Tungsten-focused Almonty Industries (TSX:AII,ASX:AII,NASDAQ:ALM) saw its shares rise on Monday (July 14) in its first day of trading on the Nasdaq, buoyed by a US$90 million public offering.
The company’s share price climbed roughly 7 percent under its new “ALM’ ticker symbol, opening at US$4.50; Almonty was trading at US$4.80 by midday in New York.
Almonty, which is redomiciling from Canada to Delaware, holds a 15 year contract with a US defense contractor to supply tungsten — an essential metal used in armor plating, missiles and electronics.
Starting in 2027, the US will ban tungsten produced or refined in China, Russia or North Korea from entering the Pentagon’s supply chains. This development has made Almonty a critical supplier in waiting.
“Our US listing also reflects our emerging status as America’s tungsten supplier, further supported by our ongoing redomiciling initiatives,” Almonty CEO Lewis Black said in a Monday release.
“The capital from this offering funds the development of our Sangdong tungsten oxide facility, enabling Almonty to continue to rise in prominence as a leading supplier of tungsten for the defense needs of the US and its allies.”
Almonty’s Sangdong tungsten mine
Located in South Korea, Almonty’s Sangdong tungsten mine is among the largest-known tungsten deposits outside of China and is expected to be a cornerstone of the company’s growth. The site, which was mothballed for decades after once being the world’s largest producer, is now central to US-allied efforts to secure critical supply chains.
The company holds a 15-year offtake agreement with a US defense contractor for over 90 percent of its Phase I production. The mine is expected to begin soft commissioning in 2025, with commercial output scaling thereafter.
Almonty also operates the Panasqueira mine in Portugal, another non-Chinese source of high-grade tungsten, providing additional geographic diversification at a time of heightened geopolitical risk.
Investors back ‘mineral nationalism’ strategy
Almonty’s successful offering illustrates investor appetite for plays tied to resource nationalism and US defense modernization. According to a recent report by GBC Research, the company could supply up to 43 percent of non-Chinese tungsten demand by 2027. The firm is projecting net income of US$212 million by that year, supported by long-term contracts and rising prices for critical materials.
Tungsten is essential in a variety of applications, including missile casings, turbine blades, armor plating and semiconductors — markets that are seeing rapid budget growth, particularly in the US
The listing comes at a time of rising scrutiny over US reliance on China for materials key to both civilian technology and military systems. According to the most recent US Geological Survey, the US was 100 percent import reliant for 12 of the 50 designated critical minerals in 2024, with tungsten high on the list.
Another 28 had import reliance above 50 percent.
Efforts to address this gap have accelerated under the current administration and continued into the Trump administration’s second term, including supply chain reviews, trade realignments and procurement restrictions.
Almonty continues to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker “AII,” as well as on the Australian Securities Exchange and Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
The company said proceeds of the offering will be used primarily for the development of Sangdong, along with general working capital needs and corporate purposes.
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
