Red Mountain Mining (ASX: RMX) has signed an exclusive option agreement over the Pioneer tungsten project in south-west Montana, adding a US opportunity beside ground held by major global producer Almonty Industries.
The project covers about 2,000 hectares in the Pioneer Mountains mining region and comprises the Greenstone, Mammoth, and Lost Creek prospects along the eastern margin of the Cretaceous Mount Torrey Batholith.
The claims lie adjacent to Almonty ground that hosts the Gentung tungsten deposit, which has a mineral resource of 6.83 million tonnes at 0.315% tungsten trioxide, as well as the Ivanhoe and Lost Creek mines.
Red Mountain has also closed a well-supported $1.6 million placement to advance its Armidale antimony-gold project, US critical minerals assets, the Pioneer option fee, and working capital.
Pioneer Adds Montana Tungsten Exposure
The Pioneer project covers three claim areas where tungsten-bearing garnet skarn mineralisation has been recorded along the granodiorite-limestone contact.
Massive garnet skarns up to 25 metres thick have been identified locally and contain tungsten mineralisation as scheelite, with local assays above 0.5% tungsten trioxide.
Historical drilling at Greenstone returned mineralisation along the full length of all four reported holes, with average assays ranging from 0.34% to 0.48% tungsten trioxide over lengths of 5.8m to 10.7m.
The reported historical Greenstone results include 10.7m at 0.48% tungsten trioxide, 5.8m at 0.43% tungsten trioxide and 7.6m at 0.42% tungsten trioxide, although the results have not been reported under the JORC 2012 code and require further validation.
Greenstone Provides Early Drill Focus
Greenstone sits immediately south of the historical Greenstone Mine patented claim and covers the eastern contact of the Uphill Creek Granodiorite against Snowcrest Range Group and Mission Canyon Formation limestones.
Historical work by the Minerals Engineering Company included surface mapping, bulldozer trenching and minor shallow drilling after tungsten potential was recognised in the Greenstone mine area.
The skarn dips about 40 degrees to the east and its potential down-dip extension is concealed by overburden, leaving scope for follow-up surface sampling and drilling to test grade, thickness, and strike extent.
US Geological Survey magnetics show a shallow magnetic feature extending east of the exposed granodiorite margin at Greenstone, which Red Mountain interprets as similar to the feature beneath the nearby Gentung deposit.
Mammoth and Lost Creek Broaden Target Base
The Mammoth prospect captures the contact between the granodiorite and Snowcrest Range Group limestones within a few hundred metres of the Ivanhoe tungsten mine and the northern end of Almonty’s claim blocks.
Mammoth includes an adit driven 16m into the hillside, where scheelite-bearing garnet skarn mineralisation about 2.5m thick has been recorded.
No drilling has been completed on any of the Mammoth claims, leaving potential for discovery of a blind orebody similar to Gentung.
At Lost Creek, the project captures ground about 600m south along strike from Almonty’s claims and includes the I Pit and the southern 75m of the historical H adit, where channel, rock chip and drill core samples have recorded anomalous tungsten including a maximum value of 0.55% tungsten trioxide.
Agreement Provides Low-Cost Entry
Red Mountain has entered an arm’s-length option agreement with Orion Property Holdings, giving it a 30-day due diligence period before deciding whether to proceed with an acquisition.
The option requires a US$30,000 cash payment on commencement of due diligence, followed by US$90,000 if Red Mountain exercises the option.
Further annual payments would comprise US$180,000 in year one, US$240,000 in year two, US$300,000 in year three and US$360,000 in year four, with a final US$1.8m payable if Red Mountain elects to retain 100% ownership.
The vendor will retain a 2% net smelter royalty, which Red Mountain can buy back for US$1.5m within 18 months of exercising the option.
Tungsten Market Supports US Strategy
The Pioneer option aligns with Red Mountain’s strategy of building a portfolio of US and Australian critical minerals projects in established mining districts.
The company highlighted US Federal Government interest in securing reliable domestic tungsten supply amid global supply constraints and heavy Chinese control of supply chains.
Tungsten prices are near record levels above US$3,000 per metric tonne unit of tungsten trioxide, up from less than US$900 at the end of 2025.
Red Mountain expects that a positive due diligence outcome could allow it to rapidly define shallow drill targets for testing during its first year of exploration at Pioneer.
