March 7, 2016. Thompson Falls, Montana. United States Antimony Corporation (“USAC”, NYSE MKT “UAMY”) reported mill testing of the Los Juarez property in Queretaro, Mexico is in progress to determine whether a cyanide leach circuit is necessary. If it is not required, then no further permitting is foreseen to commence pilot scale production.
The startup plan is to test every step of the operation on a pilot mill scale of up to100 tons per day.
Stage 1. The installation of the alkaline leach circuit at the Madero smelter in Mexico to process flotation concentrates is nearing
completion.
Stage 2. Milling campaigns of rock from different locations at Los Juarez are now underway to determine (1) whether selective mining
is possible, and (2) to determine whether a cyanide circuit at the Puerto Blanco mill in Guanajuato is required.
Stage 3. The installation of the cyanide leach plant at Puerto Blanco may not be necessary following stage 2.
Stage 4. will include the installation of the 500 ton per day mill close to the mine to reduce trucking costs.
Los Juarez is a gold-silver-antimony deposit consisting of pipes intruded into limestone from substantial depths that are exposed over 3.5 kilometers in length and up to1kilometer in width. A shallow reconnaissance drilling program indicates a global average grade of 0.057 ounces (1.432 grams) gold, 2.43 ounces (75.24 grams) silver per metric ton, and 0.343% antimony. The gross value is $128.22 per ton based on gold at $1,250.00/oz, silver at $15.000/oz, and antimony at $2.45/lb. USAC claims no reserves per SEC definitions, and the drilling does not comply with Canadian NI 43-101.
A 63% increase in production from 2015 to 2016 was a result of the full time use of the LRF furnace. The production of antimony and BRZ zeolite are as follows:
Product | Antimony pounds sold | BRZ tons sold |
January 2016 | 267,076 | 1,043 |
February 2016 | 305,630 | 905 |
Total 2016 | 572,432 | 1,948 |
January 2015 | 230,585 | 1,099 |
February 2015 | 118,945 | 923 |
Total 2015 | 349,530 | 2,024 |
Change from 2015 to 2016 | +63.8% | -3.75% |
CEO John Lawrence said “If a cyanide leach plant is not necessary at the Puerto Blanco mill, a tremendous savings in time and money could be realized for the startup of Los Juarez. Continued growth during 2016 is being funded internally to prevent the dilution of the shareholder base or taking on debt.”
About U.S. Antimony
US Antimony is a growing, vertically-integrated natural resource company that has production and diversified operations in precious metals, zeolite and antimony.
