Almonty Wins Full Operating Certification at Sangdong, Turning a Historic Mine Into a Western Tungsten Source

Almonty secured final operating certification for Sangdong's crushing and processing circuits, moving the South Korean tungsten mine into commercial production.

Almonty Industries has cleared the last regulatory gate at its flagship Sangdong project in South Korea, securing final operating certification for the crushing and processing circuits. Authorities issued the approval on Thursday, with the company confirming it publicly today. The site now shifts out of trial runs and into full commercial output of tungsten concentrate.

The timing lands the company in a market defined by scarcity. Tungsten prices are sitting at record levels, according to CEO Lewis Black, while Beijing keeps tightening its grip on exports of critical metals. Western buyers, meanwhile, face a tightening squeeze of their own: from January 2027, US Department of Defense procurement rules will require full traceability of the ore behind any supplied material. That provision sharply narrows the field of acceptable suppliers for defense contractors and aerospace manufacturers — and Sangdong, with the scale to serve large industrial customers, fits the bill.

A 21-Year Offtake Anchors the Ramp-Up

Most of what Sangdong will produce is already spoken for. More than 90% of first-phase output is committed under a 21-year offtake agreement with Global Tungsten & Powders, part of Austria's Plansee Group. The contract locks in fixed delivery corridors stretching beyond two decades, a structure that shields Almonty from much of the marketing risk that typically accompanies a mine's early operating phase. Phase I is targeting roughly 200,000 MTU of tungsten concentrate per year.

Sangdong once ranked among the world's most significant tungsten deposits. It sat idle for years before Almonty revived it with heavy capital spending, and ore has been running through the Gangwon Province processing lines in test mode for months.

Beyond Korea: Spain, Rwanda and a Buyback

Almonty is not betting on a single jurisdiction. Alongside Sangdong, it operates assets in Portugal and holds projects in Spain and the United States. On the Friday before the certification news, the company signed a multi-year offtake deal with Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten, a Sandvik Group subsidiary, covering reprocessing of historic tailings at the Los Santos mine in Spain. That agreement involves at least 1,720 tonnes of contained tungsten trioxide and includes a conditional advance payment of USD 3 million.

The company also broadened its footprint through a partnership in Rwanda, where it took an operating majority stake in the joint venture company. Management reinforced its confidence in the business with a share buyback program approved on August 17, authorizing up to USD 300 million in purchases over three years.

Market Response

Investors greeted the operational green light warmly. The stock climbed 6.2% in yesterday's session to close at EUR 12.79, extending its twelve-month gain to 183%. It added a further 3.2% today to EUR 12.43, bringing its year-to-date advance to 56%.

With certification in hand, Almonty has crossed a central hurdle on its path toward becoming a leading Western tungsten producer. The quarters ahead will test whether it can scale production smoothly — the combination of long-term supply contracts and in-house processing capacity gives it a firm footing to build on.