Wolfram’s Pentagon Pivot: How Almonty Industries Is Rewiring Itself for the US Defense Market

The relocation of a corporate headquarters is rarely a market-moving event. But when Almonty Industries packed up its Toronto office and set up shop in Dillon, Montana — population 4,100 — the message to investors was unmistakable. This tungsten producer is no longer content to be a Canadian mining company with Asian assets. It wants to be an American defense supplier.

Texas Capital took notice. The investment bank upgraded Almonty to “Strong Buy” this week, setting a price target of 43.36 Canadian dollars against a current share price of roughly 28.84 CAD. The rationale hinges on a bet that Almonty’s strategic repositioning will unlock premium valuations tied to US national security spending.

The Montana Connection

The move to Dillon, completed in mid-April, places Almonty within spitting distance of the Gentung-Browns Lake tungsten project it recently acquired. More importantly, it puts the company physically closer to US government agencies and major defense contractors. To cement this shift, Almonty has brought in several retired US military officers to oversee supply chain optimization for defense applications — a move analysts describe as creating a rare “US-first” positioning in the specialty mining space.

Tungsten’s strategic importance has surged. The metal is essential for armor plating, armor-piercing munitions, and advanced electronics. The REEShore Act, which bans Chinese tungsten from US military equipment starting in 2027, has turned a supply concern into a regulatory deadline. Almonty’s western-focused asset base — primarily the Sangdong mine in South Korea and Gentung in Montana — positions it as one of the few credible non-Chinese suppliers.

Sangdong’s Second Act

The operational backbone of Almonty’s growth story remains Sangdong, a mine in South Korea that returned to commercial production in March for the first time in three decades. The Phase 1 ramp-up is complete, with processing capacity hitting roughly 640,000 tonnes of ore per year.

That translates to an expected 2,300 tonnes of tungsten concentrate annually. At full capacity, Sangdong would cover approximately 40% of the world’s tungsten supply outside Chinese control. Management already has plans to double processing capacity next year.

The financials reflect the heavy lifting involved. Fourth-quarter 2025 revenue climbed 39% to 8.72 million Canadian dollars, but the company posted a loss of 0.48 CAD per share. Analysts attribute the deficit to the hefty costs of commissioning major projects and restructuring the business.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Almonty?

A Price Surge That Changes Everything

The macro backdrop has been extraordinarily kind to Almonty. The trailing 12-month average price for tungsten APT has surged 534% to 2,250 USD per MTU. That price explosion is the kind of catalyst that accelerates every timeline and improves every margin projection.

The global tungsten market, estimated at roughly 7.3 billion USD in 2025, is projected to grow to over 11.6 billion USD by 2035. DA Davidson expects Sangdong to reach full commercial ramp-up by the second quarter of 2026.

Almonty funded its expansion through a Nasdaq listing last summer and a subsequent 129-million-USD financing round. The company now trades at roughly 28.84 CAD, with Texas Capital’s cash-flow-based model suggesting significant upside once production phases begin generating free cash flow.

What Comes Next

The next operational milestone is Gentung in Montana, where production is expected to restart before the end of the current calendar year. That project will close the loop on Almonty’s North American supply chain ambitions.

Eight analysts currently recommend buying Almonty shares, with none advising a sale. The company sits at the intersection of multiple demand waves — defense budgets, semiconductor manufacturing, and fusion research — all of which require tungsten in growing quantities.

For a company that just moved its headquarters to a town of 4,100 people, the ambitions are anything but small.