Almonty Signs Tungsten Offtake Agreement with Sandvik Group Subsidiary for Recycling of Existing Mine Tailings
Almonty secures a take-or-pay offtake with US$3 million upfront to support restarting tungsten production from Los Santos tailings.
Multi-year, take-or-pay agreement covers a minimum of approximately 1,720 tonnes of contained WO₃, recovered from retreatment of the Los Santos Mine’s existing tailings inventory with restart of processing plant
The agreement, which includes a conditional pay to play upfront
For Almonty, the agreement establishes a committed route to market for a restarted European Union asset before production resumes, together with customer capital to support reinstatement of the processing plant. For WBH, the agreement adds a documented non-Chinese, European Union origin feed source to a smelter that supplies the Western hard-metal and powder-metallurgy industries.
A Recycled Route to Non-Chinese Tungsten
The agreement pairs two operations built on recovering tungsten from material that has already been mined once. At Los Santos, Almonty’s restart plan is centred on retreating the tailings inventory left behind by earlier processing rather than on new primary extraction. Through continuing tests and trials, the Company has materially improved WO₃ recovery from tailings retreatment.
WBH, which has been part of Sweden’s Sandvik Group since 2009, operates its refining and powder manufacturing complex at
The agreement comes ahead of a significant change in
Management Commentary
Lewis Black, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Almonty, said: “WBH is the only integrated tungsten smelter outside
“What this agreement gives us is a take-or-pay commitment from a Sandvik Group company, index-linked pricing with a floor beneath it and a sharing of the financial requirements to reactivate the property. That combination is what allows us to bring a European Union asset back into production with a defined route to market from the first shipment. This is the first time tailings have been commercially passed in the West to our knowledge and is a culmination of technology that we have developed since we closed Los Santos in 2020 as it depleted its resource. If successful it will mean we have another tool to generate supply far quicker than opening of a mine and will continue to alleviate the supply squeeze. We would then also apply the same technology to our Panasqueira mines tailings and onwards to other abandoned European sites where we reclaim the site and at the same time recover material from the discarded tailings. Utilizing mobile tailings plants will expedite permit times significantly. This is now the second supply program we have been working on for the industrial base to sit alongside our recent announcement of small-scale miner collections in
About Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten AG
Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten AG is a vertically integrated producer of tungsten oxide, tungsten metal and tungsten carbide powders, and has been part of the global Sandvik Group since 2009. The company operates an underground scheelite mine at Mittersill,
About Almonty
Almonty (Nasdaq: ALM) (Frankfurt: ALI1) is a leading supplier of conflict-free tungsten – a strategic metal critical to the defense and advanced technology sectors. As geopolitical tensions heighten, tungsten has become essential for armor, munitions, and electronics manufacturing. Almonty’s flagship Sangdong Mine in South Korea, historically one of the world’s largest and highest-grade tungsten deposits, is expected to be a major contributor to the global non-China tungsten supply chain upon reaching full capacity, directly addressing critical supply vulnerabilities highlighted by recent U.S. defense procurement bans and export restrictions by China. With established operations in Portugal and additional projects in the U.S. and Spain, Almonty is strategically aligned to meet rapidly rising demand from Western allies committed to supply-chain security and defense readiness. To learn more, please visit https://almonty.com.
Legal Notice
The release, publication, or distribution of this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons in such jurisdictions into which this announcement is released, published, or distributed should inform themselves about and observe such restrictions.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains “forward-looking statements” and “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of present or historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions and accordingly, actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. You are hence cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as “plan”, “development”, “growth”, “continued”, “intentions”, “expectations”, “emerging”, “evolving”, “strategy”, “opportunities”, “anticipated”, “trends”, “potential”, “outlook”, “ability”, “additional”, “on track”, “prospects”, “viability”, “estimated”, “reaches”, “enhancing”, “strengthen”, “target”, “believes”, “next steps” or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved.
Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the re-commencement of production at the Los Santos Mine and the timing thereof, the retreatment of the mine’s tailings inventory and expected recovery rates, the resumption of in-situ mining activities, the reinstatement of the Los Santos processing plant and the capital required to complete it, the satisfaction of conditions related to the agreement, and the anticipated benefits of the agreement.
Forward-looking statements are based upon certain assumptions and other important factors that, if untrue, could cause actual results to be materially different from future results expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. Key assumptions upon which the Company’s forward-looking information is based include, without limitation, the retreatment of the mine’s tailings inventory and expected recovery rates, the resumption of in-situ mining activities, the reinstatement of the Los Santos processing plant and the capital required to complete it, the satisfaction of conditions related to the agreement, and the anticipated benefits of the agreement. Forward-looking statements are also subject to risks and uncertainties facing the Company’s business, including, without limitation, the risk that the agreement may be terminated in accordance with its terms prior to delivery of the cumulative minimum volume commitment, and the risks identified in the Company’s annual information form dated March 18, 2026 for the year ended December 31, 2025 and in the Company's management's discussion and analysis for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025 dated August 11, 2026 under the heading “Risks and Uncertainties”.
Although Almonty has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive, and there may be other factors that could cause results, level of activity, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and even if events or results described in the forward-looking statements are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, Almonty. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and are cautioned that actual outcomes may vary. When relying on Almonty’s forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events.
THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS NEWS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF ALMONTY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS NEWS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE ALMONTY MAY ELECT TO, IT DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME, WHETHER AS A RESULT OF NEW INFORMATION, FUTURE EVENTS OR OTHERWISE, EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS.
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Company Contact
Lewis Black
Chairman, President & CEO
(647) 438-9766
info@almonty.com
Investor Relations Contact
Lucas A. Zimmerman
Managing Director
MZ Group – MZ North America
(949) 259-4987
ALM@mzgroup.us
www.mzgroup.us
Source: Almonty Industries Inc.