By 
Issued on behalf of Western Star Resources Inc.
USA News Group News Commentary
VANCOUVER, BC, July 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A UAV magnetic survey across a past-producing Nevada tungsten district has returned the first modern geophysical dataset ever collected over the White Star Project. It identified a previously unmapped intrusive body, four priority drill targets, and a district-scale framework spanning two consolidated mining districts for the first time.
Tungsten has become one of the most strategically charged critical minerals in North America. China controls roughly 80% of global mine supply, export licensing has been narrowed to a short list of approved firms through 2027, and the U.S. has had no commercial domestic tungsten mine production since 2015. Against that backdrop, a company that can map, model, and drill a past-producing Nevada tungsten district, in a jurisdiction actively cited by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Defense, and critical minerals policy frameworks, is doing exactly what the current market is rewarding.
What the Survey Showed
Western Star Resources Inc. (CSE: WSR) (OTC: WSRIF) has announced the results of a high-resolution UAV magnetic geophysical survey completed at its White Star Tungsten Project in Elko County, Nevada. The survey was designed to acquire a modern magnetic dataset over the known historical workings, identify additional prospective targets across the property, and improve understanding of the structural controls on mineralisation. The Company says it is the first work of its kind at White Star, replacing a publicly available dataset collected more than half a century ago at coarse 1-mile line spacing.
The results have reshaped the geological picture of the property in meaningful ways. Total Magnetic Intensity, First and Second Vertical Derivative, and Analytical Signal products were all processed and interpreted. What they showed is that the central intrusive complex is more extensive and internally more complex than previously mapped, with multiple discrete magnetic bodies consistent with apophyses of the quartz monzonite intrusion. Each additional apophysis identified represents an additional length of prospective intrusive-to-host rock contact, and a potential setting for further tungsten-bearing skarn mineralisation beyond the known Batholith Mine workings.
The most significant new finding is the identification of a broad magnetic high in the western portion of the property that may represent a previously unmapped extension of the intrusive granite. This body sits adjacent to mapped carbonate units, the precise geological relationship that defines prospective settings for contact skarn-hosted tungsten mineralisation in the district. That area had no previous exploration history. It now has one.
The geological model at White Star is well understood in concept. A quartz monzonite intrusion invaded a Palaeozoic sedimentary sequence, reacting with limestone to produce a garnet-diopside tactite carrying local scheelite. The historical Batholith mine and adit sit within that tactite. What the new geophysics adds is a framework for understanding where else that same reaction may have occurred, or may be occurring at depth, across a property that was previously mapped only at regional scale.
Blake Morgan, CEO and President of Western Star, described the significance directly: "The White Star geophysical results provide the second component of the consolidated Jarbidge-Charleston dataset and complete the district-scale magnetic coverage that the property consolidation was intended to unlock. The interpreted intrusive body identified in the high-resolution magnetic data has generated a significant new area of interest, where the contact between the granite and surrounding carbonate rocks may provide a favourable setting for tungsten skarn mineralisation."
Four Target Zones, One Dataset
The interpretation has defined four priority target zones for follow-up. The highest-priority target is the Central Kqm to Pzt contact immediately north of the Batholith Mine, the direct on-strike extension of the mineralised contact at the mine itself. The second is a Northern Pzt tactite body within the northern intrusive mass, cut by a NW-trending magnetic lineament that represents a candidate fluid pathway. Third is the Southern limestone corridor, where multiple small carbonate bodies host discrete magnetic features analogous to those at the Batholith Mine, in ground that is likely under-mapped from surface. Fourth is the Historical Open Pit area, where coherent magnetic character supports the interpretation that contact geology continues beneath Quaternary cover, with the historical workings themselves serving as direct evidence of previously identified mineralisation in that zone.
District-Scale Integration: Two Properties, One Unified Dataset
Perhaps the most strategically significant aspect of the White Star survey is what it enables at the district level. The survey was flown to identical specifications and line spacing as the recently completed Rowland UAV magnetic survey at Western Star's adjoining Rowland Tungsten Property. That allows both datasets to be processed and interpreted as a single, contiguous product spanning the entire consolidated Jarbidge and Charleston tungsten footprint. The combined dataset is currently undergoing geophysical inversion, and results will be announced once processing and review are complete. It will represent the first modern geophysical framework ever assembled across both mining districts, a district-scale view that was not possible before the property consolidation.
Integration of the geophysics with pending rock-chip and soil geochemistry from the field program currently underway across both properties will define priority targets and inform the design of any subsequent exploration phase.
Four Trending Comps in the Tungsten Critical Minerals Trade
Almonty Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: ALM) (TSX: AII) crossed from developer to producer on July 1, 2026, when its Sangdong mine in South Korea began processing operations, feeding a stockpile of roughly 139,700 tonnes grading approximately 0.25% tungsten trioxide through a newly commissioned plant. On July 14, the Company amended its long-term Sangdong offtake agreement with Global Tungsten & Powders, extending the term from 15 to 21 years, increasing contracted volumes by 40% to 4.41 million MTU, and improving pricing by roughly 6.3%, which lifts expected annual revenue at current prices to approximately US$490 million. Almonty joined the Russell 1000 and Russell 3000 indices on June 29, 2026, and has returned roughly 93% year to date and more than 211% over twelve months. The stock nonetheless trades well below its April 2026 high, pressured by the overhang from an US$800 million convertible note placed in June. For Western Star investors, Almonty represents the mature end of the tungsten spectrum: what a credible, Western-aligned tungsten producer looks like once it reaches the production stage, and what the market does to that story when financing structure gets complicated.
Allied Critical Metals Inc. (CSE: ACM) (OTCQB: ACMIF) has been among the stronger-performing tungsten names in recent weeks. The Company recently announced 13 metres of 1.00% WO3 including 3 metres of 4.15% WO3 at the Venise Breccia, confirming a new high-grade tungsten-molybdenum discovery at its Borralha project, alongside a separate announcement of over 200 metres of breccia-hosted tungsten mineralisation at the same project, expanding the known footprint well beyond historical veins.
Spartan Metals Corp. (TSXV: W) (OTCQB: SPRMF) (FSE: J03) announced on June 23, 2026 the confirmation of two tungsten skarn zones at its Tungstonia Claims within its 100%-owned Eagle Project. Eagle sits in the Kern Mountains of White Pine County, roughly 400 kilometres south of White Star's ground in Elko County, so it is a separate district rather than a neighbour. What makes it relevant is the deposit style. Eagle is a tungsten skarn system, the same controlling mineralisation model that White Star's new geophysical data has defined, and Spartan's confirmation of skarn zones at a past-producing Nevada mine speaks to how that model performs in the state's tungsten belt more broadly.
American Tungsten Corp. (TSXV: TUNG) (OTCQB: TUNGF) has been one of the most active news generators in the tungsten exploration space through June and July, with multiple drill result releases in recent weeks. Those include positive results from the Rhosgobel deposit confirming significant tungsten mineralisation over an 850-metre strike length, and tailings assays demonstrating tungsten mineralisation throughout a historical tailings deposit. American Tungsten's consistent news flow illustrates the exploration momentum currently running through the tungsten sector globally.
These companies are referenced to illustrate the sector and do not imply any partnership, endorsement, affiliation, or comparable financial performance. They differ substantially in size, stage, and jurisdiction, and Western Star Resources remains an early-stage exploration company with no defined mineral resource at White Star.
The Bottom Line
Western Star Resources Inc. (CSE: WSR) (OTC: WSRIF) has, in the span of one survey program, converted a white space on the geological map of Elko County, Nevada into a structured, four-target framework. It has a newly identified intrusive body and four defined zones of priority interest, all now sitting within a district-scale dataset that spans both the White Star and Rowland properties for the first time. The pending integration of geophysics with rock-chip and soil geochemistry, and the completion of geophysical inversion on the combined district-scale dataset, will be the next milestones to watch.
As always, investors should note that Western Star remains an early-stage exploration company, that the target zones defined by geophysical interpretation are prospective rather than confirmed, and that exploration results are uncertain until drill programs are completed and assays returned. A magnetic anomaly is a reason to drill, not evidence of mineralisation. Investors should do their own research and consult a qualified financial advisor before making any decision.
For more information on Western Star Resources Inc., visit: USANewsGroup.com/wsr-landing/
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