DILLON, Mont. — Almonty Industries Inc. has entered into a binding agreement with the Government of Rwanda that will give the East African nation a 25% equity stake in the company’s Rwandan subsidiary, in a deal aimed at modernizing the country’s tungsten sector and strengthening Western supply chains for the critical mineral.
The partnership, announced by the company, follows an introduction by the U.S. Department of State and aligns with the 2025 U.S.-Rwanda Framework for Shared Economic Prosperity. Under the agreement, the Government of Rwanda will receive a 25% interest in Almonty Rwanda Pty Ltd in exchange for contributing the Shyorongi tungsten exploration concession and a mineral processing license. Almonty will retain the remaining 75%.
Near-Term Focus on Existing Production
Unlike a conventional greenfield exploration deal, the partnership is structured to draw on material Rwanda’s mining sector is already producing. Almonty Rwanda will acquire ore, pre-concentrate and panning tailings from Rwandan mining license holders, including small-scale operators, for sale or upgrading. The company intends to export that material until a collection and processing plant is built in Rwanda, with lower-grade material potentially shipped to Almonty’s existing processing facilities for upgrading.
“Unlike a conventional greenfield exploration transaction, the partnership is structured to draw on material that Rwanda’s mining sector is already producing,” the company said. Collection from small-scale license holders, combined with a mobile tailings processing unit intended to operate temporarily near existing tailings dams, is expected to allow Almonty Rwanda to acquire, upgrade and export material while a centralized plant is designed and constructed.
The mobile processing unit is designed to operate near existing tailings dams rather than requiring all material to be transported to a centralized plant from day one. The agreement addresses the permitting required for the construction and operation of that unit.
Three-Part Platform
The partnership combines three elements within a single platform:
- Acquisition and upgrading of ore, pre-concentrate and panning tailings from Rwandan mining license holders, including small-scale license holders;
- A mobile processing unit intended to operate temporarily near existing tailings dams;
- Exploration at the approximately 32-square-kilometer Shyorongi block in Rulindo District, Northern Province.
A collection and processing plant in Rwanda is contemplated as the next stage, which will be subject to reaching a binding investment and development agreement with the Government of Rwanda. The joint venture agreement is described as the first stage toward a more comprehensive investment and development framework covering future investment and development in Rwanda.
Separately, the Government of Rwanda will use reasonable endeavors to facilitate introductions to mine operators, landowners and mining license holders so that Almonty Rwanda can negotiate tailings arrangements, obtain access for the mobile unit and acquire material.
Strategic Context
Rwanda is the only African country among the world’s ten largest tungsten producers, and a significant portion of its tungsten output is drawn from small-scale license holders. The partnership’s goal of designing, funding and constructing a centralized collection and processing plant is intended to provide the supply chain integrity required to meet the stringent standards of Western defense and technology end-users.
The deal comes ahead of a significant change in U.S. defense procurement rules. Effective January 1, 2027, restrictions on specified tungsten materials sourced from covered foreign nations will extend back through the supply chain to the mining or production of the tungsten ore or feedstock, making documented and traceable origin increasingly important for tungsten entering covered U.S. defense supply chains.
Management Commentary
Lewis Black, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Almonty, said the most immediate opportunity lies in material already being produced.
“Rwanda’s small-scale license holders are producing ore, pre-concentrate and panning tailings today, and this agreement allows us to collect, upgrade and export that material while we build out the collection and processing plant,” Black said. “We are combining that existing production base with modern processing, traceability and our own exploration program, with the Government of Rwanda participating alongside us as an equity partner. That gives us the ability to build the platform from material that already exists while we explore for the future.”
Black described the partnership as part of Almonty’s ongoing strategy to find shorter-term solutions to the widening supply deficit in the West, undertaken at the request of the Western tungsten industrial base.
“This is the first of them,” he said.
Alice Uwase, Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Mining Board, said Rwanda was pleased to welcome Almonty as a strategic partner.
“This investment will help to transform our mining sector by introducing world-class processing infrastructure, international standards for environmental and social governance, and a comprehensive training program to develop Rwandan talent,” Uwase said. “The partnership advances our vision of building a modern, sustainable mining industry that creates lasting value for the people of Rwanda. The U.S.-Rwanda Framework for Shared Economic Prosperity is a valuable tool in this regard.”
Government Co-Operation a Recurring Theme
Government co-operation is a recurring feature of Almonty’s project portfolio. Construction of the Sangdong Mine in South Korea was financed by KfW IPEX-Bank, part of Germany’s state-owned KfW banking group, under export credit cover issued by Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG, Austria’s official export credit agency. Almonty has worked with the South Korean government since 2022 on measures to strengthen that country’s domestic supply chain.
With the introduction in Rwanda coming from the U.S. Department of State, the Government of Rwanda joins that list in this case as a direct equity partner in the project itself.
About Almonty
Almonty (NASDAQ: ALM) (Frankfurt: ALI1) is a leading supplier of conflict-free tungsten, a strategic metal critical to the defense and advanced technology sectors. The company’s flagship Sangdong Tungsten Mine in South Korea, historically one of the world’s largest and highest-grade tungsten deposits, is expected to be a major contributor to the global non-China tungsten supply chain upon reaching full capacity. With established operations in Portugal and additional projects in Spain and the United States, Almonty is strategically aligned to meet rising demand from Western allies committed to supply-chain security and defense readiness.
