Almonty's Twin-Metal Bet: How Tungsten and Molybdenum Are Reshaping a $4.3 Billion Defense Play Ahead of Russell Entry
Published on 06/16/2026 at 20:54 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Inside a single mining complex in eastern South Korea, Almonty Industries is quietly assembling something the West hasn't had in decades: a vertically integrated supply line for two of the hardest-to-replace metals in modern warfare. Tungsten and molybdenum share similar metallurgical properties — extreme heat resistance and hardness — and both are now classified as critical minerals by Washington and Brussels. The Sangdong deposit offers both from the same ore body, and the company is racing to bring the second metal into production just as its tungsten output ramps up.
The stock has already priced in much of the strategic premium. Over the past twelve months, Almonty shares have surged by roughly 450%, with a year-to-date gain of more than 114%. The stock currently trades at C$25.83, about 22% below the April high of C$33.35, and sits just under its 50-day moving average of C$27.04. The relative strength index of 50.5 points to a market that is consolidating rather than overheating — and in the past seven days alone, the shares have added more than 16% on fresh operational milestones.
That momentum is about to receive a structural boost. At the end of June, Almonty will join both the Russell 1000 and Russell 3000 indices. Index-tracking funds and ETFs will be forced to accumulate the stock, a mechanical buying flow that tends to begin weeks before the effective date. The index membership typically brings broader analyst coverage, higher liquidity, and a growing institutional shareholder base — a virtuous cycle that can extend well beyond the initial rebalancing.
The molybdenum dimension
On June 16, 2026, Almonty released a progress report on the Sangdong molybdenum project. Ongoing large-diameter drilling has returned high-grade intersections that confirm historical data. That might sound like routine mine development, but the context is anything but. South Korea is in the grip of a molybdenum supply crisis. The government has issued public notices urging private companies to secure supplies of the metal, which is indispensable for heat-resistant alloys used in armor-piercing munitions and aerospace components.
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With the first phase of tungsten commissioning already complete at Sangdong, the molybdenum effort sits directly alongside existing infrastructure. The industrial synergy is clear: two metals with overlapping defense and high-tech applications emerging from a single mine, inside a country that depends on stable supply chains for its semiconductor and advanced manufacturing sectors. Almonty is positioning itself not merely as a miner but as a strategic partner to a NATO-allied nation.
Why tungsten matters now
The urgency around tungsten has its roots in Beijing's export policy. In February 2025, China introduced licensing requirements for tungsten shipments. The result: exports of ammonium paratungstate, a key intermediate product, plunged by roughly 70% last year. Western defense and aerospace buyers are scrambling, because tungsten has no practical substitute in armor-piercing ammunition, rocket guidance systems, or high-performance semiconductors. The physical properties are non-negotiable.
Both the United States and the European Union already list tungsten as a critical mineral. The Pentagon has set a deadline of 2027 to eliminate imports from hostile states entirely — a target that is now less than a year away. Almonty's Sangdong mine, which began commercial production in March 2026, is designed to cover more than 80% of all tungsten output from outside China at full capacity. That potential alone has turned the company into a de facto Western supply lifeline.
Aligning with the Pentagon
The transformation from junior explorer to strategic supplier extends to the boardroom. At the company's recent annual meeting, shareholders approved the appointment of two retired United States Army generals: Gustave F. Perna, former head of the Defense Logistics Agency, and Alan Estevez, former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition. Both received more than 99% of votes cast. The message to the Pentagon is unmistakable: Almonty speaks the language of military procurement.
That stance is reinforced by a relocation of the corporate headquarters from Toronto to Montana. And the company has added another asset to its portfolio: the Gentung project, an old mine in the United States that will be resurrected using refurbished equipment from Almonty's Spanish operations. Production there is expected to begin by the end of 2026, keeping capital costs low.
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Financing for the expansion is already locked in. Last week, Almonty closed an $800 million convertible bond issue with a coupon of 2.25%. Investor demand was so strong that the underwriters fully exercised their greenshoe overallotment option. Institutions are not just tolerating the Almonty thesis; they are competing to back it.
A template from the rare earths playbook
The pattern echoes the rare earths crisis of the early 2010s, when China squeezed supply and the West scrambled to restart long-dormant mining projects. That experience proved that new mines require at least 24 months to bring online, and reactivating old facilities takes almost as long. Almonty has already passed that lead time: Sangdong is producing, the financing is done, the board has Pentagon credentials, and a new wave of index-linked capital is about to arrive.
With a market capitalization of around €4.3 billion, Almonty is no longer a micro-cap for niche speculators. It is a case study in how the old industrials — mining, metallurgy, heavy engineering — are being repriced by the new logic of supply-chain security. As long as geopolitical tensions keep a premium on reliable sources of critical materials, the Sangdong mine will sit at the intersection of two metal supply crises and one very large investment opportunity.
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