Antimony Resources has moved its Tecomatlán plant into its first plant-scale antimony concentrate campaign, but reported only 0.9 quarters of funding at September’s cash burn. The campaign could provide the company’s first operating proof point, while also sharpening the need for additional financing or commercial revenue.
- 200 tonnes of Chinantla material being processed at Tecomatlán
- First marketable antimony concentrate targeted after dry and wet commissioning
- A$1.12 million cash against A$1.26 million of quarterly relevant outflows
- A$1.52 million rights issue completed and A$500,000 related-party loan drawn
- Los Lirios targets expanded ahead of Phase 2 drilling
Tecomatlán reaches its first plant-scale test
Antimony Resources Limited (ASX:ANT) has reached the operational test that will determine whether its Tecomatlán processing strategy can move beyond refurbishment: about 200 tonnes of Chinantla material was being processed through the Mexican plant after dry and wet commissioning. The company is targeting its first bulk antimony concentrate, with independent assays intended to measure grade, recovery and impurity levels.
The campaign builds on the 200-tonne Tecomatlán campaign, which earlier coverage described as the plant’s first plant-scale test on third-party feed. During the September quarter, Antimony Resources completed crushing and screening of the Chinantla parcel, while flotation installation reached about 90% and grinding infrastructure continued to advance. The company says the proof-of-concept results will guide refurbishment, optimisation and any expansion towards a planned 150-tonne-per-day integrated plant.
Preliminary metallurgy supports the processing case, with limits
Laboratory testwork on Chinantla material produced an approximately 42.4% antimony concentrate at 81% recovery through flotation, compared with 20.54% concentrate grade and 29.25% recovery using gravity concentration alone. A five-year binding ore supply framework is in place with Chinantla, located about 8 kilometres from Tecomatlán, although purchases are only committed through individual accepted confirmations and neither party is required to buy or sell a minimum quantity.
Other feedstock options remain less certain. Preliminary bench-scale work on Vinatas produced up to 78.6% flotation recovery and a 68.3% antimony concentrate after gravity upgrading, while subsequent Coyul testing produced a 45.1% concentrate and 73.3% total recovery in the strongest reported test. Those results relate to samples from third-party operations, not plant-scale production, and the Vinatas and Coyul supply arrangements remain non-binding.
Cash position leaves little room for commissioning delays
The operational progress comes with a conspicuous funding constraint. Antimony Resources finished September with A$1.12 million in cash after using A$1.247 million in operating activities and a further A$17,000 on exploration during the quarter. On the company’s calculation, that represented only 0.9 quarters of available funding, with no unused finance facilities.
The company completed a A$1.52 million rights issue during the quarter and drew a separate unsecured A$500,000 loan from Allgreen Holdings, an entity related to former director Adrian Paul, at 10% interest. But the balance sheet still depends on the next commercial step arriving in time: Antimony Resources says it is pursuing concentrate sales, longer-term offtake-linked funding, strategic investment, additional equity and potential US government-related financing. Its own disclosure says continued operations and business objectives remain subject to securing additional funding.
Exploration expands while production remains unproven
At the 70%-owned Los Lirios project in Oaxaca, mapping identified four new feeder vein systems and four hydrothermal breccia targets within an approximately 900-metre by 200-metre mineralised corridor. A certified assay returned 2.2 metres at 5.20% antimony from Cofradia, below the earlier handheld pXRF reading of 5.66%, and environmental authorisation has been confirmed for Phase 2 drilling.
In Nevada, 567 soil samples defined a 1,100-metre gold-arsenic-antimony-mercury-thallium corridor at Milton and two mineral systems at Dollar. These targets may broaden the company’s North American antimony portfolio, but they remain exploration prospects rather than resources. For now, the decisive evidence is expected from Tecomatlán: whether the 200-tonne campaign produces a saleable concentrate, at what recovery and impurity profile, and whether buyers will commit commercial terms before the cash buffer is exhausted.
Bottom Line?
The first concentrate assays could convert Tecomatlán from an engineering story into a commercial one, but timing matters because the reported cash runway is under one quarter at current outflows.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the Tecomatlán campaign produce a marketable concentrate with recoveries and impurity levels that support commercial sales?
- Can Antimony Resources secure offtake-linked funding or other capital before its reported 0.9-quarter cash runway is exhausted?
- Will Vinatas and other non-binding feedstock arrangements become binding supply contracts sufficient to support a larger plant?