Largo Lands Five-Year Pentagon Deal to Supply Strategic Vanadium for the U.S. National Defense Stockpile

Largo Inc. (TSX: LGO) (NASDAQ: LGO) has secured a major foothold in the U.S. defense supply chain. On June 30, 2026, the world’s largest primary vanadium producer announced that its subsidiary, Largo Resources USA Inc. (“Largo USA”), won an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (“IDIQ”) contract from the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Materials (“DLA”). Under the award, Largo will supply up to 2,876 metric tonnes of high-purity vanadium pentoxide (“V₂O₅”) to the U.S. National Defense Stockpile over five years, up to a maximum value of US$125 million.

Why the Deal Matters

The award does more than add a customer. It establishes Largo as an approved DLA supplier and cements the company’s role as a reliable, Western-aligned source of high-purity vanadium. Moreover, it slots Largo directly into the Department of Defense’s push to strengthen critical mineral supply chains and guarantee long-term access to strategic materials the country needs for defense readiness and industrial mobilization.

That positioning carries real strategic weight. China and Russia together produce roughly 80 to 85 percent of the world’s vanadium supply, so Washington has clear reasons to diversify. Largo produces its vanadium at the Maracás Menchen Mine and chemical complex in the State of Bahia, Brazil, one of the world’s highest-grade vanadium operations and a long-standing supplier of premium vanadium products to global customers.

Pricing Built to Reward Reliability

Notably, the contract does not simply track the market. Instead, it sets a firm fixed price per pound of V₂O₅ at a premium above current benchmark V₂O₅ price indexes in 2026, and that price then escalates 10 percent each year thereafter. The structure gives Largo predictable, above-market realizations while the DLA locks in secure supply.

Company leaders framed the pricing as a direct signal of strategic value. “We believe the firm-fixed-price structure of this contract reflects the strategic value the U.S. Government places on securing reliable, Western-aligned sources of high-purity vanadium pentoxide for defense applications,” said Daniel Tellechea, Co-CEO of Largo. He added that the contract should improve Largo’s price realizations and help offset both depressed vanadium prices outside the U.S. and recent raw-material and energy cost inflation tied to logistics disruptions in the Middle East.

A Milestone Years in the Making

Largo did not win this contract overnight. Rather, it cleared a lengthy review and vetting process that established the company as a trusted supplier within the U.S. defense industrial base and critical materials ecosystem.

Executive Chairman and Co-CEO Alberto Arias called the award “a major milestone” that validates the strategic importance of the company’s vanadium platform. “We are proud to become part of the supply chain to the United States Government for high-purity vanadium,” he said, pointing to applications across aerospace, defense, energy storage, specialty alloys, and other key industrial sectors.

Chief Commercial Officer Francesco D’Alessio credited the company’s sustained engagement with the DLA. The award, he said, reflects Largo’s ability to meet the rigorous technical and commercial requirements of defense procurement, and it reinforces the company’s standing as a dependable supplier to critical government stockpile programs.

Contract Scope and Structure

The DLA is acquiring the high-purity vanadium pentoxide to support aerospace-grade titanium alloys, advanced defense manufacturing, and emerging energy storage technologies. Accordingly, the contract provides for firm-fixed-price delivery orders issued over a five-year ordering period, with each order meeting the stringent purity and quality specifications the DLA has established.

IDIQ awards of this type typically underpin multi-year stockpile build programs, and order volumes generally align with strategic reserve requirements. The award follows extensive market research by the DLA, which had previously identified only a limited number of qualified suppliers capable of meeting the program’s technical, quality, and supply chain demands. Going forward, Largo USA will act as the contracting entity for all U.S. Government requirements, handling customer engagement, logistics, quality assurance, compliance, and delivery execution.

Production Capacity Backs the Commitment

Largo can readily supply these orders from its world-class Maracás Menchen operation, the largest primary vanadium mine on the planet. The company produced 9,150 tonnes of V₂O₅ equivalent in 2025 and has guided to 10,500 to 12,000 tonnes for 2026 — a meaningful year-over-year increase driven by improved mine access, higher-grade ore, and operational upgrades completed during 2025. Furthermore, first-quarter 2026 production of 2,616 tonnes landed at the upper end of quarterly guidance, underscoring the ramp.

Beyond vanadium, Largo already produces ilmenite (a titanium mineral) as a by-product and is evaluating the potential to recover additional critical metals such as copper, gold, platinum, palladium, and cobalt. The company also owns tungsten assets in Canada and Brazil outright and has recently begun weighing strategic alternatives for them, following a rise in tungsten prices and growing investor interest.

Looking Ahead

Largo expects the contract to sharpen its commercial profile and open the door to further engagement with U.S. Government agencies, defense contractors, and industrial customers hunting for secure access to critical materials. Expanding its U.S. presence and aligning its supply capabilities with Western government and defense needs, the company says, remains a top strategic priority.

About Largo: Largo is the world’s largest primary vanadium producer, supplying high-quality vanadium products from its Maracás Menchen Mine in Brazil to the steel, aerospace, defense, chemical, and energy storage sectors. The company is also strategically invested in clean energy storage through its 37.4% stake in Storion Energy, a joint venture with Stryten Energy focused on domestic electrolyte production for utility-scale vanadium flow batteries. Largo holds a 100% interest in the Northern Dancer Tungsten-Molybdenum property in Yukon, Canada, and the Currais Novos Tungsten Tailing Project near Natal, Brazil. Largo’s common shares trade on Nasdaq and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “LGO.” Learn more at www.largoinc.com.