Ares Strategic Mining (CSE:ARS) will host an official ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new fluorspar processing facility in Delta, Utah, US, on 9 October.
The ceremony at 11:00am will formally mark the opening of the company’s Lumps Plant. The plant will process raw fluorspar from Ares’ Lost Sheep Mine into metallurgical-grade fluorspar for steel and aluminium production.
The event comes as the company has begun transporting mined ore to Delta and introducing live material into the processing circuit. The operations teams continue to optimise the plant around Lost Sheep ore characteristics as production ramps up.
Confirmed attendees include US Representative Mike Kennedy, Utah State Senator David Hinkins, Utah Office of Energy Development Director Emy Lesofski, and representatives from the US Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and Defense Logistics Agency.
President and CEO James Walker says the milestone represents “years of development work coming to fruition”.
“We have reached the moment when years of permitting, mine development, engineering, construction, and financing have become a working US mine-to-plant operation. Ore is being mined, trucked to our facility, and run through the plant,” Walker remarks.
The Delta facility represents a significant step toward rebuilding domestic supply capability for fluorspar — a mineral strategically important to US manufacturing. The mineral acts as a fluxing material in steel and aluminium production.
Ares is developing the entire supply chain from mining ore at Lost Sheep through to processing and preparing finished product for commercial markets.
The company has announced a memorandum of understanding with global commodities trader Cremer Erzkontor relating to distribution of its metallurgical-grade fluorspar across North America.
The Utah Government supported the project through an US$11 million ($15.8 million) state-backed loan via the Utah Community Impact Board. The loan follows 2025 legislation that broadened definitions of throughput infrastructure projects to include critical mineral processing facilities.
The Lumps Plant represents the first major processing component of Ares’ broader Utah strategy.
The company is also advancing construction of its complementary Acidspar Flotation Plant, designed to produce ‘higher-purity’ acid-grade fluorspar for chemical, technology, and energy applications.
Ares Strategic Mining is a Canadian critical minerals company advancing fluorspar and associated strategic metals projects across the US.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Ares Strategic Mining
