Almonty Industries’ acquisition of Montana aims to secure the defense supply chain

Almonty Industries (TSX:AII,ASX:AII,NASDAQ:ALM) is expanding its US footprint with the acquisition of a tungsten project in Montana, a move that could make it the first domestic producer of the crucial metal in a decade.

The Toronto-based miner said it agreed to buy the site, previously operated by Union Carbide, through a combination of stock and cash. Bloomberg report.

Subject to obtaining an extraction permit, the company also said it could resume mining there late next year using refurbished equipment from its facilities in Spain.

Almonty Chief Executive Officer Lewis Black confirmed that the company has been in discussions with US defense agencies, including the Department of Defense and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), about potential long-term supply arrangements.

Rather than seeking government equity participation, Black proposes that the Pentagon make transparent, market-based tungsten purchases to shore up domestic reserves.

This move comes as President Donald Trump has done extensive exemptions of its global metals tariffs, removing tungsten, gold, graphite and uranium from the list of materials subject to country-based duties.

China dominates the global tungsten market, producing about 67,000 tons annually, compared to zero in the United States. The metal is considered crucial to both defense and emerging technologies, with applications ranging from armor-piercing ammunition to chips used in high-end electronics.

The acquisition of Montana complements Almonty’s growing global portfolio. The company operates the Panasqueira mine in Portugal and is nearing production at the Sangdong mine in South Korea, one of the world’s largest tungsten reserves outside China.

Almonty’s Nasdaq debut in July, backed by a $90 million public offering (IPO), also strategically positioned the company as a key Western supplier ahead of a 2027 U.S. policy banning tungsten sourced from China, Russia or North Korea in Pentagon supply chains.

The company has a 15-year offtake agreement with a US defense contractor covering more than 90 percent of the initial production phase.

Once operational, the Montana project could produce tungsten concentrate for domestic refineries before processing into tungsten carbide and other alloys.

The company’s shares have risen more than 600 percent in the past year, largely on investor enthusiasm as trade tensions threaten the metal’s security of supply.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, have no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.