Almonty Industries Bets on Montana in High-Stakes Wolfram Race

Almonty Industries relocates to the US, capitalizing on defense supply chain deadlines and a global tungsten shortage, driving its stock up over 700% in a year.

The strategic metals sector has a new epicenter: Dillon, Montana. Almonty Industries, the global tungsten producer, has officially severed its Canadian roots by relocating its corporate headquarters from Toronto to the American state. This physical move to the doorstep of the U.S. defense establishment is the latest and most symbolic step in a multi-year pivot to become a primary supplier for Western strategic industries, a shift that has sent its stock soaring.

Investors have rewarded the strategic repositioning handsomely. The company's shares recently climbed 3.66 percent to 29.46 Canadian dollars. Year-to-date, the stock has surged an astonishing 144.89 percent, while the twelve-month gain stands at a staggering 704.92 percent. Trading just shy of its 52-week high of 30.32 CAD, the rally has propelled Almonty's market capitalization toward 5.87 billion US dollars.

The relocation is far from a symbolic gesture. CEO Lewis Black has framed it as a critical operational shift, bringing the company physically closer to key U.S. government agencies and major defense contractors. This proximity is designed to capitalize on a hard deadline: starting in 2027, U.S. defense contractors must establish tungsten supply chains independent of China, which currently dominates the global market. To underscore its commitment, Almonty has appointed former U.S. generals to its board and forged advisory partnerships with firms like American Defense International.

This U.S. focus has been building for over a year. The company laid the financial groundwork with a $90 million Nasdaq IPO in July 2025, followed by a further $129 million financing round in December. It also acquired the Gentung tungsten project in Montana, which is slated to begin production later this year, bolstering a North American supply chain.

The strategic urgency is amplified by a severe global tungsten shortage. By mid-March 2026, spot prices for tungsten APT had exploded by 534 percent to $2,250 per tonne. A critical shortage of tungsten hexafluoride is now hampering global semiconductor production, with South Korea's tech sector feeling the acute pinch of an expected bottleneck lasting at least through June.

It is here that Almonty's crown jewel asset becomes pivotal. The company's Sangdong mine in South Korea, one of the world's largest and highest-grade tungsten deposits, officially commenced its first phase of operations on March 17. Commercial production is set to begin in the second quarter, targeting an initial output of 2,300 tonnes of tungsten concentrate annually from 640,000 tonnes of ore.

Looking ahead, Almonty's expansion roadmap is aggressive. A second phase in South Korea, planned for 2027, aims to double processing capacity to 1.2 million tonnes of ore, boosting annual output to 4,600 tonnes of concentrate. This international network, which also includes ongoing operations in Portugal and development projects in Spain, is designed to work in concert with its new American base. The Montana headquarters and the impending Gentung production will secure its U.S. market position, while Sangdong ramps up to deliver the physical volumes needed to meet soaring Western demand for secure, non-Chinese tungsten.