John Feneck: Big Supply Crunch Coming to This Critical Mineral & Quality Gold Miners On Sale

John Feneck argues tungsten is in a genuine supply crunch, citing China’s dominance of roughly 80% of global production, North Korea and Russia adding another ~5%, and the U.S. having produced no tungsten since 2015. He says Japan’s January move to cut off supply of tungsten hexafluoride — a semiconductor precursor — underscored how fragile the market has become, and he expects the issue to worsen as governments start paying more attention to critical minerals. While the interview is framed around tungsten, Feneck also references two large silver projects with low all-in sustaining costs and says there are 17 billionaires in the capital structure, which he interprets as a strong sign of project quality and durability. The broader pitch is that strategic metals tied to defense, semiconductors, and industrial supply chains are becoming increasingly hard to source, especially from jurisdictions outside China/Russia-aligned supply. For precious metals traders, the actionable takeaway is more thematic than price-driven: the transcript is constructive for silver and quality miners if the market starts pricing in tighter supply, policy support, and capital rotation into critical-mineral names. Near term, the catalyst is heightened U.S. government focus, including a planned summer white paper on tungsten, but there is no direct gold/silver price level or flow data here.