Almonty Carves Dual-Metal Path as $800M Convertible Backs Tungsten-Molybdenum Expansion

Almonty Industries transforms Sangdong from single-asset tungsten mine to multi-commodity hub, with molybdenum drilling confirming grades, tungsten production surging 221% amid China export cuts, and $800M institutional funding.

The Chilean miner’s Sangdong complex in South Korea is quietly transforming from a single-asset tungsten project into a multi-commodity critical minerals hub. Almonty Industries now has two production tracks running in parallel – one already generating cash, the other still under the drill bit but gathering institutional validation by the day.

Molybdenum drilling confirms historical grades as Seoul pushes for domestic supply

Almonty has completed 37 percent of its planned molybdenum drilling program at Sangdong, with 26 boreholes and 12,000 metres of assay work now fully accounted for. The initial results align with historical data, reinforcing confidence in the size and quality of the mineralised body. The remaining 63 percent of the program will roll on, and CEO Lewis Black has pledged to move directly into production once the full dataset is in.

The timing could hardly be tighter. South Korea’s government has publicly urged private industry to secure domestic sources of molybdenum, a metal essential for heat- and corrosion-resistant alloys used in semiconductors, aerospace, and defence. Spot prices for molybdenum have climbed 23.5 percent over the past year to 592.34 CNY per kilogramme, adding economic urgency to the strategic imperative.

Almonty intends to integrate molybdenum into its so-called “Korean Trinity” platform – tungsten mining, tungsten oxide processing, and future molybdenum production, all operated under the same roof at Sangdong. That existing infrastructure should generate meaningful cost synergies.

Tungsten: the $773 million geopolitical instrument

While the molybdenum story builds, the tungsten side of the business has already crossed the Rubicon. China controls roughly 80 percent of global tungsten production and has been tightening the valve for months. In February 2025, Beijing cited national security to slash ammonium paratungstate exports from 782 tonnes in the full year 2024 to just 243 tonnes in the first 11 months of 2025 – a 70 percent collapse. Last December, it announced that only 15 companies would be allowed to export tungsten from 2026 onwards.

That is where Almonty stepped in. On March 17, 2026, the company formally inaugurated its Sangdong tungsten mine in Gangwon Province after more than three decades of idleness. Once fully ramped, the mine is expected to supply over 80 percent of all non-Chinese tungsten production – a structural reordering of the entire ex-China market.

The financial results are already reflecting the transition. In the first quarter of 2026, revenue surged 221 percent to $25.4 million, while operating cash flow swung from negative $4.4 million to positive $9.7 million. Just a year earlier Sangdong was still a pre-production project.

Institutional capital arrives in force

On June 9, 2026, Almonty closed an oversubscribed $800 million convertible bond offering, netting approximately $772.7 million. The notes carried a coupon of just 2.25 percent, and the full $100 million greenshoe was exercised. Proceeds are earmarked for capped-call transactions to limit dilution, refinancing of roughly $50 million in existing debt, and general working capital plus potential acquisitions.

That level of capital – oversubscribed in a convertible structure – signals a clear institutional bet on Almonty’s trajectory.

Management reshuffle and Montana pivot align with defence priorities

The company is scaling its leadership accordingly. On June 1, 2026, Jorge Beristain took over as chief financial officer, coming from Ryerson Holding, a NYSE-listed metals distributor with around $5 billion in annual revenue, and before that leading Americas metals and mining equity research at Deutsche Bank Securities. The hire suggests Almonty is preparing to manage institutional debt, capital allocation, and investor relations at a new level of sophistication.

The broader strategic shift is unmistakable. Almonty relocated its corporate headquarters from Toronto to Dillon, Montana. It has forged a strategic partnership with American Defense International, participated in a Pentagon-sponsored Critical Minerals Forum, and appointed former senior U.S. Army generals to the board. The National Defense Authorization Act requires the United States to ban all material procurement from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia by January 2027 – a deadline that effectively serves as Almonty’s regulatory tailwind.

Stock performance reflects the twin catalysts

The share price closed Tuesday at C$26.08, having more than quadrupled over the past twelve months – a gain of roughly 459 percent. Year-to-date, the stock is up 117 percent. It sits about 3.6 percent below its 50-day moving average but well above the 200-day line of C$17.29. The relative strength index of 51.2 points to neutral momentum, while the annualised 30-day volatility of over 100 percent underscores the scale of recent swings.

What makes Almonty unusual in the mining sector is the near-perfect alignment between its commercial interests and geopolitical purpose. China currently produces around 88 percent of the world’s tungsten. Building alternative supply chains outside the country requires years of development and massive capital commitments – precisely the kind of long, expensive bet that institutional money placed on Almonty through the $800 million convertible.

The molybdenum drilling results due over the coming months will provide the next catalyst. If the remaining assays confirm the full scale of the historic resource, the company will have two strategically vital metals flowing from a single site at exactly the moment Western governments are scrambling to break dependency on Chinese supply.