Felix Gold (ASX:FXG) reports it has produced antimony metal from Treasure Creek Project ore through a pilot plant demonstrating its proposed US refinery process.
The batch-mode demonstration program established the complete process route, confirming that ore can go directly to the furnace following hand sorting and coarse crushing, eliminating concentrator, grinding, or flotation stages.
Handheld X-ray fluorescence analysis indicated grades of around 75% antimony (Sb) in the trioxide fume product and 97% Sb in the final metal ingot.
Felix Gold says the program supports the company’s recent selection for up to US$18 million ($25 million) in US Department of Energy funding.
The company holds ore feed secured from Treasure Creek via Delaware subsidiary Frontier Antimony Refinery, alongside a completed Worley/SLR site-selection study and advanced preliminary engineering.
Executive Director Joseph Webb says the program’s design, construction, and operations replicate the process flowsheet for Frontier’s proposed US refinery.
“We did not model this pathway. We designed it, built it, ran it, and made metal,” Webb says.
“Ore went in one end of the plant and antimony ingot came out the other end, through the same sequence of unit operations Frontier intends to build and operate at scale.
“That removes the single largest technical unknown standing between us and a US refinery.”
He adds that the result also confirms the viability of direct smelting.
“It confirms what we have said about the ore. There is no concentrator or flotation circuit required between the vein and the furnace — a consequence of ore quality, not engineering ingenuity.
“A shorter flowsheet means less capital, fewer unit operations, and faster implementation and ramp-up.”
The company says independent commercial laboratory results remain pending, with final refining still required to demonstrate the metal meets specification.
Felix Gold adds that a seed funding process for Frontier is currently underway.
“A strategic US asset belongs [to] a US company. That is why we established Frontier in Delaware as a wholly owned subsidiary of Felix Gold — positioned to attract US capital and access government programs targeting this critical supply-chain vulnerability,” Webb says.
Felix Gold is an explorer focused on near-term antimony production and further gold mineralisation in Alaska’s Fairbanks Mining District.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Images: Felix Gold
