DILLON, Mont. (XOL Africa) — Tungsten producer Almonty Industries said Tuesday it has entered into a binding agreement with the government of Rwanda that will give the government a 25% stake in a new Rwandan venture focused on collecting, processing and exporting tungsten-bearing material.
Under the agreement, the government will contribute the Shyorongi tungsten exploration concession and a mineral processing license to Almonty Rwanda Pty Ltd. Almonty will hold the remaining 75% stake.
The partnership is intended to combine material already being produced by Rwandan mining license holders with new processing capacity and exploration, allowing the venture to pursue near-term exports while developing a longer-term processing operation in the country.
“The most immediate opportunity here is the material that is already being produced,” Almonty Chairman, President and CEO Lewis Black said. “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.”
Almonty said the venture will seek to acquire ore, pre-concentrate and panning tailings from existing mining license holders, including small-scale operators. Material may be sold or upgraded, with lower-grade material potentially shipped to Almonty’s existing processing facilities until a collection and processing plant is established in Rwanda.
The agreement also provides for a mobile tailings processing unit that would operate near existing tailings dams. The company said the unit is intended as an interim measure while a centralized collection and processing plant is developed.
The Shyorongi concession covers about 32 square kilometers in Rulindo District in Rwanda’s Northern Province. Almonty said exploration of the block will form a separate component of the partnership.
Rwanda is among the world’s major tungsten-producing countries and the only African nation in the top 10, according to the company. A significant share of its tungsten production comes from small-scale mining operations.
“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,” Alice Uwase, chief executive officer of the Rwanda Mining Board, said.
The partnership follows an introduction by the U.S. Department of State and is linked by the companies to the 2025 U.S.-Rwanda Framework for Shared Economic Prosperity. Almonty said the venture is also intended to strengthen traceability and supply-chain links between Rwanda and Western markets.
The company said the agreement is expected to serve as an initial step toward a broader investment and development framework with Rwanda that could cover construction and operation of a centralized collection and processing facility. Such future arrangements would require additional agreements.
Almonty also pointed to changes to U.S. defense procurement rules scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2027, saying the rules will place greater emphasis on the documented origin of certain tungsten materials entering covered U.S. defense supply chains.
The company cautioned that its plans for Rwanda contain forward-looking statements and depend on factors including financing, tungsten prices, political and economic conditions, agreements with Rwandan mining operators and future investment agreements with the government.
Almonty, which trades on Nasdaq under the ticker ALM, operates tungsten projects and mines in several countries. Its flagship Sangdong tungsten project is in South Korea, while the company also has operations or projects in Portugal, Spain and the United States.
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