Almonty's Korean Mine Nears Full Output as Moly Deal Adds $234 Million Safety Net

Almonty Industries' Sangdong mine output figures on May 21 will test its ability to fill the tungsten gap from China's export clampdown, with prices surging 230% and a new molybdenum deal securing $234M annual revenue.

The tungsten supply crunch that has sent shockwaves through global manufacturing is about to meet its first real test of production capacity. Almonty Industries, the Toronto-listed miner racing to fill the void left by China's export clampdown, will publish its inaugural output figures from the Sangdong mine on May 21 — a moment investors have been anticipating for months.

The numbers will reveal whether the South Korean operation can deliver on its promise. Phase 1, which began processing ore in late March, is designed to handle 640,000 tonnes annually, yielding roughly 2,300 tonnes of tungsten concentrate. With ore grades averaging 0.51 percent tungsten trioxide — roughly three times the global average — the operation carries a built-in cost advantage that should protect margins even if prices retreat.

Those prices have been anything but stable. Ammonium paratungstate (APT), a key tungsten intermediate, has surged from around $900 per metric tonne unit at the end of 2025 to over $3,000 by April — a gain of more than 230 percent. The catalyst was Beijing's decision to replace its export quota system with a licensing regime limited to just 15 state-controlled companies. By early 2026, APT exports had effectively ground to a halt.

The ripple effects have reached deep into the semiconductor supply chain. Japanese producers, who supply about a quarter of the global market for tungsten hexafluoride — a material essential for 3D NAND chip manufacturing — have warned Samsung and SK Hynix that inventories could run dry by mid-year. The warning underscores just how far the tungsten shortage has spread beyond heavy industry.

Almonty is positioning itself as the primary Western alternative. Under full build-out, Sangdong is expected to cover nearly 40 percent of non-Chinese global tungsten demand. Washington has already granted the company's tungsten products an explicit exemption from US tariffs, and starting in 2027, Pentagon rules will require American defense contractors to source the metal exclusively from non-Chinese suppliers. Almonty has reserved half its production for US buyers.

But tungsten is no longer the company's only revenue driver. Almonty has quietly secured a second income stream through an exclusive offtake agreement with SeAH M&S, South Korea's largest molybdenum processor and the world's second-largest molybdenum oxide smelter. The deal covers 100 percent of output from the Sangdong Molybdenum Project, located roughly 150 meters from the tungsten mine and sharing its infrastructure.

The contract, which takes effect later this year, guarantees minimum annual revenue of $234 million — a contractual floor, not a forecast. The molybdenum project is fully permitted on both mining and environmental grounds and is expected to begin production by the end of 2026, with a projected mine life of 60 years.

The stock has reflected the mounting optimism. Shares closed recently at C$27.97, up roughly 132 percent year-to-date and nearly 700 percent over the past twelve months. That still leaves them about 13 percent below the 52-week high of C$32.07. Analysts at Texas Capital, DA Davidson, and B. Riley Financial all rate the stock a buy, with price targets ranging from $23 to $25 in US dollars.

The next major catalyst arrives on June 8, when shareholders vote on Phase 2 expansion plans. If approved, the project would double processing capacity to roughly 1.2 million tonnes of ore per year. The May production report will provide the first hard data to support that ambition — and determine whether the market's patience has been well placed.