US 3PL Finds $152 Billion Tungsten Deposit in Nevada; NASA Blocks One-Third of Mining Rights

US mining company 3 Proton Lithium (3PL) said it has confirmed a large tungsten deposit at its Railroad Valley Minerals Project in the remote eastern Great Basin desert of Nevada. According to the company's resource assessment report, the discovery was based on recently completed drilling operations. 3PL said it has raised nearly $50 million to advance the project and is seeking to overturn the mining and exploration ban imposed by the US Bureau of Land Management in 2023 at NASA's request. NASA has long used the flat, barren desert terrain to calibrate satellite instruments, ensuring accuracy and consistency in satellite data acquisition. Kevin Moore, chairman and chief financial officer of 3PL, said the 2023 decision was made with incomplete information, and the company is working through proper channels to resolve the issue. According to 3PL's assessment, the deposit contains an estimated resource of about 1.78 million tons, valued at approximately $152 billion at current prices. If proven commercially viable, it would be more than five times the size of the second-largest tungsten deposit in the United States. Since February 2025, global tungsten prices have risen nearly 600% cumulatively, driven by strong demand from aerospace and military industries. In 2025, the Railroad Valley portion of the project was included in the US federal FAST-41 fast-track approval program to accelerate the permitting process. 3PL holds lease rights and mining rights across an area of about 58 square miles near Ely in eastern Nevada, and has confirmed lithium, boron, and potassium salt resources in large underground salt formations. In November 2025, US mining investment firm Cove Capital reached an agreement with the government of Kazakhstan to develop a tungsten mining and processing plant there.