Never underestimate American ingenuity - and never underestimate Alaskan ingenuity. In the latest example of just that, the Felix Gold Company Ltd, which operated the Treasure Creek project in the interior, has developed a new process for smelting antimony that cuts out several steps, making the ore-to-metal process faster and more efficient.
Reminiscent of the Fairbanks, Alaska-area mines that supplied high-grade antimony during the World Wars, Felix Gold Ltd. is evaluating a direct shipping ore approach at its Treasure Creek project north of Fairbanks.
Recent test work carried out at independent labs indicates that hand-sorted stibnite from the NW Array target can exceed typical military-grade concentrate specifications and be processed into high-purity antimony metal through either direct smelting or hydrometallurgical methods.
"Start with the ore. It can be excavated, hand-sorted, and delivered as high-grade feed, now shown to exceed U.S. military-grade concentrate specifications as direct ore," said Felix Gold Executive Director Joseph Webb. "There are no known sources, to the company's knowledge, of military-grade antimony concentrate in the Western world – and this exceeds that threshold straight out of the ground."
This points out once again how crucial metal supplies are to national security, not just an economic issue. Antimony has many uses; it is crucial in making lead-acid batteries, which your car or truck uses. It's used in flame retardants, in various alloys from solders to bullets, in semiconductors, plastics (as a flame retardant), and in glass, ceramics, and explosives.
Here's a graphic, from the linked article, describing this new direct smelting process:
— Ward Clark (@TheGreatLander) March 29, 2026
Work is already underway to start up this new process.
This approach could enable development of a relatively small-scale operation at NW Array, about 15 miles north of Fairbanks, focused on selectively mining and shipping high-grade material for processing into antimony used in ammunition, batteries, flame retardants, semiconductors, and other applications.
To advance this concept, Felix recently secured a 1,600-ton bulk sampling permit from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (see related story in the current edition of North of 60 Mining News). The company is mobilizing equipment and crews to begin extracting and sorting high-grade stibnite, with work expected to begin in the coming weeks.
The company is already mobilizing equipment and crews to begin extracting and sorting high-grade stibnite from NW Array, which is scheduled to begin in the coming weeks.
Read More: Nova Minerals Boosts Estelle Project With New High-Grade Gold Target
Alaska's Ambler Mining Road Now a Go: New Study Showing Minimal Impact on Caribou Range
America's national treasure chest just opened a little wider.
It's rather amazing how fast all of these things are getting underway. After decades of Washington treating Alaska like a giant national park, it's now becoming more and more apparent that, in Alaska, we can have our cake and eat it, too. We can have glorious, pristine vistas, and mining for strategic minerals, not to mention gold, where miners are literally pulling money out of the ground. We can have beautiful forests, glacier views, and mountains, along with North Slope oil and gas. We can have it all - and now that "Drill, Baby, Drill" has been joined by "Mine, Baby, Mine."
It's an interesting time in the Great Land.
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