Almonty Clears the Record on a Former Contractor as Sangdong's Ramp-Up Meets a Soft Tungsten Tape
Published on 10/12/2026 at 14:50 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Two threads are running through the Almonty story right now, and they answer very different questions. One is a legal housekeeping matter that reaches back a decade; the other is a live operational test at the company's flagship mine. Investors who blur the two together risk misreading what is actually being reported.
A settlement, not a production update
Almonty disclosed on October 2 that Pure Tungsten had issued a corrective statement as part of a settlement. The clarification concerns Tiger Kim: at no point did he hold a position in Almonty's management, serve as a senior executive, or sit on the board of directors.
His work as a contractor, according to the company, ended back in 2015. The statement therefore draws a line between an earlier contractual relationship and any executive or governing role — a distinction that matters when weighing the news. Almonty also folded the disclosure into a regulatory filing, which carried no separate operational or financial announcement of its own. The settlement should not be read as fresh guidance on the production ramp-up or on business performance.
What the tungsten tape is actually saying
Meanwhile, the market backdrop has turned less friendly. Media reports point to weak end-demand weighing on tungsten, with Chinese prices for wolframite concentrate down 67.92% from their record high on March 12. The market is being pulled in two directions at once: tight supply on one side, soft demand on the other.
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That combination is a useful reminder that scarce supply alone does not guarantee rising commodity prices. It is relevant context for anyone sizing up Almonty — but it does not, on the evidence available, explain the stock's daily move of -2.4%. The corporate clarification and the demand picture are separate lenses. The first concerns a past personnel link; the second describes conditions in the tungsten market. Folding them into a single tidy cause for the share price would be a mistake.
Where the operational story stands
The more substantive gauge sits inside the company itself. In his shareholder letter, CEO Lewis Black described the Sangdong processing plant running 13 hours a day, seven days a week, with plans to extend that to round-the-clock operation. That is an expansion intention, not a reported full run rate.
Speaking at the International Investment Forum, Black said Sangdong is in operation and in the middle of its ramp-up. The company has also reported technical fine-tuning and an incident involving a damaged pipe, which required replacement lines. A running operation is genuine progress — but it does not mean every process is meshing reliably just yet. The pipe damage does not undo the advances; it illustrates why investors should distinguish between a production start and a settled, routine operation.
For the first concentrate shipment, October 24 has been booked. These data points mark separate stages: the plant is working, operating hours are set to rise, and shipping is being prepared. A booked cargo, however, remains a booked cargo — it should not be treated as a completed delivery before its time.
A favorable backdrop is not a substitute for execution
A market commentary circulated by Western Star on Wednesday cited S&P Global estimates suggesting tungsten supply outside China could face a gap of roughly 21,000 tonnes in 2026. That is a supportive backdrop for Almonty, but it is no replacement for operational reliability. The scarcity thesis explains why Sangdong's development deserves attention; it does not answer how smoothly the company will handle its next operational steps, nor does it establish a documented link to Friday's share price gain of 2.7%.
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There was also a change on the audit front. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP took over on September 29 following the resignation of Zeifmans LLP. According to Almonty's regulatory filing, there were no reportable matters, including disagreements or unresolved issues.
The measure that counts
On balance, the operational picture leans cautiously positive. Almonty has reported progress that goes beyond pure planning, while the technical rework shows the ramp-up still demands attention. The right yardstick, then, is dependable execution: the announced next steps offer orientation but must not be booked as results already achieved. The story gains substance when a running operation turns into durable routine — and the share price move alone proves nothing of the kind.
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