About this episode

The episode discusses the reopening of a tungsten mine in Australia and its implications for global supply chains and geopolitical competition.

Could one remote Australian mine be a warning sign for the world? This week, Bloomberg Opinion columnist David Fickling talks to Chris Bourke about the revival of King Island's century-old tungsten mine, and how it reflects a new era of geopolitical competition as countries race to secure supplies of the little-known metal for weapons and munitions. The conversation explores China's dominance of the tungsten market, Australia's untapped reserves and why decades of globalization left Western economies exposed to critical mineral supply risks. Fickling explains how one obscure mine offers a window into the race for critical minerals, the changing nature of war and the global scramble to secure strategic supply chains. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: David Fickling

Guest: Chris Bourke

Topics covered

• geopolitical competition
• tungsten market
• critical minerals
• supply chains
• globalization
• mining

Keywords

• tungsten
• mining
• geopolitics
• supply risks
• China
• Australia
• critical minerals

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bloomberg, China, Australia

Places: King Island

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