Item 2. Properties
Item 2. Properties.
The following table provides a summary of the properties we were affiliated with at December 31, 2023:
Segment
Location
Owned or Leased
Mine, Mill, Processing Plant, or Warehouse
Active or Inactive
Own Mining Claims
Executed Surface Rights Agreement
US Antimony
Sanders County, Montana
Owned
Processing Plant
Active
n/a
n/a
US Antimony
Sanders County, Montana
Owned
Mine and Mill
Inactive
Yes
n/a
Mexico Antimony
Madero in Coahuila, Mexico
Owned
Processing Plant
Active (A)
n/a
n/a
Mexico Antimony
Puerto Blanco in Guanajuato, Mexico
Owned
Processing Plant
Active (A)
n/a
n/a
Mexico Antimony
Los Juarez, Mexico
Leased
Mine
Active
(B)
(B)
Zeolite
Preston, Idaho
Leased
Mine and Processing Plant
Active
Yes
Yes
Precious Metals
Sanders County, Montana
Owned
Processing Plant
Active
n/a
n/a
Precious Metals
Puerto Blanco and Madero in Mexico
Owned
Processing Plant
Active (A)
n/a
n/a
Zeolite
Lethbridge, Canada
Leased
Warehouse
Active
n/a
n/a
(A) As described in the “ Recent Developments ” section in this Annual Report, the Company announced the shutdown of the operational activities of USAMSA, which primarily includes USAMSA's Madero and Puerto Blanco antimony and precious metals plants in Mexico. The Company intends to sell or lease its USAMSA entity, operations, or assets over the next year and has initiated an active search for buyers or leasing opportunities of its operations and/or existing assets.
(B) Mining claims are owned by ADM other than two mining claims that have been purchased by ADM, but ownership has not transferred to ADM. Executed surface rights agreements exist with ADM other than one surface rights agreement that has lapsed, and a new agreement will be negotiated.
Although we extract minerals from the Bear River Zeolite property in Idaho that we later process and sell, we have not prepared a technical report summary for the Bear River Zeolite property making a determination on the property’s mineral resources or mineral reserves.
There are no material encumbrances on any of our properties.
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Also, we own the following properties that are not material:
·
A house in Preston, Idaho, which is used to house workers who are working at our zeolite operation; and
·
Our corporate office is at our plant in Sanders County, Montana.
DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTIES
Properties in Sanders County, Montana
We own 14 acres of land in the Burns Mining District in Sanders County, Montana, where we operate a plant that includes our antimony smelter plant, which is our US Antimony Segment, and our precious metals equipment, which is in our Precious Metals Segment. The plant was built in 1971 and started operating in 1972. We built the road system, but it was purchased and is currently operated and maintained by the USFS. The antimony smelter plant includes furnaces of a proprietary design to produce antimony metal, antimony oxide, antimony trisulfide, and various other antimony products. We have 6 operational Small Rotary Furnaces (SRF’s) and 2 operational electric furnaces and have permits for up to 9 SRF’s and 4 electrical furnaces. The SRF’s are used to roast various antimony ore inputs and can produce either finished antimony oxide or finished antimony metal in the form of ingots. The electrical furnaces are used to produce antimony trisulfide. The furnaces are maintained to modern standards. Annual antimony production was approximately 1,181,000 pounds in 2023 and approximately 1,291,000 pounds in 2022. This plant is also equipped for the treatment and production of precious metals. Annual gold production was approximately 36 ounces in 2023 and approximately 44 ounces in 2022. Annual silver production was approximately 21,400 ounces in 2023 and approximately 25,100 ounces in 2022. We do not mine at this plant but rather process ore only.
Our mine and mill in Montana, which are approximately 1.5 miles (3 miles by USFS roads) northwest of our smelter and precious metals plant on National Forest Road 2179 and approximately 4,100 feet north of Prospect Creek, hold one five-acre patented mill site that we own in fee-simple. Our mine was an underground antimony mine known as the Stibnite Hill Mine (Operating Permit #00045). Our mine and mill operated from approximately 1968 to 1983 when they suspended operations because antimony ore could be purchased more economically from foreign sources. As a result, since 1983, we have relied on sources outside the U.S. for antimony ore, which is used by our smelter and precious metals plant. There are no plans to resume mining, although the mineral rights have been retained on the patented mining claims. Currently, the environmental permitting process precludes any mining at this site.
Our antimony smelter plant is approximately 16 miles west of Thompson Falls on Montana Secondary Highway 471 with GPS coordinates latitude 47.548077 north and longitude 115.591828 west. Our plant is approximately 850 feet north-northeast of Prospect Creek in Cox Gulch, which resides in the northern Bitterroot Mountain range. This Highway 471 is asphalt, and the property is accessible by car or truck. There is a smaller airport, Sanders Airport, that is about 2 hours from our plant and a major airport in Spokane, WA, that is about 2 and a half hours from our plant. The plant is serviced with electricity from Northwestern Energy, and water is pumped from a well. Personnel are sourced from nearby cities like Belknap, Plains, and Missoula. Our plant is considered a large quantity generator (“LQG”) of hazardous waste and must comply with the Montana Hazardous Waste Act, which is regulated by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”). Following are location maps related to this property:
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Properties in Mexico
The Company has two subsidiaries in Mexico, USAMSA and ADM. As described in the “ Recent Developments ” section in this Annual Report, we shut down the operational activities of USAMSA on March 11, 2024, which primarily includes our two antimony and precious metals processing plants in Mexico as follows: (1) the Madero smelter in Coahuila, and (2) the Puerto Blanco flotation mill, oxide circuit, and cyanide leach circuit in Guanajuato. The Company intends to sell or lease its USAMSA entity, operations, or assets over the next year and has initiated an active search for buyers or leasing opportunities of its operations and/or existing assets. The Company will maintain its existing Los Juarez mining claims and concessions in Cadereyta de Montes Queretaro, Mexico, which are included in our ADM subsidiary. There are presently no active operations at Los Juarez.
The following map shows the location of the properties in Mexico we are affiliated with at December 31, 2023, including the location of our freight forwarder and the Wadley mine, both of which we have no affiliation:
Los Juarez Antimony Mine in Queretaro, Mexico
The Los Juarez Property is in the state of Queretaro, Mexico. In 2019, we commenced open pit mining on our Los Juarez property and extracted 2,000 metric tons to test at our Puerto Blanco flotation mill in Mexico. However, extraction was halted in 2020 to conduct several rounds of geological study. Further study is ongoing, and depending on the results, the Company will decide what course of action to take. There has been no mining of the Los Juarez property since 2020. Some of the major equipment at the site includes an excavator, an older Cat D-6, a gas welder/generator, a small break shack, and an explosives magazine, all of which are functional.
The Los Juarez property consists of:
1.
San Miguel I and II mining claims, which were purchased by ADM for $1,480,500 and paid in full as of December 31, 2018. The transfer of ownership of the mining claims to ADM is still in process. The property consists of 100 acres (40 hectares);
2.
San Juan I and II mining concessions, which are concessions owned by ADM and include 1,152 acres (466 hectares); and
3.
San Juan III mining concession, which is held by a lease agreement by ADM, the terms of which include a monthly payment of $1,000 and a 10% royalty based on the net smelter returns of USAMSA. It consists of 529 acres (214 hectares).
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The concessions collectively constitute 1,780 acres (720 hectares). The claims are accessed by roads that lead to highways. The Los Juarez property is approximately 40 kms (about 24.85 mi) by road from the town of Vizzaron. It is located within 4 kms of the ejido of Los Juarez situated near the top of the mountain. GPS coordinates at the center of the Los Juarez property are 20.86528, -99.67590. The property is accessible by truck by paved road except for the last 4 kms which is a dirt road made by the Company. Following are location maps related to this property:
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Puerto Blanco Flotation Mill and Precious Metals Processing Plant in Guanajuato, Mexico
The flotation mill known as Puerto Blanco is in Guanajuato, Mexico. The Puerto Blanco property is owned by USAMSA. Construction started on the property in 2010 and the plant was shut down on March 11, 2024, as described in the “ Recent Developments ” section in this Annual Report. The Puerto Blanco property is about 100 acres. The flotation mill and oxide circuit are part of the Mexico Antimony Segment, and the cyanide leach circuit is part of the Mexico portion of the Precious Metals Segment. The flotation mill has a capacity of 100 metric tons per day and can be used for the processing of ore from Los Juarez and other third-party properties. An oxide circuit was added to the plant in 2013 and 2014 to mill oxide ores from Los Juarez and other properties. The capacity of the oxide circuit is 50 tons per day. In 2019 a cyanide leach circuit for recovery of precious metals was built and permits were obtained for this circuit. This cyanide leach circuity is not yet in operation and has not been used. Puerto Blanco processed approximately 20,000 pounds of antimony ore in 2023, which contained antimony of an average of approximately 25%, and approximately 40,000 pounds of antimony ore in 2022, which contained antimony of an average of approximately 32%.
The Puerto Blanco property is approximately 15 kms (about 9.32 mi) north of the city of San Jose Iturbide along state highway 57 in the state of Guanjuato, Mexico with GPS coordinates of 21.07827, -100.54144 and is located approximately 144 kms (about 89.48 mi) from our Los Juarez property. It is accessible by highway to all vehicles. Following are location maps related to this property:
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Madero Smelter and Precious Metals Processing Plant in Coahuila, Mexico
The Madero antimony smelter at Estacion Madero, in the Municipio of Parras de la Fuente, Coahuila, Mexico, is part of the Mexico Antimony Segment. The Madero property is owned by USAMSA. Construction started on the property in 2009 and the plant was shut down on March 11, 2024, as described in the “ Recent Developments ” section in this Annual Report. The property is about 16 acres with seventeen small rotating furnaces (“SRF’s”) and four large rotating furnaces (“LRF”) with an associated stack and scrubbers. The plant has a feed capacity of 14 to 25 metric tons of ore per day depending on the grade of the feedstock. If the feedstock is 45% antimony, we believe the smelter could produce as much as 10 million pounds of contained antimony annually. The Madero antimony production is sold as metal or crude oxide, the oxide of which is shipped to our plant in Montana to produce finished antimony products. In 2019, we completed the installation of a caustic leach circuit to process concentrates from the Puerto Blanco cyanide leach plant containing any precious metals from our Los Juarez Mining property, which is part of the Mexico portion of the Precious Metals Segment and which has not been used. Annual antimony finished goods production was 189,965 pounds of antimony metal and oxide in 2023 and 352,949 pounds of antimony metal and oxide in 2022.
This property is about 7 kms north of the gas station known as Paila Coahuila and less than 1 km from a railroad and the ejido Estacion Madero, Coahuila. Paila is about halfway between Torreon and Saltillo, both in the state of Coahila on state highway 40, and is accessible by truck. Electricity is supplied by CFE, the socialized electricity provider in Mexico and provides adequate and fairly reliable power. Water is sourced from a well at the smelter. Personnel are sourced mainly from the nearby community of about 100 people. Following is a location map related to this property:
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Bear River Zeolite Mine and Processing Plant in Preston, Idaho
Bear River Zeolite (“BRZ”), which represents our Zeolite Segment, has operated a mine and processing plant on private land owned by Zeolite, LLC since 2000. BRZ leases 320 acres from Zeolite, LLC that entitles BRZ to surface mine and process zeolite on property in Preston, Idaho, in exchange for a royalty payment. The annual royalty payment is the greater of: (1) the minimum annual royalty of $60,000, adjusted annually for the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers, or (2) $11.00 per ton for the first ten thousand tons, $9.90 per ton for tons in excess of ten thousand up to twenty thousand, and $8.80 per ton for tons in excess of twenty thousand. This Zeolite LLC lease also requires BRZ to pay $10,000 to the lessor on March 1 of each year during the term of the lease, which ends March 1, 2025. BRZ also pays two other royalties based on the sale of zeolite products. On a combined basis, BRZ pays royalties ranging from 8% to 13% on the sale of zeolite products. BRZ has all necessary MSHA and operational permits and is regularly inspected by MSHA for compliance with State and Federal requirements. See Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report for the status of inspections by MSHA. Annual zeolite production was approximately 10,100 tons in 2023 and approximately 13,000 tons in 2022. In addition, BRZ can surface mine and process zeolite on the 480 acres of property owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and held by our 24, 20-acre Placer claims, that is adjacent to the Company’s Preston, Idaho property, after obtaining required permits.
The deposit on the land owned by Zeolite, LLC is a thick, sedimentary deposit of zeolitized volcanic ash of Tertiary age known as the Salt Lake Formation. The sedimentary interval where the clinoptilolite occurs is over 1,000 feet thick. Thick intervals of the zeolite are separated by thin limestone and sandstone beds deposited in the freshwater lake where the volcanic ash accumulated. The deposit includes an 800-foot mountain. Zeolite can be sampled over a vertical extent of 800 feet on more than 700 acres. The current pit covers more than 3 acres.
Depending on the location, the zeolite is overlain by 1 to 12 feet of zeolite-rich soil. On the ridges, the cover is very little, and in the draws, the soil is thicker. The overburden is stripped using a tractor dozer, moved to the toe of the pit, and will eventually be dozed back over the pit for reclamation.
Although near-surface rock is easily ripped, it is more economical to drill and blast it as breakage is generally good. Initial benches are 20 feet high, and each bench is accessed by a road.
Haulage is over approximately 4,000 feet of road on an uphill grade of 2.5% to the mill. On higher benches, the grade will eventually be downhill. Rock trucks are being used to haul 18 to 20 tons per load, and the cycle time is approximately 30 minutes.
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BRZ is in the southeast corner of Idaho and is accessible by seven miles of paved road and about l/4 mile of gravel road from Preston, Idaho. Preston is a city in Franklin County, Idaho and is near the major north-south Interstate Highway 15 to Salt Lake City, UT or Pocatello, ID. Water is sourced from the landowner during the early spring and summer months. Late summer, water is generally scarcer but is obtained from the same source. Electricity is provided by the local electric company and is fairly reliable. Personnel are sourced, mainly from Preston, but also from North Logan. Following are location maps related to this property:
Location Map
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