Tungsten West will supply Elmet with 1,000tpa of contained tungsten trioxide from the Hemerdon mine. Credit: Bjoern Wylezich/Shutterstock.com.

Tungsten West has signed a binding eight-year supply and offtake deal with Elmet Technologies, a US-based producer of tungsten materials and a member of the Elmet Group.

Under the agreement, Tungsten West will supply Elmet with 1,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of contained tungsten trioxide from the Hemerdon mine in Devon, UK.

The arrangement is estimated to have a nominal value exceeding £1.4bn over the duration of the contract.

However, Tungsten West states that this figure is indicative, as actual revenue will depend on tungsten prices, exchange rates, product specifications, delivered quantities and details of the pricing mechanism in the agreement.

Pricing will be linked to European Ammonium Paratungstate market rates.

Tungsten West CEO Jeffery Court said: “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.”

Elmet has also agreed to make commercially reasonable efforts to process up to an additional 500tpa of contained tungsten trioxide.

This arrangement is aimed at supporting strategic requirements of the UK Government and domestic industry, subject to additional commercial and delivery terms being agreed.

The announcement follows the UK Government National Wealth Fund’s investment of up to £71m in Tungsten West in August 2026 and an agreement giving the government a period of exclusive negotiations to secure up to 50% of Hemerdon’s tungsten output.

Elmet Technologies has received a $450m investment from the US Department of War and holds a separate contract worth up to $2bn to supply tungsten materials to the US National Defense Stockpile.

Hemerdon is described by Tungsten West as one of the world’s largest tungsten deposits.

According to the company, the agreement preserves the option to allocate more output to meet UK requirements. It also supports Hemerdon’s position in Western tungsten supply chains serving the defence, aerospace and advanced manufacturing sectors.

Elmet produces tungsten and molybdenum materials and products for industrial customers, offering precision machining and engineering services.

The company is also a major US-owned manufacturer of pure tungsten and molybdenum.