Management said that the expanded tenure doubles the company’s footprint in the region and boosts the optionality of its “mine-to-market” strategy focused on developing upstream exploration through to downstream processing opportunities.
As Washington turns up the heat on securing a domestic supply of critical minerals, Locksley’s timing appears pitch perfect. Few commodities are higher on the government’s shopping list than antimony and rare earths.
In the past 12 months, China has dramatically cut the global supply of both metals by imposing export bans, leaving the US scrambling to de-risk its supply chains. Consequently, Locksley has found itself holding a front-row seat in the geopolitical theatre of minerals independence.
The company says claim staking is now complete and filings have been lodged. No competing claims were identified and Locksley is confident of securing mineral rights through adjudication.
With its new ground locked away, Locksley is wasting no time setting the wheels in motion. First on the list is ticking off registration with federal and state agencies. The company will then weave the fresh geological datasets into its broader exploration model to build a sharper picture of where the real hot spots might be hiding.
In the next month or so boots will be on the ground. The company is planning stream sediment and rock chip sampling across the new ground to sniff out high-priority anomalies in antimony, rare earths and polymetallics.
At the same time, Locksley is working through permitting so it can hit the ground running with drilling approvals once those targets have been mapped out.
Locksley’s Mojave project already hosts the historic Desert antimony mine, which last operated in 1937 and is considered one of the highest-grade known antimony prospects in the US. With no domestic antimony production currently in play, this alone makes Locksley’s ground strategically important.
With ground hard up against Mountain Pass and Washington ramping up efforts to cut Beijing’s grip on supply, Locksley’s latest move looks less like a punt and more like a power play.
The expansion has shaped up a critical minerals story with the dual appeal of local discovery upside and global geopolitical relevance – a combination that the market is finding hard to ignore.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
