Almonty has signed an MoU with the Yeongwol County Office to secure the location of the Sangdong Downstream Tungsten Oxide Plant in South Korea.

Through its subsidiary Almonty Korea Tungsten Corporation, Almonty is developing the Sangdong Tungsten Project in Yeongwol County, Gangwon Province, South Korea. According to the project’s feasibility study, it has reserves of 7.9Mt with a grade of 0.47% WO₃. Additionally, resources in the measured and indicated category amount to 8.3Mt with a grade of 0.49% WO3, and 52.8Mt grading at 0.44% WO₃ in the inferred category. The study also outlined an average annual production target of 5.5kt of 65% WO₃ concentrate.

In February 2024, Almonty CEO, Lewis Black, provided an update on the project highlighting that the project is in the final construction phase and could potentially produce a first concentrate before the end of the year. Black also outlined key supply dynamics, noting that the tungsten concentrate produced at Sangdong would be divided into two phases. Phase I will see 2.5kt of concentrate shipped to the USA, while Phase II will see the remaining concentrate fed into local downstream producers. Separately, Black mentioned Almonty's intention to construct a tungsten oxide refinery capable of producing around 4ktpy tungsten.

In July 2024, Almonty Korea announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Yeongwol County Office to secure a location for its proposed Sangdong Downstream Tungsten Oxide Plant. As per the MoU, Almonty Korea plans to construct a 60km² plant within the Yeongwol County Opportunity Development Special Zone, which is located approximately 30km west of the Sangdong Tungsten Project. The plant will be dedicated to producing refined tungsten powders and tungsten alloys. Additionally, Almonty Korea will invest KR₩100Bn (US$72M) for construction and an additional KR₩40Bn (US$29M) towards upgrading the processing plant capacity at the Sangdong Tungsten Project. To facilitate the construction process, Yeongwol County announced that it will provide full legal and institutional support to Almonty Korea. Ryu Woo-Jong, Vice President of Almonty Korea, expects the plant to be completed by 2027.

When mining operations resume and the plant is completed, Almonty will be the only vertically integrated tungsten operation in South Korea, and one of the few outside of China. Project Blue predicts a modest 1.5% CAGR in tungsten demand over the next decade, mainly driven by its use in cemented carbides. Another important application receiving attention due to ongoing conflicts is tungsten alloys used in ammunition. Tungsten supply is globally limited to a few regions, with China, Vietnam, and Russia dominating the supply landscape. As a result, South Korea heavily relies on tungsten imports to support its local industries, importing about 95% of its articles of tungsten from China. Almonty's efforts to resume mining and add value to the raw material will greatly benefit South Korea by reducing its dependency on imports and enhancing its local supply availability.