Equinox Resources (ASX:EQN) has taken an important step in the development of its high-grade antimony project, Alturas, signing a strategic agreement for offtake, processing, and commercialisation for the British Columbia project.
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The company has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with U.S.-based downstream processing company Alaska Antimony Corporation and SB51 Pte Ltd, a Singapore trading firm which specialises in the commodity.
These three groups will be exploring the future development of Alturas together.
As part of this, Alaska Antimony Corporation has been granted the rights to negotiate a Right of First Refusal over the project’s ore and concentrate.
This is expected to open the door to future sales into the only proposed antimony refinery in North America, which will be located in Alaska.
The ROFR would see up to 10,000 tonnes of bulk sample material being delivered for a range of studies, including smelter qualification, metallurgical testwork, and downstream compatibility assessments, with this to set down a pathway towards a definitive offtake agreement and early-stage revenue.
At the same time, SB51 will be appointed as Equinox’s exclusive global marketing and sales agent for the ore and concentrate from Alturas – enabling the miner to take advantage of this company’s portfolio of more than100,000 tonnes of antimony rights across Asia, Africa, and South America, and its established channels into Western-aligned industrial and defence markets.
Equinox has been somewhat guided in its deliberations by the significant rise in antimony prices in recent weeks – reaching between US$56,000 to US$59,800 per tonne by April 14 – with this underscoring the effects of global supply disruptions, restrictions on Chinese exports and tightening inventories of high-purity feedstock.
Indeed, this agreement is built around a strategy of keeping critical mineral processing onshore and pushing against Chinese and Russian dominance, connecting Equinox into the evolving U.S. and allied antimony supply chains.
“This is more than an MoU,” managing director Zac Komur declared. “It is a strategic alignment between three parties with a shared objective to unlock one of the highest-grade antimony opportunities and deliver it into the most supply-constrained market environment we have seen in decades,” he said.
“With Antimony Corp developing critical downstream capacity and SB51 connected to buyers across the globe, we have the right partners to take Alturas from bulk sample to commercial reality.”
Mr Komur continued: “Canada offers the right geology, the right jurisdiction, and the right timing. As antimony prices continue to surge and buyers urgently seek secure feedstock, Alturas is positioned to become a meaningful contributor to the North American critical minerals supply chain.”
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