Blue Moon Metals has approved construction of its Nussir copper-gold-silver mine in northern Norway and moved toward restarting the Springer tungsten mine in Nevada, pairing a final investment decision with a C$150 million equity raise as the company shifts from developer to builder across two continents.
The Nussir project, located approximately 1,400 kilometres north of Oslo, locks in a 13-year mine plan for a 6,000-tonne-per-day underground operation with first production targeted for the third quarter of 2027. Total construction capital of $184 million will be funded through the equity raise alongside cash and undrawn capacity from the company’s existing $140 million project financing package. A feasibility study issued this month confirms measured and indicated resources of 28.72 million tonnes grading 1.02% copper, 0.12 grams gold per tonne and 12.3 grams silver — averaging a 1.2% copper-equivalent grade. The project carries an after-tax net present value of $235 million at an 8% discount rate and an internal rate of return of 19%, with annual free cash flow estimated at $77 million at consensus prices and $125 million at spot. Blue Moon targets approximately 19,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate annually from the second half of 2027.
Nussir benefits from infrastructure that many greenfield projects lack: ore will be processed at the brownfield Øyen industrial site, the mine connects to a 132-kV renewable power grid and ships through an ice-free port. It already holds its operating licence, tailings permit and zoning plan.
The more strategically ambitious dimension of Blue Moon’s portfolio lies in its US critical minerals assets. The company acquired the Springer tungsten mine in Nevada in February and has now approved a restart programme targeting production by the fourth quarter of 2027, with approximately $50 million of restart capital required. Internal modelling points to between 107,000 and 124,000 tonnes of concentrate, which the company says could make Springer the only major tungsten producer in North America. Blue Moon is also developing the Blue Moon gallium-germanium deposit in California and the Apex deposit in Utah, positioning the three assets as a western supply chain for minerals where China’s dominance is near-total.
Blue Moon cited figures showing China, Russia and North Korea account for 87% of global tungsten output, China produces approximately 95% of gallium and supplies roughly 75% of germanium. Tungsten prices have surged from $500 to $3,000 per tonne over seven months. Canaccord Genuity analyst William Jones, in an April tungsten industry report, described the supply chain as tightly concentrated and forecast structural deficits through 2030, noting that Western economies remain heavily import-dependent and often rely on Chinese-processed material even where ore is mined domestically.
The Springer restart was approved without a current feasibility study or current mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, and Blue Moon cautioned that the 2012 historical resource estimate of 322,050 indicated tonnes grading 0.537% tungsten trioxide should not be relied upon as current.
