May 14, 2026 — TORONTO, ONTARIO — As governments across the West race to secure critical minerals supply chains amid rising geopolitical instability, one challenge is rapidly emerging as an existential threat to industrial execution: the global shortage of skilled mining and metallurgical talent.
Against this backdrop, Lewis Black, President, CEO & Chairman of Almonty Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: ALM | TSX: AII | ASX: AII), will deliver a featured keynote presentation at CMI Summit 5: “The New Critical Minerals Economy,” taking place May 13–14, 2026, at the Historic National Club in Toronto. Mr. Black’s keynote presentation is scheduled for Thursday, May 14, 2026, from 1:15–1:35 PM and is titled: “No Team, No Tungsten, No Time: Mining’s Human Capital Crisis”.
Widely regarded as one of the most strategically minded executives in the global tungsten and critical minerals sector, Mr. Black is expected to address the growing disconnect between government ambition and industrial execution capacity. His remarks will examine how shortages in engineering talent, technical trades, permitting expertise, metallurgy, and mine development leadership are increasingly becoming the defining bottlenecks in the race to rebuild Western supply chains.
At a time when the United States and its allies are urgently attempting to reduce dependence on China for critical minerals—including tungsten, rare earths, antimony, and other military metals—Mr. Black is expected to argue that the battle will not be won by policy announcements alone, but by the ability to train, attract, and retain the next generation of industrial leadership.
“Governments can announce strategies, and capital markets can finance projects, but without people capable of building and operating mines, processing facilities, and downstream manufacturing systems, none of it matters,” said Lewis Black, President, CEO & Chairman of Almonty Industries Inc. “The West spent decades hollowing out its industrial knowledge base. Rebuilding critical minerals supply chains now requires more than money—it requires rebuilding expertise, discipline, technical capability, and long-term industrial thinking.”
Mr. Black has become one of the most recognized voices in the global tungsten industry through Almonty Industries’ advancement toward becoming one of the leading non-Chinese tungsten producers in the world. Under his leadership, the Company has advanced the Sangdong Tungsten Mine in South Korea—widely viewed as one of the most strategically important tungsten projects outside China—as governments increasingly prioritize resilient defense and industrial supply chains.
Critical Minerals Institute (CMI) Co-Chair Jack Lifton emphasized the importance of Mr. Black’s participation at this year’s summit:
“Lewis Black represents something increasingly rare in today’s critical minerals sector—an executive who understands not only markets and finance, but also the operational realities of building strategic industrial capacity. The next phase of the critical minerals economy will not be determined by who gives the best speeches. It will be determined by who can execute, build, train, and operate at scale. Lewis understands that better than most.”
In addition to his keynote presentation, Mr. Black will also participate in Panel 8: “The Endgame — Who Will Control the Critical Minerals Economy?”, taking place Thursday, May 14, 2026, from 4:00–4:50 PM alongside senior industry leaders and policymakers examining the geopolitical restructuring of global mineral supply chains.
CMI Summit 5 — “The New Critical Minerals Economy” — will convene leading executives, institutional investors, government representatives, defense stakeholders, and technical experts from across the critical minerals ecosystem to address the growing intersection of resource security, industrial policy, capital formation, and geopolitical power.
As governments increasingly recognize that control of critical minerals supply chains may define the next industrial era, Mr. Black’s keynote is expected to be one of the summit’s most anticipated discussions.
About Almonty Industries Inc.
Almonty Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: ALM | TSX: AII | ASX: AII) is a global producer of tungsten concentrate, primarily involved in the mining, processing, and shipping of tungsten concentrate from its Los Santos Mine in western Spain and its Panasqueira mine in Portugal, as well as the development of its Sangdong tungsten mine in South Korea and the Valtreixal tin/tungsten project in northwestern Spain. Almonty is positioning itself as a cornerstone supplier of secure, non-Chinese tungsten supply for Western industrial, aerospace, semiconductor, and defense markets.
About the Critical Minerals Institute (CMI):
The Critical Minerals Institute (CMI) is a global think tank and central hub for the critical minerals ecosystem, connecting companies, capital markets and policymakers. Through its monthly CMI Masterclasses, the biweekly Critical Minerals Report (CMR), the twice-monthly Critical Minerals Report Podcast, bespoke research and board-level advisory services, CMI delivers actionable intelligence on exploration finance, supply chains, industrial policy and geopolitics.
CMI tracks 12 leading national and multilateral critical minerals lists and applies a rigorous comparative process to independently select and rank minerals for its proprietary CMI Watchlist. Minerals are evaluated against one another based on strategic importance, supply chain concentration, geopolitical exposure, substitutability and relevance to defense, technology and economic security. Through its strategic partnership with the Critical Minerals Platform (CMP), CMI offers Platinum members independent mineral pricing, market forecasts, corporate intelligence and global supply chain data.
CMI also hosts its flagship annual event, the CMI Summit, which brings together government leaders, institutional investors, policymakers and industry executives from around the world. CMI Summit 6, held under the theme Critical Minerals Diplomacy in a Fragmenting Global Economy, will take place May 17–18, 2027, at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York.
Leave a Reply