A South Korean mine has reopened after two decades of disuse, with the potential to be a reliable source of a rare metal critical for modern militaries that China has a near-stranglehold over. Packing a high energy density and nearly as hard as a diamond, tungsten penetrates targets more effectively than other metals, making it essential for weapons like armor-piercing rounds. Thanks to its durability, corrosion resistance and high conductivity, tungsten also has a wide range of civilian applications, from industrial cutting tools and light bulbs to electric vehicle batteries and microchips produced by businesses like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Nvidia. This has major implications for Washington's push to diversify critical supply chains away from countries it considers adversarial....
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