Elmet Shares Surge on $450 Million Tungsten Investment

A $450 million government commitment turned The Elmet Group into one of Monday’s sharpest stock movers, with shares surging about 43% as investors priced in a major expansion of the U.S. tungsten supply chain.

The Department of War investment, which closed September 14, begins with an initial $200 million drawdown and is structured through redeemable preferred equity. The government will also receive warrants that could represent as much as 19.9% of Elmet’s common stock on a post-transaction basis, along with rights to appoint an independent director and a non-voting board observer, according to the company’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That structure provides Elmet with substantial funding without relying entirely on conventional debt or a near-term common-stock sale. It also gives the government a meaningful position in a recently listed company whose market value is highly sensitive to contract announcements.

Elmet plans to direct more than $165 million toward facilities in Lewiston, Maine, Coldwater, Michigan, and Euclid, Ohio. The spending is aimed at increasing tungsten powder and heavy-alloy output, modernizing plants and expanding capacity for defense, aerospace and industrial customers.

Another approximately $150 million is earmarked for the Springer Tungsten Complex in Nevada, where Elmet plans to form a majority-owned joint venture with Blue Moon Metals and EQ Resources. The mine and mill are expected to restart in the fourth quarter of 2027, while a new ammonium paratungstate conversion facility is targeted to begin operations in the second half of 2028.

The government backing arrives alongside a separate Defense Logistics Agency contract with a ceiling of up to $2 billion, including a guaranteed $150 million commitment. The agreement covers tungsten ores, concentrates and sodium tungstate for the National Defense Stockpile.

The contract is not an immediate revenue windfall. Elmet said it will wait to begin stockpile deliveries until new mining, processing and supply arrangements generate enough incremental material, an effort to avoid squeezing existing U.S. manufacturers.

That timing matters. Tungsten is exceptionally hard and heat-resistant, making it difficult to replace in specialized defense and industrial components. Yet Elmet still has to restart assets, build processing capacity and manage a government-linked capital structure before the headline commitments translate into sustained production and earnings.