Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY) has received initial metallurgical testwork results validating that the Mojave Project in the US can deliver the feedstock required to underpin a domestic mine-to-market antimony supply chain.
The company says it is all about driving towards a “100% made in America product”, with the goal to position Locksley as the US beachhead for mining, sourcing and processing of antimony.
The testwork was conducted on a 23.1kg composite sample, grading 9.6% antimony, collected from the Desert Antimony Mine (DAM) prospect and delivered metallurgical recoveries of between 82.9% and 85.9%.
In all tests, the flotation proved effective in recovery of stibnite from the composite sample and produced a concentrate exceeding 30% antimony in five out of six tests completed.
Locksley, which has a market capitalisation of $151.5 million, says this testwork has shown the potential to produce a high-grade concentrate that can meet required specifications as feedstock material for conventional pyrometallurgical processes.
Technical Director Julian Woodcock says this demonstrates that conventional flotation technology is suitable to produce a stibnite concentrate from the DAM prospect.
“What is also remarkable is the success of the testwork on surface samples, which have been susceptible to oxidation,” Woodcock says.
“I am extremely encouraged by the results and optimistic that with further testwork we will be able to improve on this already high-quality first-pass outcome. This activity continues to rapidly advance our strategy to provide onshore supply of antimony to the US market.”
Further testwork is ongoing with the aim of improving stibnite recovery and concentrate grade. Locksley anticipates this will be achieved with subsequent regrind and cleaning stages, with the goal of targeting a final concentrate grade of over 50% antimony.
Upon completion, the company will provide a sample of concentrate to Rice University to begin with deep eutectic solvent extraction testwork using DeepSolv methodology.
Locksley will then investigate options to use the concentrate in a pilot test to produce antimony metal ingot, antimony oxide, and antimony trisulphide.
The research and development partnership with Rice University will focus on green hydrometallurgical extraction of antimony from mining feedstocks and the exploration of antimony based materials to be used in energy storage applications.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Locksley Resources
