Tungsten is a non-renewable resource, and what’s on the planet is all we will ever have. In Episode 406 of Cliff’s Notes, Tungco CEO Cliff Nance sits down with Rebecca Martin, Tungco’s Chief Legal Officer, for a conversation that starts with Berlin history and ends with why tungsten recycling matters more than most people realize.
■ Watch Episode 406 on YouTube:
From Law Firm Partner to Chief Legal Officer
Rebecca and Cliff met in 2014, when Cliff was taking over leadership of Tungco and Rebecca, then a law firm partner, stepped in to help. Her practice centered on business, corporate, tax, and estate work for family business owners. She later became a managing director in the finance world, leading a team while still doing legal work for clients, but found she missed practicing law. Today she is Tungco’s Chief Legal Officer. Her head start in the industry, she says, was really tiny: the acronyms alone were a new language.
A Non-Renewable Resource
Asked for the most surprising thing she has learned about tungsten, Rebecca points to the simplest fact: all that’s on the planet is all that’s ever going to be on the planet. That’s why recycling is so important. Without it, she asks, where is it going to go? She and Cliff tie that to critical raw materials, to Project 74 as part of being good stewards, and to the debate over tungsten export restrictions. The Tungco view is that sending tungsten units out of the country isn’t the right move when the U.S. isn’t mining its own today. Cliff adds that tungsten does exist in the ground here, significant funding is on the way, and he hopes to see production by 2027 or 2028 and certainly by 2030.
Why This Matters for Tungsten Recyclers
- A fixed supply makes tungsten recycling a strategic issue, not just an environmental one. • Standardized contract review is one way a growing tungsten recycler manages risk.
- Domestic mining timelines are still hopes, which keeps recycled supply central in the meantime.
About Tungco
Tungco is one of the largest tungsten and carbide recyclers in North America, recovering high-value materials from industrial wear parts, cutting tools, and end-of-life equipment.
About Cliff’s Notes
Cliff’s Notes is Tungco’s podcast hosted by CEO Cliff Nance, featuring conversations with leaders, builders, and operators across the industrial economy. New episodes drop regularly across YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Spreaker.
