Almonty Commences Processing Operations at Sangdong Mine, Marking Transition to Saleable Tungsten Concentrate Production
Almonty Industries Inc. has commenced processing plant throughput operations at its Sangdong Mine in South Korea, marking the transition from the development phase into active, revenue-generating operations. The company is currently feeding stockpiled run-of-mine ore through the newly commissioned processing plant to produce saleable tungsten concentrate, utilizing an initial stockpile of approximately 139,700 tonnes.
The current stockpile contains contained tungsten representing approximately 2.6 months of Phase I throughput feed, with an illustrative gross in-process value of approximately US$68 million. The stockpile composition includes a total of approximately 139,700 tonnes of blended ore at approximately 0.25% tungsten trioxide (WO₃). This inventory consists of approximately 120,000 tonnes from Q1 2026 at 0.24% WO₃ and approximately 19,700 tonnes of development ore from Q2 2026 at 0.35% WO₃.
During Q2 2026, the company advanced 214.6 meters of underground development, primarily along the Main Vein. Management is utilizing lower-grade throughput during the initial ramp-up phase to optimize ore blending and maintain consistent feed quality, anticipating higher grades as the process advances. The Sangdong mine's low-grade ore is noted to be approximately three times higher than that of Almonty’s Panasqueira mine in Portugal.
Lewis Black, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated: “We are pleased that our Sangdong processing plant is now up and running, with throughput finally underway in what is a highly beneficial tungsten pricing environment. This is the moment our team has worked toward for years; the transition from building and commissioning a mine to actually processing ore into saleable tungsten concentrate.”
Black added: “With a substantial and growing stockpile already in place – with an illustrative gross in-process value of approximately US$68 million – and the plant now ramping, we are positioned to convert ore into revenue at a time when tungsten prices have reached historic highs and Western governments are moving decisively to secure non-China supply.”