Felix Gold has announced new high-grade antimony assays from past drilling at the historic Scrafford mine within the Treasure Creek project in Alaska.
The results were generated from a review of a 2022 campaign that previously only reported gold assays and include antimony intercepts of 3m at 14.24% from 7.62m, 1.5m at 15.99% from 86.87m and 7.5m at 3.3% from 141.7m, including 1.5m at 7.43%.
They complement previous high-grade antimony results from 2023 drilling, such as 15.2m at 5.5% from 21.3m including 6.1m at 13%, 6.1m at 7.7% from 3m including 1.5m at 28% and 1.5m at 26.1% from 38.1m.
Project plans
Executive Director Joe Webb said the new results align with the company’s plans for the Treasure Creek project.
“Treasure Creek constitutes a large-scale gold-antimony system characterised by the identification of high-grade antimony mineralisation in numerous locations, which has been verified at various prospects and at the historic Scrafford and Goodwin mines,” he said.
“The project also hosts numerous other prospects of significant grade and highlights the substantial potential for multiple high-grade feeder zones to support our immediate initiatives focused on high-grade antimony production.”
Historic grades
The Scrafford mine has a proven history of production, with grades of up to 58% antimony.
Mr Webb said the high-grade nature of the deposit could potentially reduce the complexity and cost of processing and contribute to a low-cost operation for Felix.
Past success with a straightforward gravity separation method suggests that a relatively simple and cost-effective processing plant could also be implemented for future operations, minimising the capital expenditure requirement and technical risks associated with more complex processing techniques.
The presence of accessible high-grade ore near the surface could further support the possibility of rapid production.
Metallurgical work
Preliminary metallurgical work completed in the 1970s on Scrafford’s Vein 1 and Vein 2 shows the mine’s concentrates to be of premium quality due to the absence of harmful smelter impurities and the presence of revenue-adding gold and silver by-products.
Mr Webb said this enhances the economic viability of the project and aligns with Felix’s goal of producing a clean and marketable antimony concentrate.
The test work also demonstrated a recovery rate of over 90% for stibnite using flotation, indicating the potential for efficient antimony extraction and further contributing to the project’s low-cost profile.
Near-term production
Felix is currently assessing the viability of near-term antimony production as an added shareholder value creation pathway to complement existing plans for growing Treasure Creek’s 833,000-ounce inferred resource.
Mr Webb said this could include collaboration with US government agencies to support the security of the critical metal supply chain.
“Antimony has been a key component of Felix Gold’s strategy from the outset,’ he said.
“Earlier this year, Felix Gold outlined plans for a dedicated antimony strategy for near-term antimony production opportunities [and] recent market developments have now brought this opportunity to light, underscoring its strategic importance.”
