Tungsten West has signed a binding eight-year supply and offtake agreement with Elmet Technologies, a US-based producer of tungsten materials and member of the Elmet Group. The arrangement carries a nominal value exceeding $1.87bn (£1.41bn) over the contract duration, though the company notes this figure is indicative as actual revenue will depend on tungsten prices, exchange rates, product specifications, delivered quantities and the agreement's pricing mechanism. Under the terms of the deal, Tungsten West will supply Elmet with 1,000 tonnes per annum of contained tungsten trioxide from the Hemerdon mine located in Devon, UK.
Pricing will be linked to European Ammonium Paratungstate market rates. Additionally, Elmet has agreed to make commercially reasonable efforts to process up to an additional 500 tonnes per annum of contained tungsten trioxide, an arrangement aimed at supporting strategic requirements of the UK Government and domestic industry subject to further commercial terms. Tungsten West CEO Jeffery Court commented: "This is a landmark commercial agreement for Tungsten West and represents a major step in establishing Hemerdon as a strategically important source of tungsten for the Western world." The announcement follows the UK Government National Wealth Fund's investment of up to £71m in Tungsten West announced in August 2026, along with an agreement granting the government a period of exclusive negotiations to secure up to 50 percent of Hemerdon's tungsten output.
The new supply deal preserves the option to allocate additional output to meet UK requirements and supports Hemerdon's position in Western tungsten supply chains serving the defence, aerospace and advanced manufacturing sectors. Hemerdon is described by Tungsten West as one of the world's largest tungsten deposits. Elmet Technologies, which produces tungsten and molybdenum materials and products for industrial customers, has separately received a $450m investment from the US Department of War and holds a contract worth up to $2bn to supply tungsten materials to the US National Defense Stockpile.
Source: mining-technology.com, published September 23, 2026
Source: mining-technology.com