DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / December 20, 2024 / United States Antimony Corporation ("USAC", or the "Company"), (NYSE:UAMY) announced today that it has completed contractual negotiations and executed a definitive agreement for new international shipments of antimony from the country of Australia. In conjunction with this antimony ore being shipped via containers, the Company also announced the plans to restart its existing antimony smelter located in Madero, Mexico. This facility was shut down in March 2024 due to a lack of economic antimony material sourced from mines previously controlled by the Company's Mexican subsidiary that were also located in Mexico.
The Company is in the process of making certain capital improvements to the Madero Antimony Smelter in amounts currently estimated to be less than $1 Million. Repairs to rotary furnaces will require complete refractory relining along with maintenance work on burners and other drive parts. These improvements will allow a greater flow and processing of material along with more end products for our customers. The current engineered capacity of the Madero smelter is approximately 200 tons per month. A portion of the inbound international shipments announced today should arrive at the Mexican west coast port of Manzanillo beginning in March 2025. Current plans are the containers have already been loaded for an approximate 75-day ocean voyage.
Commenting on this new agreement and the plans to restart the Madero smelter, Mr. Gary C. Evans, Chairman & CEO stated, "Our team has been tirelessly sourcing these new inbound antimony supplies for over 120 days now. It has not been an easy task testing samples, negotiating contracts, and finalizing logistics with entities located outside the USA. We believe the quantities of antimony ore from this particular party will increase substantially (possibly up to 300 tons per month) as we get more comfortable with their chemical and metallurgical makeup and how well we can process this new material in our facilities. In many ways, antimony processing is more art than just science. Fortunately, we have qualified and highly experienced management on board that has been doing this for many years. This is the first of a number of international contracts the Company is negotiating regarding inbound antimony raw ore. We are very excited to announce that we are now beginning to accomplish the goal of fulfillment of U.S. Antimony's downstream processing facilities to meet the demands existing within our own country."
About USAC:
United States Antimony Corporation and its subsidiaries in the U.S. and Mexico ("USAC", the "Company", "Our", "Us", or "We") sell processed antimony, zeolite, and precious metals products in the U.S. and Canada. The Company processes antimony ore primarily into antimony oxide, antimony metal, and antimony trisulfide. Our antimony oxide is used to form a flame-retardant system for plastics, rubber, fiberglass, textile goods, paints, coatings and paper, as a color fastener in paint, and as a phosphorescent agent in fluorescent light bulbs. Our antimony metal is used in bearings, storage batteries, and ordnance. Our antimony trisulfide is used as a primer in ammunition. In its operations in Idaho, the Company mines and processes zeolite, a group of industrial minerals used in soil amendment and fertilizer, water filtration, sewage treatment, nuclear waste and other environmental cleanup, odor control, gas separation, animal nutrition, and other miscellaneous applications. We recover certain amounts of precious metals, primarily gold and silver, at our plant in Montana from antimony concentrates.
Forward-Looking Statements:
Readers should note that, in addition to the historical information contained herein, this press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of, and intended to be covered by, the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on the Company including matters related to the Company's operations, pending contracts and future revenues, financial performance, and profitability, ability to execute on its increased production and installation schedules for planned capital expenditures, and the size of forecasted deposits. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and the assumptions upon which they are based are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations and assumptions will prove to have been correct. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as these statements are subject to numerous factors and uncertainties. In addition, other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are discussed in the Company's most recent filings, including Form 10-K and Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "outlook," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "pro forma" and other similar words and expressions. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which change over time. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Because forward-looking statements are subject to assumptions and uncertainties, actual results or future events could differ, possibly materially, from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements and future results could differ materially from historical performance.
Contact:
United States Antimony Corp. PO Box 643 47 Cox Gulch Rd. Thompson Falls, Montana 59873-0643 Jonathan Miller, Vice President - IR E-Mail: Jmiller@usantimony.com Phone: 406-606-4117
