Almonty's Sangdong Mine in South Korea Approved for Commercial Operation, Annual Contract Volume of 210,000 MTU

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Almonty Industries has obtained the mine facility inspection certificate for the ore processing plant and crushing facilities at the Sangdong tungsten mine in Yeongwol County, Gangwon Province, South Korea, and has been approved to commence commercial operation of the relevant facilities. This certification completes the final administrative procedure required for Sangdong to transition from facility construction, trial operation, and commissioning to commercial production. Upon obtaining the certificate, the company can process ore into saleable tungsten concentrate and sell and deliver products to domestic and overseas customers in South Korea.

The Sangdong processing plant began processing stockpiled ore in June of this year. At the end of the first quarter, the company had approximately 120,000 tonnes of surface ore stockpiles with an average tungsten trioxide (WO₃) grade of 0.24%; in the second quarter, an additional approximately 19,700 tonnes of development ore was mined, with an average WO₃ grade of 0.35%. As of the end of June, surface ore stockpiles totaled approximately 139,700 tonnes with a combined average grade of approximately 0.25%. During the initial ramp-up phase, the project primarily used lower-grade ore for blending and process commissioning.

On September 23, Almonty further announced that Sangdong had produced its first batch of tungsten products since the resumption of production at the project, marking the first time the mine has produced tungsten again since 1993. The Sangdong Phase 1 processing plant is designed to process approximately 640,000 tonnes of ore per year, with a designed annual output of approximately 2,300 tonnes of tungsten concentrate. The company plans to advance the Phase 2 expansion based on Phase 1 operating performance, with Phase 2 processing capacity potentially increasing to approximately 1.2 million tonnes per year, corresponding to approximately 4,600 tonnes per year of tungsten concentrate, with a target of advancing into operation in 2027.

Most of Sangdong Phase 1 production has already been locked in under long-term sales agreements ahead of schedule. In July of this year, Almonty amended its long-term offtake agreement with Global Tungsten & Powders, extending the contract term to 21 years from the first delivery and increasing the total contract volume to 4.41 million MTU, with a minimum annual contract volume of 210,000 MTU after the project completes ramp-up. This agreement covers approximately 90% of Phase 1 tungsten concentrate production; Phase 2 expansion production is not included in the existing offtake agreement.

Sangdong Phase 1 previously completed commissioning work in March, began continuous feed to the processing plant in June, obtained commercial operation approval in September, and achieved first tungsten product production. Subsequent work on the project will focus on Phase 1 capacity ramp-up and long-term offtake contract deliveries, while advancing detailed engineering and expansion arrangements for Phase 2 based on Phase 1 operating results.