The United States-based Elmet Group, recently buying a 4.99 percent stake in Vietnam’s Masan High-Tech Materials (MSR), has also secured an exclusive right to negotiate bismuth purchase from MSR’s Nui Phao mine.

In two filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated September 24, Elmet said it has the sole right for up to 12 months to negotiate a supply arrangement for bismuth from the mine. The deal can cover bismuth cement, refined bismuth or output from a possible new bismuth refinery in Vietnam.

The filings do not provide further details about delivery, volume, price, or obligation.

Per the cooperation, MSR may “consider” a bismuth refinery in Vietnam, conditional on the commercial appeal of selling refined bismuth metal to “U.S. government agencies” through Elmet, weighed against Masan’s existing bismuth-cement customer contracts.

Along with the bismuth collaboration, Elmet reached an agreement to pay $124.75 million for a 4.99 percent stake in MSR. It followed Elmet securing a $450 million investment from the U.S. Department of War in mid-September.

Masan posted net revenue of VND56.1 trillion dong ($2.2 billion) in the first eight months of 2026, up 19 percent from a year earlier. MSR, its mining arm, reported net revenue of about VND21 trillion dong ($808 million) over the same period, up more than five-fold its result in the same period of 2025.

MSR operates the Nui Phao polymetallic mine in Vietnam, one of the largest tungsten sources outside China. MSR is also a producer of bismuth, fluorspar, and copper.

Bismuth is used in pharmaceuticals, low-melting alloys, cosmetics and radiation shielding, and is among the minor metals China restricted through export controls in 2025.

Backed by $450M Pentagon deal, US’ Elmet acquires 5% in Vietnam’s tungsten producer MSR