Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY) reports breakthrough antimony recovery results from Rice University Collaboration
Locksley Resources has provided an update on its strategic collaboration with Rice University to advance innovative hydrometallurgical processing technologies for antimony recovery and support the development of domestic U.S. critical minerals processing capability.
Laboratory work completed to date has delivered results across both leaching and recovery workstreams, demonstrating that antimony bearing raw ore and concentrates can be dissolved using DeepSolv™ technology and recovered as high grade antimony products.
The program is progressing through staged laboratory validation, process optimisation and pilot scale planning, with the objective of assessing the technical and commercial potential of a modern domestic processing capability.
Highlights
Rice University collaboration advances DeepSolv™ technology towards an integrated domestic U.S. antimony processing pathway.
Raw ore containing approximately 9% to 12% antimony was successfully upgraded to products containing up to 93% Sb following optimisation.
Antimony concentrates containing approximately 65% to 70% Sb produced recovered products grading approximately 91% to 96% Sb.
Electrodeposition successfully produced pure metallic antimony from raw ore dissolved using DeepSolv™ technology.
The next phase will focus on DeepSolv™ hydrometallurgical process optimisation, solvent recyclability, pilot scale evaluation and downstream product assessment.
DeepSolv™ technology is an emerging low temperature hydrometallurgical process being evaluated as a cleaner, lower impact alternative to traditional high temperature smelting and conventional chemical leaching for the extraction and recovery of antimony from ore and concentrates.
Laboratory testing has successfully demonstrated that antimony bearing raw ore and concentrates can be dissolved using DeepSolv™ technology and recovered as high grade antimony products.
Raw ore containing approximately 9% to 12% antimony, without flotation or prior concentration, was successfully upgraded to a recovered product containing 89% Sb, with further optimisation increasing product concentration to up to 93% Sb.
Testing on antimony concentrates containing approximately 65% to 70% Sb produced recovered products grading approximately 91% to 96% Sb.
The Rice University team also successfully recovered phase pure antimony oxide from raw ore under optimised laboratory conditions.
Electrodeposition testing successfully produced pure metallic antimony directly from raw ore dissolved using DeepSolv™ technology.
Together, these results demonstrate an increasingly integrated processing pathway, progressing from laboratory dissolution of antimony bearing ore through to the recovery of high purity antimony oxide and metallic antimony products.
Locksley Managing Director Kerrie Matthews said.
“These latest results represent another important technical milestone in our collaboration with Rice University. They demonstrate that DeepSolv™ processing technology has the potential to unlock a cleaner and more flexible antimony recovery pathway. The work has now moved beyond simple leaching tests and has demonstrated recovery of both antimony oxide and metallic antimony products from ore and concentrates.”
Rice University is internationally recognised for its leadership in advanced materials, nanotechnology and sustainable process engineering, providing Locksley with access to world-class scientific expertise as it advances its downstream processing strategy.
Locksley's collaboration with Rice University forms a key pillar of the Company's broader mine-to-market strategy, combining resource development at the Mojave Project with downstream processing innovation aimed at strengthening domestic U.S. critical mineral supply chains.
The Mojave Project provides the foundation for the current research program, with representative antimony feedstocks being used to optimise processing pathways, improve recovery performance and evaluate the production of higher-value antimony products.
Under the Sponsored Research Agreement, intellectual property generated through the program is jointly owned by Rice University and Locksley, and the Company said the knowledge, processing expertise and intellectual property being developed may have broader application across suitable U.S. sourced antimony feedstocks, supporting the continued development of domestic processing capability.
The next phase of the collaboration will focus on further optimising the DeepSolv™ process and refining antimony product recovery.
Planned work includes further purification, production of single-phase antimony oxide products at higher solid-to-liquid ratios, solvent recyclability, recovery testing using recycled DeepSolv™ technology, deposition rate determination and continued refinement of the underlying processing chemistry.
In parallel, the team will evaluate pilot-scale equipment, including reactor and filtration systems, to support larger-scale leaching and recovery test work while assessing potential downstream applications for the recovered antimony products.