Nov. 13 at 7:11 AM
$LKYRF ✨ Locksley Unveils Big US Antimony Exploration Target
Locksley Resources has dropped the company’s most significant milestone to date in its bid to re-establish a domestic antimony industry in the United States, unveiling a large and unusually high-grade exploration target at its Desert Antimony mine in California.
The target, built from a combination of underground surveying, detailed surface mapping and extensive geochemical sampling, suggests the historic mine may still be hosting between 772,000 and 1,382,000 tonnes grading 2.5 to 4.9 per cent antimony.
Given that the US currently produces no antimony on its own soil, the numbers are eye-catching. The grades and tonnage translate to between 19,400 and 67,700 tonnes of contained antimony metal, making the prospect among the most compelling undeveloped antimony systems in the country.
To put those grades into some kind of perspective – and ignoring recoveries for now - with antimony selling for a hefty US
$55,000 (A
$82,000) a tonne, a 4.9 per cent grade is roughly equivalent to about a 20-gram per tonne gold deposit at current gold prices. In mining terms, that kind of tenor puts the Desert Antimony mine squarely in the uber-high-grade bracket.
While conceptual and not yet a resource, the study provides the first glimpse of Locksley’s strategy and hints at the potential development scale needed for its planned 2026 pilot processing plant.
The modelling drew on a high-resolution LiDAR campaign, which mapped 236 metres of old adits and tunnels, capturing the geometry of the antimony-bearing veins that early miners exploited before the mine shut in 1937.
Coupled with new surface structural mapping along an 800-metre strike and high-grade rock chips exceeding 10 per cent antimony, the 3D model captured three quartz-carbonate-stibnite veins that pinched and swelled for an average of one metre in width.
Locksley broke its work into two main target zones. The lower tonnage estimate came from a well-mapped 360-metre stretch around the old mine workings, running 100 metres north of a surface sample that came in at 11.2 per cent antimony and 130 metres south of another that hit 17.9 per cent. Several other samples between those points also topped 10 per cent antimony. All up, the zone is forecast to contain about 270,000 cubic metres of material.
Although the upper target range is more speculative, it is still regarded as promising. Locksley extended its model another 440 metres along strike into ground where outcrop is mostly hidden by loose scree, although the main structure can still be clearly traced.
When combined with the lower target numbers, the larger conceptual target brings the total estimated volume to about 483,000 cubic metres, which, when applied to an estimated specific gravity of 2.86, delivers a total tonnage of between 772,000 and 1,382,000 tonnes.
A 23-kilogram first-pass sample taken in September returned 9.6 per cent antimony and produced a premium 68.1 per cent concentrate in metallurgical tests, meeting industrial and defence specifications.
The standout result, which nudged 95 per cent of what the company described as the theoretical maximum 71.68 per cent achievable, came from just two rounds of preliminary, rougher, regrind and cleaner flotation tests.
The company says a more representative 325-kilogram bulk sample has since been collected for metallurgical testing, coming in at up to 7.8 per cent antimony. Indications so far suggest the bigger test material could deliver a similar concentrate to the smaller sample.
The bulk sample results have also helped Locksley sharpen its modelling ahead of an early mine restart. Its studies suggest the company may be able to immediately target low hanging fruit of up to 2,000 tonnes of ore from accessible underground faces using either selective jack-leg mining or slightly widened tunnels for small machinery.
Moving forward, the company is gearing up for its first drilling campaign at the historic mine, expected to kick off in the new year. The program has already been permitted and together with more mapping and sampling will aim to convert parts of the system into a maiden mineral resource.
The timing of the exploration target’s release could hardly be better or more aligned with US policy. Although antimony is classed as essential to defence, electronics and advanced battery systems, America still relies almost entirely on an overseas supply.
With a US
$191 million (A
$288M) letter of interest already secured from the US Export-Import Bank and domestic agencies aggressively backing critical-mineral projects, Locksley’s new numbers position it squarely within the country’s strategic crosshairs.
What was once a long-abandoned antimony mine in the Mojave Desert is fast morphing into a geo-politically charged modern development story. If drilling delivers what the new exploration target suggests – or anything close to it, the Desert Antimony mine could become a cornerstone of the United States’ push to rebuild its own supply chain - and Locksley looks like it will play a big part.
🔗 https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/locksley-unveils-big-us-antimony-exploration-target-20251113-p5nfb2.html
