Equinox Resources signs strategic agreement to advance antimony pathways at Alturas project

Equinox Resources (ASX: EQN) has signed a strategic agreement with US downstream processor Alaska Antimony and Singapore-based antimony trading firm SB51 to explore offtake, processing and commercialisation pathways for its Alturas project in Canada.

A strengthening antimony market characterised by tight global supply, elevated pricing and rising demand from Western-aligned industrial and defence sectors is underpinning the 12-month, non-binding agreement.

Antimony metal prices surged to US$59,800 per tonne this month, reflecting global supply disruptions, Chinese export restrictions and tightening inventories of high-purity feedstock.

Long-term solutions

Equinox managing director Zac Komur said the strategic agreement would provide a framework to advance negotiations at Alturas towards long-term solutions independent of Chinese control.

“With China currently producing approximately 48% of the world’s mined antimony and controlling an even greater proportion of refining capacity, Western markets are actively seeking alternative sources of clean and compliant feed,” he said.

“The Alturas project, with its high-grade mineralisation and potential for early-stage direct shipping ore (DSO), is well positioned to respond to this demand.”

Pathway for future sales

Under the terms of the agreement, Alaska Antimony can negotiate a right of first refusal over ore and concentrate from Alturas.

This would potentially provide the company with a direct pathway for future sales into North America’s only proposed new antimony refinery in Alaska.

The deal includes the delivery of up to 10,000 tonnes of bulk sample material, enabling smelter qualification, metallurgical test work and compatibility assessments to support early-stage revenue generation from Alturas.

While not definitive, Equinox believes the agreement also represents a pathway to establishing formal commercial relationships between the three companies.

Marketing agent

Equinox has appointed SB51 as the exclusive global marketing and sales agent for Alturas ore and concentrate.

The move leverages SB51’s portfolio of antimony rights across Asia, Africa and South America, as well as its established channels into Western-aligned industrial and defence markets.

All parties will co-operate on metallurgical test work and sample analysis to confirm the suitability of Alturas ore for direct shipping or downstream processing.

They will also collaborate on commercial terms including indicative pricing, logistics, offtake structures and potential collaboration on downstream refining or processing infrastructure.

Right timing

Alaska Antimony director Caspian Tavallali said Canada offered the right geology, jurisdiction and timing for Alturas in a global environment where China and Russia controls more than 80% of production.

“Partnering with Equinox and Alturas gives us access to high-grade North American material from a reliable and transparent jurisdiction and working alongside SB51 will be critical to securing and moving raw material into processing pathways that serve Western demand,” Mr Tavallali said.

Mr Tavallali sees the company as well positioned to become a meaningful contributor to the North American critical minerals supply chain.

Work schedule

Equinox has prioritised a work schedule at Alturas headlined by a LiDAR (light detection and ranging) survey to define structural controls and refine priority drill targets along the project’s 1.5 kilometre ultra high-grade, coarse-grained stibnite-bearing shear zone.

The company will also conduct an assessment of the historical open-cut zone, where previous sampling recorded grades of up to 69.98% stibnite adjacent to legacy adits extending 50 metres into the hillside.

Equinox will follow up its execution of a drilling campaign to test high-priority zones at depth and validate extensions of high-grade mineralisation with cobbling and ore sorting trials targeting up to 10,000t of stibnite-rich material for DSO.

“These activities are designed to support our strategy of near-term monetisation from known high-grade zones while advancing a broader development strategy to position Alturas as a key Western-aligned source of strategic antimony,” Mr Komur said.