United States Antimony Corporation (OTCBB:UAMY) announced that its Antimonio de Mexico S. A. de C. V. wholly owned subsidiary has just received authorization from Semarnat, the Mexican permitting agency, to allow the reclassification of the land for the construction of a mill to process antimony, silver, and gold mineralization from the San Miguel deposit in the State of Queretaro, Mexico. Waiting for the permit has delayed the project for almost one year.
The San Miguel I and II claims are one of three properties on a mineralized zone that is more than 4.5 kilometers long with a width of more than 50 meters and a thickness of up to 10 meters. Mining will be by open pit methods. At the present time the precious metal values are as high as the antimony values. Although the three properties constitute 1,778 acres and a Mexican Government Monograph reports grades and reserves, USAC is unable to claim any reserves by S. E. C. standards. The Semernat has authorized the San Miguel I and II, but the other two properties, the San Juan I and II, and the San Juan III will be permitted in the future.
Mineralized rock from these properties will be hauled to the mill near Cadereyta, Qro., where a high-grade antimony and silver concentrate with a gold credit will be produced. The designed capacity of the mill is 150 metric tons per day, and it is approximately 40 kilometers from the deposit. The mill has been prefabricated at the USAC plant in Montana. Additional rock from the Soyatal Mining District, which is close to the mill, may be processed at the mill. Through 1943 the Soyatal district had produced 56,503,898 pounds of antimony metal content using hand-mining methods, which recovered less than 50% of the values.
Concentrates from the mill will be transported to the USAMSA smelter, a wholly owned subsidiary of Antimonio de Mexico, located in The State of Coahuila, Mexico. Here a variety of antimony products will be made. The smelter has been permitted and various modifications are almost complete. The plant has been inactive awaiting price increases.
China controls more than 89% of the world production of antimony. Antimony prices are expected to increase over the next 5 years due to continued inflation of energy and other costs, a declining production of antimony from China and other world sources, and an increasing demand from China and other developing nations.
USAC is the only significant domestic producer of antimony products. The Company needs more raw materials, and Mexico has been the logical source. Historically production from Mexico has been as high as 30,000,000 pounds per year.
Forward Looking Statements:
This Press Release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are based upon current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events, including matters related to the Company's operations, pending contracts and future revenues. 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-KSB with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
United States Antimony Corporation
John Lawrence, 406-827-3523