Almonty Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: ALM, Frankfurt: ALI1) has entered into a binding agreement with the Government of Rwanda under which the government will receive a 25% equity interest in Almonty Rwanda Pty Ltd, with Almonty retaining the remaining 75%.

The Government of Rwanda's stake will be contributed in exchange for the Shyorongi tungsten exploration concession, a greenfield block of approximately 32 square kilometers in the Rulindo District, Northern Province, and a mineral processing license for a mobile tailings processing unit.

The agreement allows Almonty Rwanda to acquire ore, pre-concentrate, and panning tailings from Rwandan mining license holders, including small-scale operators, for sale or upgrading. The company intends to export that material until a collection and processing plant is built in Rwanda. A mobile processing unit is also planned to operate near existing tailings dams.

The partnership was introduced by the U.S. Department of State and is aligned with the 2025 U.S.-Rwanda Framework for Shared Economic Prosperity. Rwanda is the only African country among the world's ten largest tungsten producers.

Lewis Black, Chairman, President and CEO of Almonty, said the near-term focus is on material already being produced by Rwanda's small-scale license holders. "This agreement allows us to collect, upgrade and export that material while we build out the collection and processing plant," he said.

Alice Uwase, CEO of the Rwanda Mining Board, said the partnership "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."

The joint venture is described as a first stage toward a broader investment and development framework with the Government of Rwanda. A binding investment and development agreement covering construction of a centralized collection and processing plant would be a subsequent step.

Almonty noted that U.S. defense procurement rules effective January 1, 2027, will extend restrictions on specified tungsten materials sourced from covered foreign nations back through the supply chain to the point of mining or production.