Felix finds listed US Critical Mineral antimony at Alaskan gold project

Felix Gold has confirmed the discovery of the high-grade critical mineral stibnite, a primary antimony mineral, from an initial four holes at its Treasure Creek Project in the Fairbanks Gold Mining District in Alaska, USA.

The NW Array prospect has yielded significant antimony findings, including:

1.5m at >5% Sb from 24.4m and 1.5m at >5% Sb from 97.5m (Hole 23TCRC133);
1.5m at >5% Sb from 38.1m, 1.5m at 1.14% Sb from 51.8m, 1.5m at >5% Sb from 54.8m, and 12.2m at 1.47% Sb from 56.4m (Hole 23TCRC135);
1.5m at >5% Sb from 10.7m and 3m at 2.63% Sb from 94.5m (Hole 23TCRC136); and
4.5m at 0.83% Sb from 22.9m, 3m at 2.17% Sb from 32m and 4.5m at 1% Sb from 61m (Hole 23TCRC138).

“I am very pleased to be able to confirm the discovery of material intersections of high-grade Stibnite, a primary antimony mineral, associated with the gold system emerging at NW Array,” Felix Gold (ASX:FXG) MD and CEO Anthony Reilly said.

“These occurrences represent a significant development for the company as antimony is listed as a Critical Mineral to US economic and national security by the US Department of Interior – a list which also includes cobalt, uranium and rare earths.”

Antimony stockpiling common during conflict

The European Union also has antimony on its critical materials list and is 100% import-reliant on antimony.

Antimony is a strategic critical mineral that is used in all manners of military applications, not just the manufacturing of armour piercing bullets, ammunition primers and tracer ammunition.

It also includes night vision goggles, infrared sensors, precision optics, laser sighting, explosive formulations, nuclear weapons and production, tritium production, flares, military clothing, and communication equipment.

Stockpiling of antimony usually occurs when there is uncertainty around a conflict, as has been historically seen during World War 1, World War 2, the Korean War and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The second and third largest key uses for the critical mineral are flame retardants and lead-acid batteries.

Added by product potential at Treasure Creek

The Fairbanks Gold Mining District and the wider Tintina Gold Province have many Reduced Intrusion Related Gold (RIRG) systems that include gold-antimony mineralisation.

Notably, on Felix tenure approximately 2km East of NW Array, the Scrafford Mine was intermittently operated between 1915 and 1977, and approximately one million kilograms of stibnite was recovered with the average grade of 38-56% antimony.

Further analysis for antimony will be completed on additional 2022 samples that had spikes in antimony in XRF results, with this work to be completed during the 2023 year.

Going forward, the company’s plan is to establish a low capex/opex open-pitable gold ore supply at its Treasure Creek project, and the confirmation of antimony in the gold system provides a potential by-product bonus.

“Our technical team is now assessing the potential scale of this discovery and the additional value that can be added to the project via the opportunity to supply a critical mineral to the US domestic market,” Reilly said.

This article was developed in collaboration with Felix Gold, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.