Why Central Asia’s tungsten is attracting global powers

Central Asia could hold more than a quarter of the world’s tungsten reserves, according to one scientific estimate, drawing growing interest from the United States, China, South Korea and the European Union as demand for the critical mineral rises. A study by Chinese researchers Qiu Wang and Yonghao Wang estimates that Central Asia accounts for 28. 52% of global tungsten reserves . If compared with data from the US Geological Survey (USGS), this could place the region second only to China, although there is no single internationally accepted ranking of tungsten reserves. Where does the 28. 52% figure come from? The 28. 52% estimate comes from research published in the Chinese Journal of International Review . The authors also identify Central Asia as holding significant shares of global reserves of manganese, chromium, lead, antimony and uranium.

USGS estimates global tungsten reserves at more than 4. 7 million tons , including 2. 5 million tons in China, 570,000 tons in Australia and 400,000 tons in Russia. Kazakhstan is not included in the USGS table. Other estimates vary considerably. The OECD lists 2 million tons of tungsten reserves for Kazakhstan, 123,160 tons for Kyrgyzstan and 2,600 tons for Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan’s Committee of Geology estimates the country’s mineral resource base at 2. 4 million tons . Experts say the differences are largely due to varying systems for calculating and classifying reserves. Therefore, the 28. 52% figure should be viewed as the estimate of a specific study rather than an official international ranking. Why is tungsten attracting so much attention? China dominates the global tungsten market. According to USGS data, it accounted for almost 79% of global production in 2025 , producing 67,000 of the world’s 85,000 tons. In February 2025,…