Nasdaq- and ASX-listed tungsten producer Almonty Industries has started processing operations at its Sangdong mine, in South Korea.

The company this month started feeding stockpiled run-of-mine ore through its newly commissioned processing plant to produce saleable tungsten concentrate - a pivotal milestone marking Sangdong's transition from mine development into active, revenue-generating operations.

Almonty had about 120 000 t of ore stockpiled at an average grade of 0.24% tungsten trioxide at the end of the first quarter, while it mined an additional 19 700 t of ore at an average grade of 0.35% tungsten trioxide during the second quarter.

The company also advanced 214 m of underground development along the Main Vein of the Sangdong mine.

The processing plant had 139 700 of stockpiled ore to work from at a blended grade of about 0.25% tungsten trioxide ahead of its commissioning.

Almonty explains it is using lower-grade throughput during the initial ramp-up phase of the processing plant and anticipate higher grades as the process advances. Sangdong's low-grade ore is still three times higher than that of Almonty's Panasqueira mine, in Portugal.

"With throughput now underway, stockpiled ore is being introduced during the initial commissioning phase to optimize ore blending and maintain the consistent feed quality the plant requires as the operation ramps up. The Sangdong mine processing plant is designed to upgrade run-of-mine ore into a high-purity tungsten concentrate.

"At prevailing tungsten prices, the contained tungsten in the current stockpile represents about 2.6 months of Phase I throughput feed with an illustrative gross in-process value of about $68-million," says Almonty chairperson, president and CEO Lewis Black.

He adds that the company's transition from building and commissioning a mine to actually processing ore into saleable tungsten concentrate comes after decades in which the West allowed its tungsten supply chain to atrophy.

"Combined with our planned downstream tungsten oxide plant and the long-term offtake we have secured, we are stepping closer to realising the fully integrated tungsten value chain that we believe will define Almonty's role as the premier Western tungsten producer for many years to come," Black concludes.