Last week, in front of an audience of recycling and metals industry leaders at the ReMA 2026 Conference in Las Vegas, Tungco took the stage at the F1 Innovation Spotlight Session and made an announcement 55 years in the making.
Project 74 is operational. And it changes the domestic tungsten supply picture.
What We Built
Project 74 is the flagship initiative of the Urban Mining Initiative — a specialized collaborative venture developed in partnership with The Chem-Met Company and Syram. Its mission: produce Sodium Tungstate — a critical intermediate in the tungsten supply chain — entirely from domestic U.S. industrial scrap.
The feedstock is what American manufacturers already generate every day: spent cutting tools, drill inserts, worn industrial bits, and end-of-life carbide parts — valuable material that is currently leaving the country, being landfilled, or remains difficult to process. These materials enter our facility in Madisonville, Kentucky, move through chemical dissolution and purification processes, and emerge as high-purity Sodium Tungstate — the universal feedstock for tungsten metal, carbide powder, defense and industrial applications, aerospace tooling, and advanced manufacturing.
Every product is third-party analytically verified. Every batch carries full chain-of-custody documentation. The facility is SAM registered, holds active federal contracting relationships, and has been in continuous operation since Tungco’s founding in 1969.
This is not a pilot program. This is not a proposal. This is an operating facility producing strategic material today.
Why Sodium Tungstate — and Why Now
The United States has zero tungsten mine production. Every pound of primary tungsten used in American manufacturing, defense and industrial production, and aerospace is imported — much of it originating in or passing through China.
Tungsten sits on the U.S. Geological Survey’s 2025 Critical Minerals List. It is tracked as a strategic material by the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. In 2025, China’s Announcement No. 10 imposed new export controls on tungsten-related items — moving markets and putting supply chain vulnerability on full display.
Sodium Tungstate is a gateway material. Every downstream tungsten product — every alloy, every powder, every defense and industrial component — begins here. By producing it domestically from scrap already within the American industrial ecosystem, Project 74 establishes a secure, low-carbon, mine-free supply source insulated from foreign export restrictions.
The Urban Mining Initiative
Project 74 operates under the Urban Mining Initiative — Tungco’s strategic framework for recovering and reprocessing critical minerals from industrial waste streams. Where traditional mining goes underground, urban mining focuses on material already in circulation.
Under UMI, Project 74 (chemical production) and 74 Alloys (metal production) operate as complementary arms. Together they form a complete domestic tungsten supply chain — from raw scrap input to finished strategic material — owned and operated in the United States.
Partners:
Tungco — Est. 1969, Madisonville, Kentucky
The Chem-Met Company
Syram
Built for Federal Procurement
Project 74 was designed to serve defense contractors, federal procurement officers, and industrial buyers who require a domestic, documented, and compliant tungsten supply source.
Current compliance and readiness status:
— Active production
— SAM registered
— Existing federal contracting relationships and performance history
— ISRI member in good standing
— Third-party lab verified output
— Full supply chain provenance and chain-of-custody records available on request
If you are evaluating domestic tungsten supply options, the facility is open for tours and full production data is available.
Come See It for Yourself
The facility is in Madisonville, Kentucky. The products are real.
Schedule a tour or request production data at project74.com
Reach us directly at [email protected] or 270-825-0000
3955 Anton Road · Madisonville, KY 42431
TAGS: Project 74 · Urban Mining Initiative · Tungsten · Domestic Supply Chain · Critical Minerals · ReMA 2026 · Sodium Tungstate · Defense and Industrial Manufacturing · Tungco
Visit www.project74.com
