Almonty Ties Up Spanish Tailings Offtake and Rwandan Exploration Rights in Dual Supply Push

Almonty signed a take-or-pay tungsten supply deal for Spain's Los Santos mine and a Rwanda joint venture holding a 75% stake.

Almonty Industries is stitching together a Western tungsten supply chain from two directions at once — reprocessing old rock in Spain while securing fresh exploration ground in East Africa. The moves, disclosed within days of each other, sketch out a producer positioning itself as an alternative to the dominant Asian suppliers that have long controlled the market for the critical industrial metal.

A Take-or-Pay Deal Built on Mine Waste

At the center of the European effort sits the Los Santos mine in western Spain, where Almonty has struck a long-term tungsten concentrate supply agreement with Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten AG, a subsidiary of the Sandvik group. The contract is structured on a take-or-pay basis and carries a conditional advance payment of USD 3.0 million, according to company statements.

Media reports put the minimum committed volume at roughly 1,720 tonnes of contained tungsten trioxide, drawn from tailings already sitting at the site. Because the material has already been mined, Almonty can produce concentrate without immediately opening new underground operations — a shortcut that trims the lead time before first shipments reach the buyer.

The arrangement gives the company a fixed outlet for its Spanish output while handing Sandvik's tungsten unit a contracted source of feedstock. It also reflects a broader push among Western industrial groups to lock in tungsten access through binding partnerships rather than spot purchases.

Rwanda Venture Hands Over Exploration Rights

On the African side, Almonty signed a binding agreement with the Rwandan government on September 14 to establish a joint venture, Almonty Rwanda Pty Ltd, according to Reuters. The company holds a 75 percent stake, with the state taking the remaining 25 percent.

In exchange for its minority position, Rwanda contributes the Shyorongi tungsten exploration concession along with a mineral processing license. The structure gives Almonty access to exploration acreage in East Africa and a legal framework designed to speed up permitting for future mining and processing work. Bringing local authorities into the ownership structure is a deliberate move to smooth regulatory approvals down the line.

Sangdong Ramp-Up and a Buyback in the Background

Both agreements slot into a wider operational story. Almonty reported the start of production at its Sangdong mine in South Korea more than a month ago; since that announcement, the stock has shed 25.7 percent. First ore had arrived at the Asian site in December of last year, with mining getting underway in the summer.

Alongside the operational expansion, the board approved a share buyback roughly a month ago — a period in which the stock has fallen 14.5 percent. The program authorizes repurchases of up to 14,400,000 common shares for a total price of no more than USD 300,000,000 over a multi-year window. Management frames the move as a sign of confidence in its balance sheet and the earnings potential of its resource base, pairing growth-oriented mine investment with targeted support for the share price.

Analyst Coverage and the Market's Measured Response

Sell-side observers have taken note of the project pipeline. Jefferies initiated coverage a little over three weeks ago — a stretch during which the shares have given up 20.9 percent — with a Buy rating and a price target of USD 26.25. The bullish case rests on Almonty's role in building a dependable Western supply chain, a pitch that resonates because global tungsten supply is heavily concentrated and alternative projects are drawing interest from international buyers.

Trading has nonetheless shown some caution. The stock closed Friday at EUR 12.07. Even after the recent softness, it remains up 52 percent since the start of the year, though it sits well below its 52-week high of EUR 20.61.

How quickly Almonty converts the Spanish reprocessing plan and the Rwandan exploration work into operating results will shape the next chapter. Tungsten's status as a critical raw material — indispensable for wear-resistant tools and specialty alloys in many industrialized economies — keeps the demand backdrop firm, and the company's twin initiatives are aimed squarely at serving it from outside the established production heartlands.