The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - November 6, 2024
Stibnite, such as the crystalline specimen above, is the primary mineral source for antimony and the namesake for the Alaska project staked by United States Antimony Corp.
United States Antimony Corp. Oct. 6 announced that it has staked six square miles (3,840 acres) of state mining claims covering the historical Stibnite Creek antimony project near the crossroads town of Tok in eastern Alaska, marking the second Alaska project picked up by the Montana-based antimony producer this year.
"The State of Alaska is under-explored, and we are considering other mining opportunities located in Alaska," said Joe Bardswich, co-CEO of United States Antimony, regarding picking up a copper-rich project at an undisclosed location in Alaska in August.
While United States Antimony did not provide details on the location of the copper property due to ongoing talks on picking up additional properties from nearby claimholders, the critical minerals-focused company that owns an antimony refinery in Montana did provide information on where its newest Alaska property is found.
"This strategic move places UAMY (the NYSE ticker symbol for United States Antimony) in a known antimony-rich region along the Alaska Highway, approximately 200 miles southeast of Fairbanks," the company inked in a statement announcing the acquisition.
Stibnite Creek, sometimes referred to as Tok Antimony, was first mined in 1914. The stockpiles of ore extracted from this World War I-era mine about 20 miles southwest of Tok, however, were washed away during a flood event and never made it to market.
In 2009 and 2010, two Australia-based exploration companies carried out exploration at the Tushtena project, a large land package that covered Stibnite Creek. While this property covered the historical antimony mine, the exploration at that time was focused on the gold found there.
In addition to antimony and gold, United States Antimony says its newly staked land package at Stibnite Creek is prospective for silver, gold, and zinc.
The mix of metals found at the Stibnite Creek claims supports United States Antimony's "efforts to secure and develop its own domestic sources of critical minerals essential for military, aerospace, quantum computing, and energy storage applications."
"As the only antimony smelter in North America and amidst China's recent announcement banning all antimony international exports, UAMY's expansion into the Tok region further strengthens the company's strategic position as an integrated antimony supplier in an effort to support U.S. initiatives for securing critical minerals," United States penned in a statement announcing the staking of the Stibnite Creek claims.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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