Almonty’s Sangdong tungsten mine: commercial start and stoping plan notes for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
Almonty Industries has begun commercial mining at the Sangdong tungsten mine in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, with the first truckload of ore delivered to the run-of-mine (ROM) pad, signalling the shift from development to active extraction. The project is centred on redeveloping one of the world’s historically significant tungsten deposits, aiming to supply high-grade ore into Asian and global hardmetal and alloy markets. For mine planners and geotechnical teams, the move commits the site to full-scale stoping, ground support, and backfill sequencing rather than purely development headings.
Technical Brief
- First ore haulage to the ROM pad confirms surface logistics, stockpile footprint and traffic routes are now live.
- Transition to active mining obliges Almonty to lock in long‑term ground support standards and consumable supply chains.
- ROM pad commissioning implies functional ore tracking, grade control sampling points and moisture/segregation management procedures.
- Start of ore delivery triggers ramp‑up of underground ventilation, power distribution and dewatering to production duty.
- Commercial mining status typically tightens reconciliation between resource model, development advance and stope performance KPIs.
Our Take
Tungsten shows up far less frequently in our 384 Mining stories than bulk commodities or battery metals, so Sangdong’s move into commercial mining in South Korea gives Almonty a relatively rare position in a niche but strategically sensitive supply chain.
With Sangdong located in Gangwon Province rather than a traditional mining jurisdiction, permitting and community relations are likely to hinge more on industrial and environmental standards than on established mining frameworks seen in our other project coverage.
Across the 348 keyword-matched pieces involving ore, most new mines are in greenfield camps; Sangdong’s restart of an existing tungsten operation suggests Almonty is leveraging legacy infrastructure and geology to shorten ramp-up compared with typical new-build projects.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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