Felix Gold (ASX:FXG) has an “aggressive goal” to start antimony production at Treasure Creek in Alaska by the end of 2025.
Felix Gold is set to announce several initiatives aimed at achieving near-term production. The strategic location of its antimony assets in the US, combined with the metal’s critical importance to national security, opens up multiple opportunities for government funding and support to advance the production potential of the Treasure Creek assets, the company says.
The company plans on completing an analysis of trenching samples and will then report assay results while advancing metallurgical studies on recently collected samples.
Engineering Scoping Studies will follow as Felix Gold seeks to also progress hydrology studies and initiate other environmental baseline studies as required for permitting.
Felix plans to also continue progressing the potential for near-term antimony production.
“Exceptional high-grade antimony assay results” at Treasure Creek have been reported across multiple prospects, which the company says complements its credential of having one of Alaska’s largest past-producing antimony mines.
Work is ongoing to assess the viability of near-term, stand-alone, high-grade and low-capex antimony production.
Unlike lower-grade antimony often associated with larger gold systems, the ‘high-grade’ antimony at Treasure Creek – exemplified by the Scrafford Antimony Mine, with historical production grades up to 58% antimony – presents a unique opportunity for near-term production, the company says.
Executive director Joe Webb says in addition to ongoing work to commercialise the company’s 831,000 ounce inferred gold resources, the recent focus is advancing the near-term production potential of antimony at Treasure Creek, Alaska, which has two historic antimony mines that have historically supplied “high-grade” antimony multiple times to the US market.
“The recent trenching program provided valuable geological data and collected samples for metallurgical studies and assays,” Webb says.
“These studies are critical, as they directly inform the design of the processing facility, ensuring it is optimised for our unique needs. We’re fortunate to build on historical resources and proven flow sheets from the Scrafford Antimony Mine, but with Felix Gold’s high-grade antimony discovery at NW Array, additional metallurgical work is required to confirm the suitability of these historical flow sheets for this newly identified mineralised zone.
“The commencement of hydrology studies is a crucial step in initiating our permitting process. These studies mark an important milestone, as they underpin our aggressive goal to start antimony production at Treasure Creek by the end of 2025.”
The historical use of simple gravity separation at the Scrafford Mine aligns well with Felix’s goal of low-capex production, Webb adds.
The upcoming metallurgical test work will build upon this historical knowledge, aiming to design a modern, cost-effective processing solution that maintains the simplicity and efficiency demonstrated in past operations. This approach could significantly reduce technical risks and capital expenditure associated with more complex processing techniques.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au‘
Images: Felix Gold
