Almonty Industries said construction works are continuing to progress in accordance with its schedule at the Sangdong tungsten mine in South Korea.

The installation of a 4-MW power system for the mine infrastructure was completed in March without incident. The power supply expansion is expected to provide stable power to Sangdong’s surface and underground infrastructure, thereby improving work efficiency and production.

Delivery of all long lead time equipment from Metso Outotec in Europe to South Korea is nearing completion. Approximately 99% of all equipment related to the ball mill and SAG mill has arrived in South Korea. The final drive is expected to arrive this month. Moreover, Almonty currently estimates that 75% of the light short lead time equipment will be loaded for transport to South Korea in May.

All engineering plans have been finalized, and surface scalping has begun for essential pre-work to prepare the site for civil construction.

“We are building what we expect to be the largest tungsten mine outside of China with a very long mine life which will have a profound and positive effect on the local and domestic community, after decades of economic stagnation for both the South Korean domestic consumption of tungsten and the wider global tungsten market,” said Chairman, President and CEO Lewis Black.

“We are striving for the Sandong tungsten mine to be the most technically advanced of any tungsten mine in the world and the most ESG compliant and therefore the most transparent. As we continue to advance the mine towards commissioning, it is now my job to ensure that the wider investing market knows more about our Tier 1 project and about this profound effect this mine will have not only in sectors such as technology – batteries, screens, semiconductors – but also defence, an area which is now significantly increasing its global importance particularly in the USA.”

The Sangdong mine is located 187 kilometres southeast of Seoul. Almonty expects the operation to produce approximately 30% of all tungsten outside of China and approximately 7% to 10% of the global supply.

Source: Almonty Industries