Iltani Resources (ASX:ILT) is keeping its eyes peeled for a good deal as it gears up to take its silver and antimony story to the stage at the Noosa Mining Conference next month.
Managing Director Donald Garner tells Mining.com.au, which is an official media partner, the junior explorer is “always looking for potential growth opportunities”.
“By being at a conference, we get to better understand what is out there (what is for sale, what maybe for sale etc),” he adds.
Both silver and antimony prices are trending higher right now, though antimony has been the standout in recent weeks, spurring several project acquisitions.
After China – the world’s largest producer and exporter of antimony – imposed restrictions on exports of antimony ore, ingots and oxide due to it being a critical mineral, the price reached all-time highs of over US$25,000 ($36,719).
While antimony is primarily used as flame-retardant, increasing demand is also stemming from its importance in solar panels and batteries.
“Price is being driven by increasing demand, from its more traditional uses in the defence sector and the use of antimony in photovoltaic glass (as a clarifying agent), which is expected to surpass its flame-retardant usage to become the major downstream use for the metal and will change the supply-demand balance in the antimony industry,” Garner explains.
Silver is also in greater demand for use in solar panels (as silver paste) because of its high conductivity, thermal efficiency and optical reflectivity. This gives the metal a dual purpose as both a precious and industrial metal.
“With solar energy capacity increasing at a phenomenal rate (installed solar capacity doubles roughly every three years, and so grows 10-fold each decade), solar has the potential to be the largest source of global electrical power by the 2030s – supporting and driving the silver price,” Garner says.
This is set to widen the structural deficit, which has prevailed for the past four years and reached a 184-million-ounce shortfall in 2023.
Since its 2024 low of US$22.21 per ounce, recorded in mid-February, silver has rallied over 46% to US$32.51 an ounce. However, the metal has some way to go still before it surpasses its all-time high of nearly US$50 an ounce in 2011.
But Garner does not see it as an “either/or scenario” when it comes to prioritising one over the other.
“The projects are 17km apart, so there are significant synergies available in both exploration and potential development,” he notes.
“Ultimately, both projects would require a similar processing plant (flotation) to produce saleable concentrates, with Antimony Reward producing an antimony concentrate, and Orient producing a lead-silver and a zinc-silver-indium concentrate – so it should be technically feasible to use the same processing plant to process ore from both Antimony Reward and Orient.”
Both Orient and Antimony Reward are part of the larger 330km2 Herberton Project that sits about 150km west of Cairns.
Iltani last week began an initial 1,500m, 10-hole reverse circulation program at Antimony Reward targeting the “high-grade” antimony mineralisation.
Previous mapping and sampling returned an average grade of 16.2% and a peak result of 46.5% from Vein System 1, and an average grade of 10.9% and a top result of 17.7% from Vein System 2.
Meanwhile, over at the Orient Project, Iltani intersected 420 grams per tonne (g/t) silver-equivalent in a deep drill hole in August.
“Our focus is to create value for our shareholders – once we have results back from our Antimony Reward drilling, we will see what we will do – and we are continuing to move our exciting Orient silver-indium project forward,” Garner adds.
Iltani will be one of 50 companies so far confirmed to present at the Noosa Mining Conference being held at the Peppers Noosa Resort from 13-15 November.
The company will discuss the progress achieved over the past 12 months, its current exploration activities and what the next 12 months looks like.
“We have presented at Noosa before, and with the majority of our assets being in QLD – it gives us a more ‘local’ perspective,” Garner says.
“Presenting gives us the opportunity to engage with our existing investors and potential new investors, and expand our networks amongst our peers, suppliers, consultants etc
“It also gives us an opportunity to better understand what strategies our peer group are implementing – and we can look at these companies and see what insights we can gain that can be applied to what we are doing, so we do it better.”
Noosa Mining broke onto the conference scene in 2011 as an annual event in July, but the continued growth and success of the signature event prompted organiser Equity Events to add a second event to the calendar.
Last year’s November event attracted an in-venue and online audience of over 1,000 people, with 530 attending in person and a further 500 joining online.
Equity Events General Manager Phil Dickinson told Mining.com.au delegate numbers are again expected to be in excess of 500 both in person and online this year.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Iltani Resources & Noosa Mining
