Item 2. Properties
Item 2. Properties.
The following table provides a summary of the properties we were affiliated with at December 31, 2024:
Segment
Location
Owned
or Leased
Mine, Processing Facility,
or Warehouse
Active
or Inactive
Own
Mining Claims
Executed Surface
Rights Agreement
Antimony
Sanders County, Montana
Owned
Processing Facility
Active
n/a
n/a
Antimony
Madero in Coahuila, Mexico
Owned
Processing Facility
Active
n/a
n/a
Antimony
Puerto Blanco in Guanajuato, Mexico
Owned
Processing Facility
Active
n/a
n/a
Zeolite
Preston, Idaho
Leased
Mine and Processing Facility
Active
Yes
Yes
Zeolite
Lethbridge, Canada
Leased
Warehouse
Active
n/a
n/a
There are no material encumbrances on any of our properties at December 31, 2024.
DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTIES
Antimony and Precious Metals Facility in Sanders County, Montana
We own 14 acres of land in the Burns Mining District in Sanders County, Montana, where we operate a facility that includes our antimony smelter and precious metals equipment. This facility was built in 1971, started operating in 1972, and is included in our antimony segment. We built the road system, but it was purchased and is currently operated and maintained by the USFS. The antimony smelter 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 1,296,000 pounds in 2024 and approximately 998,000 pounds in 2023. This plant is also equipped for the treatment and production of precious metals. Annual gold production was approximately 35 ounces in 2024 and approximately 36 ounces in 2023. Annual silver production was approximately 14,600 ounces in 2024 and approximately 21,400 ounces in 2023. We do not mine at this facility but rather process ore into finished products.
This facility 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 property 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 property and a major airport in Spokane, WA, that is about two and one-half hours from our property. Our facility 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 facility 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. The USAMSA subsidiary includes the following two antimony and precious metals processing facilities in Mexico, both of which are owned: (1) the Madero facility in Coahuila, Mexico and (2) the Puerto Blanco flotation mill, oxide circuit, and cyanide leach circuit facility in Guanajuato, Mexico. We do not mine at these facilities but rather process ore into finished products. The Los Juarez mining claims and concessions are in Cadereyta de Montes Queretaro, Mexico and are included in our ADM subsidiary. There are presently no active operations at Los Juarez.
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Madero Antimony Smelter and Precious Metals Processing Facility in Coahuila, Mexico
The Madero antimony smelter and precious metal processing facility at Estacion Madero, in the Municipio of Parras de la Fuente, Coahuila, Mexico, is included in our antimony segment. Construction started on the property in 2009. 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 Madero antimony production is sold as antimony metal or antimony low-grade oxide. In 2019, we completed the installation of a caustic leach circuit to process antimony concentrates from our Puerto Blanco cyanide leach facility containing any precious metals from our Los Juarez property or other sources. Annual antimony finished goods production was 163,788 pounds of antimony metal in 2024 and 88,160 pounds of antimony metal in 2023.
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:
Puerto Blanco Flotation Mill and Precious Metals Processing Facility in Guanajuato, Mexico
The Puerto Blanco facility in Guanajuato, Mexico is about 100 acres and is included in our antimony segment. Construction started on the property in 2010. The facility contains a flotation mill and oxide circuit that are used in increasing the concentration of antimony in ore and a cyanide leach circuit this is use in the processing of precious metals. The flotation mill can be used for the processing of ore from the Company’s mine in Los Juarez and other unrelated 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. 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 had no processing in 2024 with its closure for most of 2024, as described in the “ Recent Developments ” section in this Annual Report, and processed approximately 20,000 pounds of antimony ore in 2023, which contained an average of 25% antimony.
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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Zeolite Mine and Processing Facility in Preston, Idaho
Bear River Zeolite Company (“BRZ”), which represents our Zeolite Segment, has a lease with Zeolite, LLC that entitles BRZ to surface mine and process zeolite on property in Preston, Idaho, in exchange for an annual payment and a royalty payment, which is based on the amount of zeolite shipped from the leased property (“BRZ Lease”). The BRZ Lease ends December 31, 2034. See Note 14 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report for further details on the BRZ Lease. BRZ pays two other royalties based 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 11 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report for the status of inspections by MSHA. Annual zeolite production was approximately 11,100 tons in 2024 and approximately 10,100 tons in 2023. 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.
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:
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Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.