The company’s US strategic advisor, GreenMet chief executive Drew Horn, described the milestone as “not just a technical success, but a national one,” noting that it delivers exactly what policymakers have been calling for – a secure, fully domestic supply of strategic materials.
As it moves through engineering and permitting for full-scale operations, Locksley is shifting into pilot production to show it can recover antimony efficiently and ramp up to commercial scale. The company also plans to prove it can produce both antimony trisulfide and trioxide to meet strict U.S. standards.
With the help of GreenMet’s strong Washington connections, Locksley says it is pushing ahead on talks with the US Energy and Defense departments that provide programs that are currently offering generous funding packages for critical minerals production.
The Desert antimony project is one of only four high-grade primary antimony deposits in the United States. Neighbouring the fabled Mountain Pass rare earths mine owned by MP Materials, the project’s geology and position make it highly prospective.
A Rock chip at site returned a whopping grade of 47.9 per cent antimony and has recently been followed up with a 3D mapping program, which extended the Desert project’s mineralised corridor by a thumping 400 per cent, from 300 metres to 1.2 kilometres.
In a world where supply chains define strategy, Locksley appears to have done more than pour metal – it has poured the first foundation block in rebuilding America’s critical minerals independence.
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