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00:00Welcome to the Capital Compass. I'm Lindsay Melchuk. One of the biggest stories shaking
00:10up critical mineral space right now is the Nasdaq debut of El Monte Industries. This isn't just
00:16another listing, it's a calculated move with a serious impact. At a time when the West is
00:21scrambling to lock down supply chains and reduce its dependency on China, El Monte is already
00:27steps ahead. Their Korean tungsten project is drawing serious attention and now Wall Street's
00:33paying attention too. Joining me is the driving force behind El Monte's momentum, Louis Black,
00:39Director, President and CEO himself. He's not just steering a company, he's commanding a mission
00:45that's putting El Monte at the center of the global critical minerals battle. Louis, this is a big
00:51moment. Welcome first off and a massive congratulations on the Nasdaq listing. Definitely
00:56a historic moment for you. Thanks, Lindsay. I mean, with that sort of introduction, I really
01:01don't know what else to say. I think I could just really dine out on that. And I think we should
01:05just call it a day. There we go. That's it. So thanks for joining us. Yeah, it's been lovely to
01:10see you and until next time. But no, I think, I mean, look, it's a long journey and it started
01:16really last year of a strategy of onshoring into the US. When you have something that no one else has
01:24of that scale or that size and you've been backed by the kind of people that you've been backed by
01:30and you have the kind of, you know, benefits of, you know, hard floors, no cap on the upside and
01:35all these things that we alone in our sector have been able to attract. I think it was important,
01:43you know, and we saw our liquidity increase dramatically in Germany and in Canada as one
01:47of the highest juniors with, you know, one of the highest junior miners with liquidity in Canada.
01:53It made sense with all of that momentum from last year to now enter into the biggest, you know,
02:02liquidity capital market in the world, especially given that our primary focus is on US defense
02:10and national security, that the US government's already publicly being written to us and published
02:16our letters. And so we already have this, you know, increasing, you know, relationship where we
02:22don't require money and we don't require loans. And so we can fix the problem, which of course is a
02:27little, I suppose, unnerving for any government, but you're not in the room asking for anything.
02:31You're just saying, I've got a solution for you. And so it's been an interesting and proactive
02:40journey. NASDAQ is step one. So there's more to come, you know, so the redomiciling, the downstream,
02:46and then whatever, you know, I may have up my sleeve.
02:51And there's always something up your sleeve. Let's get right to the punchline, though.
02:55Just how much capital did you raise?
02:58We closed at 90 million US. It was enormously oversubscribed. I can't give you the exact number
03:07because I'm not allowed to. If it's not in the prospectus, I'm not allowed to say it. But
03:11all I can say is that people didn't really get much of what they wanted. So I think that was a
03:18great positive. I'd like to put that down to my ability to really put forward a great story. But
03:24I think, in fact, it's more along the lines that in a very simplistic way, we already have multiple
03:30government backing. We already have unique contracts that no one else has in the street medals until,
03:36of course, Mountain Pass MP did end of last week when they got a hard floor from the US
03:40government. But until then, we were sort of alone in that. We have the only project that's coming
03:45online any time, you know, in the next 10 years. And we're already a deeply entrenched to the US
03:50government. I think on the basis of that, there was an awful lot of interest and support in what
03:55we're doing. Yeah, so that was going to be my next question. Anyways, I mean, what kind of buzz did
03:59you get overall from investors? Well, I mean, I think that we got it. We got a really I mean,
04:09if I'm if I'm honest, we got a really good group of institutions into this. I mean, there was there
04:13was a lot of them, some great names, smart guys, you know, it's, it's a first for a tungsten company.
04:22I mean, no tungsten company has raised this much money in the equity markets. No tungsten company
04:28is listed in production into the US. We're the only US company producing tungsten. And certainly no
04:34tungsten company has ever attracted the kind of this, this kind of blue chip, you know, roll,
04:40roll, you know, roll call of really top end institutions. I mean, you know, these guys are
04:47these are these are very serious guys. And these aren't, you know, they, they've, they've looked
04:51at the market, they like the markets, they want exposure to the market, they came to us.
04:56Well, they they look and they do their diligence to do diligence for sure. How are you planning to use
05:01that capital? Well, I mean, it's for it's, it's earmarked for the downstream tungsten oxide
05:07smelter. So it allows us to move forward much quicker with that. This is something a product
05:12that's required both in Korea, and and from those who are not vertical in the US. It's important to
05:20worth noting that we will be the only vertical tungsten oxide smelter in a transparent and safe
05:28jurisdiction, which I think is indicative of the mess that or the disaster that the strategic metals have
05:35been subjected to over the last 30 years neglect. Because it's inconceivable that not only with the
05:42only US company producing tungsten, we're also going to be the only vertical smelter outside of
05:47China was the only one in a safe jurisdiction. So it's, it's an extraordinary opportunity that we
05:53have, because we have something no one else has, which is raw material. And that really is the key.
05:59Yeah, I mean, that right there, that's a story just in itself.
06:01Now, Lewis, you, you, you were also, we're going to move here forward, but you were also on the road
06:07meeting investors across multiple markets. And clearly, I mean, something clicked here. So what
06:13do you think was the biggest driver behind the demand?
06:17Well, I think that they recognized what this sector is, I mean, what tungsten is used in is in
06:24everything. But if we just look at the fence, you can't build munitions or armor without tungsten.
06:28And you've got increased military spending, both in Europe and in the US. And you know,
06:35the DoD can't use Iranian, North Korean, Chinese or Russian tungsten from the end of next year,
06:41which pretty much leaves us. So, you know, these guys were trying to scratch their heads as to,
06:47you know, how come? How come we're not much more valuable than we already are? I mean,
06:53this doesn't make any sense, but when you're the only player in town, you have a, essentially a
06:59virtual monopoly. And, and I think it's, I think it's, it's really worth pointing out that what we're
07:06seeing, it's very similar to what, say that our Korean asset went through in the fifties and sixties.
07:11It was the leader in its sector and it created its own downstream. So companies like POSCO,
07:19PUSANG, TAGUTEC, you know, large, enormous, vast corporations now were created by the Korean
07:26mine. They had the raw material, no one else had, they utilized it. We've just really gone full circle
07:33to now being, you know, all street metals being in the same situation. The fact of the matter is the
07:40days of the cheap Chinese government subsidized raw materials that our customers and our downstream
07:47have been feeding from for 30 years and becoming very successful on the back of that subsidized
07:52material are over. So now if you have that raw material, you can now look at how best to utilize it.
07:59I suppose the, the shoe is on the other foot and it's very important that we identify that and work
08:10very hard to really capture that value for the benefit of me. And given I'm one of the larger
08:16shareholders means all the other shareholders benefit from what I do for myself. So, you know,
08:21inadvertently, and much, I love my shareholders, but I'm doing this as a shareholder and I have to
08:26take the rest of the shareholders with me. So it's just, that's just the way public companies work,
08:30but it's really important that we don't say rest on our laurels. Oh, we've done this raise.
08:34We've, we're the big, the big, the big, you know, the king of tungsten, all these,
08:40you know, let's put a statue to ourselves. That wouldn't be prudent. What we have to do now
08:44is understand the changing nature of the geopolitics, the changing nature of our situation,
08:50and to really explore and, and grab the value that's, that's available to us now.
08:57Well, you also took the time during those conversations to really listen to what was
09:01being said. Do you, did you see any sort of consistent themes that came up across those
09:06conversations?
09:08Um, why were we so cheap? Yeah. Um, and how is it possible that we're in a situation where
09:15there's just one big mind that's coming online and it's such a scarce resource, you know, what's
09:21going on here? Because it's scarce. The people don't understand rare earths, lithium, uh, you know,
09:26graphite, they're not rare. There's lots of resources. They're just not developed, but tungsten
09:30really is scarce. It's scarce in the West. It's scarce in China. It's scarce in Russia. It's a scarce,
09:35you know, commodity, you know, add that to the fact that, that it's, it's, unless you know,
09:41actually how to mine it and process it, you'll have no chance. It's, it's, you need a deep
09:45understanding of how to handle this material. Tungsten is very unique. It behaves unlike any
09:49other metal. Um, and I think that they kind of, you know, all the people I spoke to were,
09:57were really amazed that we've been going five generations. We actually done this before,
10:03um, that we had formerly the world's largest tungsten mine that had been backed by all these
10:08governments and they were only hearing about it now. So their view was once the U S more
10:14U S institutions and retail start to really uncover this story in the U S NASDAQ,
10:19uh, the sky is the limit for, for the company's value.
10:24Why do you think that it's taken so long for tungsten to come into the spotlight?
10:30Well, I I've always said, I've always felt there was a bit of a tungsten diplomacy because it is so
10:34scarce and because it's in everything. I mean, every part of an economy that ultimately governments
10:40would rather have handbag fights over lithium or rare earths because they're not rare.
10:44They're everywhere that you haven't developed them, but you have the opportunity to do so.
10:48Tungsten don't have that. And then of course, the Biden administration bizarrely put on tariffs
10:53on a tungsten sector that doesn't actually exist in the U S.
10:57And that of course seemed to have greenlit China to say, Oh, we're talking tungsten now,
11:02are we? And that, you know, so the 30 year truce was over. And of course, they, the first thing they
11:07said was in, in December of last year, you couldn't use tungsten for dual use in which you can't use
11:11it major applications. Then they, you know, carried that forward into February of this year,
11:17where they said, you now need to apply for export permits for any tungsten. They made the barrier of
11:22entry for those permits very high. They want a huge data sweep of the company applying,
11:25which many companies aren't willing to do because of course it's a lot of their work is,
11:29is, is rather sensitive. So, you know, it has become front and center. And, and I think
11:35ultimately, if you look in the, in the history of tungsten, you've always seen price spikes when the
11:41world is at conflict, which is terrible. It means that I'm in the business of misery. Um, and, and,
11:48you know, dreadful as that may be, it is a primary metal for defense, for munitions and
11:55armor. Yeah. Can't substitute it. There's nothing that can do the job better. But if you look
12:02historically, price of tungsten has always reflected global conflict. And what we're seeing
12:08now is I'm not saying the world's, there's not a world war three, but we have a rearming of the
12:14West because they have neglected those armaments for 30 years. It's been completely ignored. No one
12:20won in elections saying, and, and this time next week, I'm going to produce an extra 30,000, you
12:25know, artillery shells. So that's really what the big difference is. Now people are replenishing
12:32their deplete stockpiles. Fair enough. Yeah. Let's flip angles here just for a moment. If we could,
12:38MP materials just got a massive tailwind from the U S government, a 50% stock surge and evaluation
12:44north of $7 billion. Lewis, when you stack up Almonte against MP, I mean, where do you see Almonte
12:50position particularly in terms of strategic relevance and valuation potential?
12:56Oh, well, I don't think I can really talk about MP. I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate it. But I think
13:00what I can say about Almonte is that we process everything at sites. We're in a safe jurisdictions.
13:07We operate in multiple sites. Um, we, there is no, the, the, the, the tungsten resource is very
13:16scarce. So the next big sort of project is, you know, in the Northern Yukon in, in Canada is 200
13:23kilometers from nearest road. And by their own admission, about 10 years away from constructions,
13:27you know, it's, we, we have a fairly clear field in that regard. Um, it's a very difficult metal to
13:33process. So it's not, you know, not anyone can, can do it. Anyone knows gold or silver or tin,
13:37they're going to struggle with tungsten because it's so brittle. Um, and, and I think ultimately
13:43we've done this a long time. We're considered the market leaders. And I think that we fill,
13:53you know, I think the difference between rare earths and tungsten, it's a lot of what rare
13:58earths are used. You can't even see, you know, they're in guidance systems. They're in, you know,
14:03magnets and these things with tungsten. Well, if you take the tungsten out of an air
14:07craft, there's not much of the aircraft left, it doesn't have engines, doesn't have brakes,
14:11doesn't have any munitions, doesn't have any, uh, you know, even in the guidance systems,
14:16you have tungsten, doesn't have any screens in the plane. So it's a much more visible,
14:21um, uh, you know, product in its uses. But again, until last year, until Biden put these,
14:28these tariffs on, on that sector, no government really wanted to spend a lot of time talking about
14:35because you can't even acknowledge you're short of tungsten because that would send a message to
14:39your adversaries that you don't have the ability to produce munitions. Right. That's why.
14:43Rare earths are not rare. I mean, they're, they're, they're pretty unpleasant to process. You know,
14:49there's a lot of nasty by-products, but, but they're not rare. Tungsten is very rare and,
14:55and it's very difficult to mine. So I think that's really the, the, the fundamentalism is
14:59when us and perhaps other street metal miners. Well, we got to see that firsthand in Panascara.
15:04So we completely see what you're talking about right there in front of us. Now, Lewis, I mean,
15:12this was a great deal of perseverance to get here. Now that at that IPO is in the rear view mirror,
15:19the real grind begins. We all know that. So what's next? I mean, what are your top priorities and major
15:25milestones now that you're aiming to achieve maybe for the rest of the year or into next year? What
15:30do you want to do? Well, phase one comes online in, in Korea this year. We start work straight
15:36around phase two. We have the downstream smelter now to focus on. We have to, I have to do some
15:42confirmation drilling for the molly so I can start assigning value to that project into our market
15:47capitalization because right now there's no value at all assigned to the molly. And, and then there's
15:52the mystery box, but it remains a mystery. Like everything that I try and do, I try not to, to
15:59talk too much about what I'm going to do. I just let you know after I've done it. All right. Because
16:04that way, uh, you know, I think people have to just always remember I am first and foremost, a
16:10shareholder. I am driving value because I want the value because I'm a shareholder. And,
16:17and, and yes, I mean, the raise was, was, was, was, you know, we, we raised a lot of money and
16:22we have now that to hand, but I honestly believe that what I have planned next is going to surprise
16:32everybody. But anyway. And the plot thickens. What can I say? You know, there are some who didn't
16:39believe me last time I said this and, and I keep delivering. Um, I'm value driven shareholder. That's,
16:45that's why I get out of bed. So the grind to me, it's not grind. It's just about, I, I, I see it
16:50as just constantly identifying and utilizing what we have. We put ourselves in the best possible
16:56position. We have to, as I said, we're not building statues to ourselves. I don't want to
17:00be addressed as the King of Tungsten. I just want to deliver value to me, which means every other
17:08shareholder gets dragged along with me. Well, I mean, right now, I mean, this is, this is all great
17:12news right now. Let's continue that conversation if we can, and keep looking at the bigger picture
17:17for you. You're, you're not just running a company anymore. You're playing on the global
17:22stage of resource security. So given El Monte's expanding footprint and geopolitical importance,
17:27I mean, how do you see your role evolving Lewis? Like not just as a CEO, but as a key player in the
17:32global critical mineral space? Well, I'm going to try and stay out of, you know, a lot of that,
17:38you know, politics is not really my thing because I think what's important is that I work closely
17:44with the policymakers in these committees so we can find a way of making sure our material ends up to
17:49where I would like it to be, which is focused on, on US defense and therefore filling that sort of
17:54that ticking that one box of national security. The other 34 of metals they need, I can't help them
17:59with. I don't really see myself as a spokesman for this sector. I would like people to learn more
18:08about Tungsten. I find it sometimes frustrating that it only seems to be me that's willing to
18:13really step forward and share what goes on in our space. But again, I suppose, you know, ultimately I've
18:21done this for a long time. It is, I run this company with, with my heart and my head makes the decisions,
18:27often breaks my heart, but, but it does. And, and I try and focus on, on running a company, you know,
18:34profitably, but with conviction. I, I'm not, you know, I, I make a decision to go a route and if it's not
18:41the right route, I pivot. You know, I'm not one of those people that makes a mistake and then just keeps
18:46making it so I can't, don't have to say I'm wrong. I try and be more right than wrong in a day. That's,
18:51that's how I look at it. And so I'm not focusing on my global impact on our industry. I'm focusing
18:58on making sure that I drive all of this available value into the company for my shareholders. Well,
19:05for me and my shareholders.
19:06That's a great perspective to have. Now, Louis, the Almonte story, it's been nothing short of
19:13phenomenal. We are always so excited to hear all the news and updates. So keep that momentum going,
19:19keep the perseverance to going and do come back soon to give us an update.
19:24Thanks very much, Lindsay. Thank you very much.
19:26Again, that was Mr. Louis Black himself, Director, President and CEO of Almonte Industries.
19:31And if you're not already watching this company, it's time you start. They're now trading on the
19:36NASDAQ under the ticker symbol ALM. You'll want to head to their website at almonte.com and dive
19:42into their story yourself. I'm Lindsay Melchak. Stay tuned for more to come.
19:49Bye-bye.
19:58Bye-bye.
20:00Bye-bye.
20:00All right.
20:04Bye-bye.
20:06Bye.
20:08Bye-bye.
20:15Bye-bye.
20:16Bye-bye.
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