October 28 update: Assays are pending but a program of 10 RC holes and 875 metres found numerous instances of visual Fluorspar between the Lost Sheep project’s primary mining target and a fluorspar pipe.
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Visual fluorspar between two historic mining sites
brings new potential to this critical mineral project.
“Finding such large fluorspar mineralization zones just next to the area we had planned for our initial mining operation has completely changed and expanded our mining plans,” commented James Walker, Ares Strategic Mining TSXV:ARS president/CEO. “Our engineers have decided to increase the capacity of the plant from 250 tons per day to 500 tons per day, and mine more through open pit mining than underground, significantly lowering the mining cost for each ton of excavated fluorspar.
“This second drill program has located fluorspar mineralization larger than the initial target, and which connects the initial target to another known mine, creating a far larger initial target the company can begin exploiting next year. The discovery translates to an accelerated ramp-up in production plans that were planned to begin towards the end of 2021, but which can be moved forward by six months.”
Ares Strategic Mining expands fluorspar-bearing land package in Utah
October 20, 2020
A company planning to open America’s sole domestic source of this critical mineral has added 28 new claims to its project in Utah’s Spor Mountain fluorspar district. Ares used a lidar survey and digital elevation model along with recent ground exploration to identify previously unknown prospects. Fluorspar mineralization at surface and “unequivocal characteristic textures of the fluorspar breccia pipes” characterize some of the new findings. Others were identified through historic USGS records.
“Using a combination of aerial mapping and geotechnical analyses, our staff determined how the fluorspar pipes were formed throughout the Spor Mountain district, and identified the likely locations of the fluorspar pipes according to the known geological mechanics of the area,” said president/CEO James Walker.
Surface fluorspar mineralization at Purple Trench,
one of the newly acquired Spor Mountain prospects.
“The veracity of these predictions was verified by visual inspection of the identified locations, where dozens of new fluorspar showings were demonstrated at surface. This work deserves special acknowledgment for its ingenuity and accuracy, and for further enlarging the company’s potential and future mining options.”
Ares hopes to put the permitted project back into production without de-risking through advanced 43-101 reports. At present the U.S. has no domestic production of fluorspar, classified as a critical mineral by both the U.S. and the EU.
Among American efforts to secure supply of essential materials, the U.S. has committed itself to the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative with Canada and Australia. American contributions to the tri-national program will include a geological mapping program conducted this year over several states including Utah.
RC drilling has revealed high-grade assays on Ares’ project and, earlier this month, found an additional mineralized zone.
The company also holds the Liard project in northern British Columbia, a highway-accessible property with seven areas hosting historic, non-43-101 fluorspar estimates.
Read more about Ares Strategic Mining.
Watch an online presentation from Ares Strategic Mining.
