tungsten markets remain starved for alternative Western supplies, Critical appears to be searching for the right metal at the perfect time of the cycle.
If upcoming laboratory analyzes support the visual gray change seen in the field, this fast-moving explorer may notice something big in the land of the long white cloud.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
