RE:Almonty on Linkedin Today I was a little worried with:
initiate test production of #tungsten at the Sangdong Mine within the year. But translating it, it is within this year. Big difference. Google Translate of the article:
Almonty announced on the 13th that it will resume test production of tungsten at the Sangdong mine within this year. Lewis Black, Chairman of Almonty Korea, said, "If the construction process of the beneficiation plant proceeds without a hitch, we will be able to produce about 208 tons per month and 2,500 tons per year of 65% pure concentrate (WO3), which is a tungsten intermediate, from the beginning of 2025 at the latest." This is the first revival of the Sangdong mine in 32 years since it stopped producing tungsten in 1992.
The produced tungsten concentrate will be exported to the United States first under a long-term supply contract, and tungsten oxide will also be supplied to domestic companies once the 4,000-ton-a-year tungsten oxide production plant is completed in Korea from 2028.
Tungsten oxide is an irreplaceable major material for semiconductor processes, and as of 2022, domestic companies imported 3,272 tons per year, of which dependence on China reached 82.9%.
Almonty said that as the volume of raw ore processing will increase from 650,000 tons to 1.2 million tons per year due to the construction of the second ship plaza, about 2,000 tons of concentrate to be produced additionally and 1,000 tons of concentrate imported through Panasqueira and other subsidiaries, and an additional 1,000 tons secured through domestic recycling, will secure nearly 4,000 tons of tungsten oxide production per year. In this way, even tungsten oxide must be produced directly in Korea to complete the stable security of strategic critical minerals.
According to the 2022 socio-economic ripple effect analysis by the Resource Economics Society, the redevelopment of the Sangdong mine will not only generate an effect of about 533 billion won in terms of direct and indirect production, but also contribute to the cultivation of professional manpower necessary for the development of strategic minerals. The redevelopment of the Sangdong mine is also in line with the purpose of the Special Law on National Resources and Security, which was enacted in February 2024, Almonty said.
On the other hand, the mining rights of Sangdong Mine were newly registered in June 2001 as the ownership of Sewo Mining Co., Ltd. (CEO Shim Jae-yeol). A 51% stake in the mining was transferred to Oriental Minerals, a publicly traded Canadian company, for US$13 million in 2006. However, the company changed its name to Woulfe Mining and acquired 100% of the mining rights in Sangdong Mine in 2012 for an additional US$3.5 million in addition to providing exploration reports and economic assessment reports. Wolf Mining was acquired in 2015 by Almonty Industries, a mining company listed on the Canadian stock exchange. Almonty Industries' major shareholders today include Almonty Partners LLC, Chairman Louise Black, the Plansee Group, a global tungsten-related products company, and Deutsche ROHSTOFF, a German oil company.