Draft:Lewis Black (businessman)

• Comment: References that provide extensive coverage specifically about Lewis Black via reliable, independent sourcess are required to demonstrate notability. JSFarman (talk) 16:23, 24 August 2024 (UTC)

• Comment: Who exactly says that "He is among the world's leading voices" ? Theroadislong (talk) 16:20, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

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Lewis Black
Born	Lewis Black (1968-07-04) July 4, 1968 London, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Alma mater	University of Manchester
Occupation	Business Executive
Years active	2011–present
Employer	Almonty Industries
Known for	Co-founder and CEO of Almonty Industries, Tungsten mining expert
Title	Chief Executive Officer

Lewis Black (born July 4, 1968) is co-founder and chief executive officer of Almonty Industries, a global mining company focused on tungsten mining and exploration. The company is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. He is frequently cited in global media on the subject of private sources of tungsten to decrease worldwide reliance on China and Russia, particularly given tungsten's importance in munitions development.

Early Life and Career

Black was born in London. He earned a BA in management and technology from University of Manchester.

Prior to Almonty’s founding in 2011, Black served as head of sales and marketing for SC Mining Tungsten, Thailand. He also held the roles of chairman and chief executive officer of Primary Metals Inc. (“PMI”), a former TSX-V listed tungsten mining company, between June 2005 and December 2007.

The name Almonty Industries derives from the names of the fathers of two of the founders as a tribute to them. "Monty" was named after Lewis Black's father, Monty Black, while "Al" comes from Al D'Amato, father of Daniel D'Amato.

Tungsten and China

Black has been a vocal critic of China's influence on the tungsten market, given that the country had 80% of the worldwide mining production in 2023. In an interview in 2023, he called out China's control over pricing in the market. "They bought this market share in the eighties. Early in the eighties, you had nearly 100 tungsten mines, and by the early nineties, you had 200. It was a complete decimation of that sector because China was giving the tungsten away and that drove everyone out of business. Because China is so dominant, they ultimately control the price. They keep prices in a band that discourages any real capital coming in to challenge their market share."

Black has been a vocal critic of the Biden Administration's use of tariffs as an approach to Chinese tungsten rather than promoting domestic mining, arguing that the tariffs do nothing to address the over-reliance on Chinese supply. Black, however, also noted in a 2024 interview with CNBC that China declined to retaliate to the Biden Administration's issuance of new tariffs on Chinese tungsten, which he took as a sign that China does not want a trade war over tungsten. “The tariffs were more of a warning shot, as Biden only put tariffs on three of the 25 strategic metals China exports. But China might not be too concerned, because the Chinese government ignored the new tariffs, unlike in the past when they restricted some exports of rare earths. They completely ignored it because the Chinese don’t want tensions to rise.”

He has also expressed criticism in the Federal Reserve for failing to lower interest rates more aggressively, which makes the U.S. mining industry less competitive with China.

Tungsten and Defense

Black has also advocated for more worldwide diversification of tungsten supply because of its rule in manufacturing ammunition. There was a stockpiling of tungsten as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Russia and China combined make up roughly 90% of global tungsten supply. "Everyone is now ramping up their capacity to produce more munitions, but there's no tungsten, and what tungsten there is, [is] coming from perhaps jurisdictions that you may have to defend yourself against in the future," Black said.

Black has also called out countries for being slow to meet their obligations to Ukraine because of low tungsten supply. For instance, the U.S. had promised shipments of Abrams tanks to Ukraine but have yet to send them because of the need to replace the existing armor with tungsten and webbing armor, which they cannot procure right now because of tungsten shortages. "The issue is that no politician was going to get elected in the last 30 years saying I am stockpiling munitions," Black said. "And we have obviously seen what happens when someone calls our bluff."

ESG Criticism

Black has criticized Western environmental policies for making it difficult to mine in most of the world for tungsten and other in-demand metals like copper. Equally, he has argued that a push for Electric Vehicle batteries, which rely on tungsten, will stress the supply chain worldwide: "If you increase EV adoption, you’re making supply chain troubles worse. So the focus on cleantech will actually make the supply chain troubles tougher. People will have to understand that things will get worse before they get better."

However, he did note Almonty's Sangdong mine in Gangwon Province, Korea, was designed to Equator Principles standards to generate no waste on surface.