Toronto-based Almonty Industries (NASDAQ: ALM) said on Monday it had signed a deal with Rwanda to develop and process tungsten, giving the country a 25% stake in the critical mineral project.
The partnership followed an introduction by the U.S. Department of State and aligned with the 2025 U.S.-Rwanda Framework for Shared Economic Prosperity, which supports investment in critical minerals, Almonty said.
The U.S. has deepened partnerships with African countries including Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, while expanding investment ties with Guinea, Kenya and others as it seeks to loosen China’s grip on mineral supply chains.
Western countries are trying to build critical mineral supply chains outside China.
Rwanda will get a 25% stake in Almonty Rwanda Pty Ltd in exchange for contributing the Shyorongi tungsten exploration concession and a mineral processing licence, while Almonty will retain 75%, the company said in a statement.
Almonty said the venture would initially source ore, pre-concentrate and tailings from existing licence holders, including small-scale miners, for export or upgrading ahead of plans to build a processing plant.
The U.S. Geological Survey says Rwanda is the only African country among the world’s top 10 tungsten producers. It is seeking to boost its mineral processing and value addition.
Almonty said the project would combine material sourced from existing producers, a mobile tailings-processing unit and exploration of the 32-square-kilometre Shyorongi concession, before advancing to a centralised processing facility.
The deal comes ahead of new U.S. defence procurement rules taking effect in January 2027 that will require tungsten used in certain military supply chains to be traceable back to its source.
(Reporting by Vincent Mumo Nzilani; Writing by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; Editing by Alexander Smith)
