Almonty's Parallel-Play Strategy: How a $800M Convertible and a Korean Mine Are Reshaping the Western Tungsten Map

Almonty ramps up Sangdong mine, secures $800M convertible bond, and shifts to US as Western tungsten demand grows amid China-Russia restrictions.

Lewis Black, chief executive of Almonty Industries, has spent years arguing that the West's dependence on Chinese and Russian tungsten is a supply-chain vulnerability waiting to be exploited. The market, it seems, is finally listening. With an oversubscribed $800 million convertible bond now closed, a cash position that has ballooned to $1.2 billion, and production officially underway at the company's flagship Sangdong mine in South Korea, Almonty is executing on that thesis with unusual speed — and on multiple fronts at once.

The operational inflection point came this summer. Sangdong's processing plant began running in early July, and by the time management confirmed the transition on Wednesday, the mine was already shipping saleable tungsten concentrate. Phase 1 is targeting throughput of 640,000 tonnes of ore annually, with the fully permitted Phase 2 expansion set to nearly double that figure to 1.2 million tonnes. The company is positioning Sangdong as the anchor of a Western tungsten supply chain built explicitly to bypass Beijing and Moscow.

What sets this expansion apart is the sequencing — or rather, the lack of it. Rather than funding projects one after another, Almonty is advancing three sites simultaneously, a strategy made possible by the balance sheet strength that followed the convertible bond close. The company is developing the Gentung tungsten project in Montana, expanding the Panasqueira mine in Portugal, and has secured board approval to relocate its corporate domicile to the United States.

That relocation is no mere administrative gesture. Beginning January 1, 2027, the US Department of Defense, acting under the National Defense Authorization Act, will restrict procurement of critical minerals from certain countries — including China and Russia, both tungsten heavyweights. Almonty's US shift is a direct response to that regulatory timeline.

The financial results reflect the momentum. Second-quarter revenue for 2026 jumped from $7.2 million to $43.0 million year-over-year, a 498 percent surge. Gross margin came in at 60.7 percent, with mining operating profit reaching $26.1 million. Earnings per share swung to $0.64 from a loss of $0.30 in the prior-year quarter.

The convertible bond, which Black detailed in a recent interview, is the engine behind much of this. The proceeds are earmarked for securing strategic US assets, advancing Sangdong, and expanding Portuguese operations. But the financing story is only half of it. Almonty has also significantly expanded its offtake agreement with Global Tungsten & Powders, a Plansee Group company. The contract term has been extended from 15 to 21 years, Phase I volumes increased by 40 percent to 4.41 million MTU, and the price rose 6.3 percent. Global Tungsten & Powders now covers roughly 90 percent of Sangdong's Phase I output.

The numbers attached to that agreement are substantial: at least $30 million in additional annual revenue, a total contract value of around $490 million, and an incremental increase of approximately $630 million over the previous arrangement. For a mine that has been producing for only about six weeks, that is a considerable vote of confidence.

Almonty is also tidying up its corporate structure. The company has received approval for a voluntary delisting from the Australian Securities Exchange, with CHESS depositary interests slated for removal in late August and early September 2026. That leaves Nasdaq and the Frankfurt exchange as its primary listing venues. The recent addition to both the Russell 1000 and Russell 3000 indices should concentrate liquidity, and management expects the combination of tighter trading and index membership to amplify market reactions to future Sangdong milestones.

The strategic picture is coherent: a 21-year offtake agreement de-risks the revenue stream, a $1.2 billion cash position removes near-term financing pressure, and a regulatory tailwind from Washington aligns with the company's geographic ambitions. Black indicated that discussions with Western governments and defense contractors are already underway. Whether those conversations translate into concrete site decisions will likely become clear in the coming months.