EV Resources (ASX: EVR) has produced the first antimony ingots from mineralisation sourced at its flagship high-grade Los Lirios antimony project in Mexico.
The company used material from Pit 1 (Lirios 1) and East Pit (Lirios 2) to conduct preliminary direct-to-smelter testing and validate the suitability of Los Lirios ore for end products.
The tests were conducted at an independent third-party metallurgical facility in Guadalajara, experimenting with varying flux compositions and melting temperatures to test the conversion of raw mineralisation into metal.
Several ingot products were produced, confirming that high-grade stibnite and oxide mineralisation historically mined at Los Lirios is amenable to simple smelting techniques.
Diamond Drilling Program
In parallel with a 1,500-metre diamond drilling campaign at Los Lirios looking to define a maiden resource estimate, EV plans to conduct more detailed testing on feedstock and the final ingot products to enable further refinement of the potential process route.
Drilling at the Lirios Fault Zone (LFZ) will aim to identify high-grade feeder structures at targets identified by pit mapping beneath historical workings.
The zone – approximately 6 kilometres in strike length – is interpreted to be a fluid conduit for antimony-bearing hydrothermal fluids, with initial core observations suggesting the presence of a significant hydrothermal system.
EV is also finalising preliminary engineering and budgetary work in preparation for a Phase 1 refurbishment of the 150-tonnes-per-day Tecomatlán processing plant acquired in October.
Near-Term Antimony Producer
Chief executive officer Mike Brown said the first ingot production represented a critical de-risking milestone for the project, moving EV closer to its goal of becoming a near-term primary antimony producer.
“This isn't just a lab result; it is tangible proof that Los Lirios can deliver a finished metal product using straight-forward processes,” he said.
“By validating material from both Lirios 1 and Lirios 2, we have confirmed the potential simplified pathway for two different styles of material observed across the project area.”
“As global antimony supply remains under significant pressure, proving a fast-track, mine-to-metal pathway in Mexico positions us as a key future supplier to the North American market.”
