U.S.-based Almonty Industries announced the commencement of processing plant throughput operations at its Sangdong tungsten mine in Gangwon Province, South Korea. Last month, the company began feeding stockpiled run-of-mine ore through the new plant to produce saleable tungsten concentrate. This marks a key milestone, transitioning Sangdong from development phase to active, revenue-generating operations.
“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,” said Lewis Black, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Almonty.
“After decades in which the West allowed its tungsten supply chain to atrophy, the Sangdong mine is once again producing one of the most strategically critical metals on earth.”
Almonty exited the first quarter of 2026 with approximately 120,000 tonnes of ore stockpiled at an average grade of 0.24% tungsten trioxide (WO₃). During the second quarter, the company mined an additional 19,700 tonnes of development ore at an average grade of 0.35% WO₃ and advanced 214.6 meters of underground development, primarily along the Main Vein.
Together, this brings total stockpiled ore to 139,700 tonnes at a blended grade of 0.25% WO₃ ahead of the plant’s commissioning. Almonty said it is utilizing lower-grade throughput during the initial ramp-up phase and expects higher grades as the process advances. Sangdong’s low-grade ore is approximately three times higher than that of its Panasqueira mine in Portugal.
With throughput now underway, stockpiled ore is being introduced during the initial commissioning phase to optimize ore blending and maintain the consistent feed quality the plant requires as the operation ramps up. The Sangdong mine processing plant is designed to upgrade run-of-mine ore into a high-purity tungsten concentrate.
At prevailing tungsten prices, the contained tungsten in the current stockpile represents approximately 2.6 months of Phase I throughput feed with an illustrative gross in-process value of approximately US$68 million.
Source: Almonty Industries