Collective Mining Finds Tungsten in Colombia

Collective Mining, which entered Colombia searching for gold, said it found tungsten while exploring in Caldas, where the same project also contains gold, silver, copper and other minerals. Omar Ossma, the company’s president, said the discovery points to the country’s underground potential and raises the possibility of new strategic-mineral projects that could draw investment beyond traditional gold mining.

For investors, the significance is twofold. First, the deposit could improve the commercial case for a larger, more diversified project if tungsten resources prove mineable at scale alongside precious and base metals. Second, it underscores Colombia’s potential role in the reconfiguration of critical-minerals supply chains as governments and manufacturers seek to reduce dependence on China, which remains the dominant player in tungsten markets.

That does not mean the opportunity is straightforward. Colombia would need substantial investment and processing capacity to move beyond raw-material exports. The country currently lacks enough specialized plants for the chemical processing needed to capture more value domestically, which means the economic upside may depend as much on downstream infrastructure as on the ore body itself.

The broader narrative is that Colombia’s mining industry may be shifting from a gold-led exploration story to one that includes critical minerals with strategic value. If Collective Mining can prove the deposit’s scale and economics, tungsten could help reprice the project and broaden the investor base. If not, the discovery may still serve as a signal that Colombia’s subsoil could contain more commercially relevant minerals than previously assumed.