Almonty Korea donates $9,000 to rural high school in Gangwon Province
Members of the Sangdong High School baseball team pose with representatives from Almonty Korea Tungsten after receiving a 12 million won ($9,000) donation in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province / Courtesy of Almonty Korea Tungsten
Almonty Korea Tungsten, which operates a tungsten mine in Gangwon Province, said Wednesday it has donated 12 million won ($9,000) to Sangdong High School, a small rural school that turned to baseball as a way to avoid closing.
The company handed over the donation Tuesday at the school in Sangdong, a town in Yeongwol County. It is the fourth consecutive year the company has supported the school’s baseball team.
The Korean company is a subsidiary of Almonty Industries, a tungsten producer listed on the Nasdaq and the Toronto Stock Exchange. Its Sangdong mine, located in the same town, began active mining in December last year. Tungsten is a hard, heat-resistant metal used in industries from electronics to defense.
Sangdong High School faced closure when its enrollment fell to just three students. In 2023, with help from the local community, it reinvented itself as a school specializing in baseball.
The team has since made quick progress. Last year, it reached the round of 16 at the 80th Blue Dragon Flag National High School Baseball Championship, one of the country’s major high school tournaments. This year, it finished second in the Gangwon division of the second half of the high school weekend league, with three wins and one loss.
In last month’s Korea Baseball Organization draft, a senior from the school was selected by the LG Twins as an infielder in the fourth round. This was the second straight year the school has sent a player to the professional league, after a pitcher was drafted by the Doosan Bears last year.
The school’s principal thanked the company for its yearly support, calling it “like the owner of Sangdong High School’s baseball team.”
“We feel very rewarded watching Sangdong High School overcome the risk of closure and compete on the national stage,” a company official said. “We will continue to help students focus on their studies and sports in a stable environment.”
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.