United States Antimony Corporation (“USAC”, NYSE MKT “UAMY”) reported
that it has sold 2,330 tons of zeolite in October which is a monthly
record. The new sales have come from a variety of buyers and can be
attributed to a better grade of zeolite, improved processing techniques,
the ability to make a wider variety of particle sizes, the ability to
blend additives, and better quality control. This segment of the USAC
business may become the lead source of short term profit until metals
prices recover.
ANTIMONY BUSINESS
Our cost per pound of antimony production has fallen due to the
following factors:
1. An increase in production which lowers the cost per pound of fixed
overhead,
2. The cost of raw materials has dropped significantly because the price
is indexed to the sale price,
3. Realized savings from natural gas instead of propane in Mexico,
4. Sharply reduced propane costs in Montana,
5. Lower costs of operating in Mexico,
6. Byproduct silver and gold production,
7. The ability to ship finished metal from Mexico directly to customers,
8. The largest cost savings will result when all Mexican operations are
on stream. The holding costs for Los Juarez, Wadley, Guadalupe, and
Soyatal have been substantial.
The antimony business will realize much higher production and
potentially better operating margins as Mexican operations are brought
up to capacity. We believe that the price of antimony will recover
following the liquidation of Chinese inventories.
ANTIMONY SMELTER PRODUCTION
At the Madero smelter in Coahuila, Mexico, the large furnace (“LRF”) is
being fed concentrates from Australia. The use of the LRF will allow
USAC to process the inventory of concentrates and ore from Wadley,
Guadalupe, and Soyatal in the existing small furnaces (SRFs). The
recovery of gold from the Australian concentrates will commence during
Q4, 2015.
GUADALUPE PROPERTY
USAC has exercised its option to purchase the Sierra Guadalupe property
in Zacatecas, Mexico for $2,000,000. After previously advancing
$586,892.71 for developing the property, the balance is $1,413,107.29
that will be paid in graduated monthly payments starting at $5,000 per
month and increasing overtime for 12 years. The property consists of
217.4 hectares. Unlike the “mantos” or layered deposits at Soyatal and
Wadley that are oxidized, Guadalupe is sulfide and can be milled with a
recovery of up to 90% to produce concentrates containing 65-70% Sb. The
high- grade concentrates double smelter production, reduce costs, and
are amenable to an LRF. The concentrate can be used for the production
of antimony tri-sulfide for primers for ordnance and rockets sought by
the U. S. Department of Defense.
SOYATAL PROPERTY
USAC has been mining legacy dumps that average 4 to 9% antimony
contained. The material is milled at the Puerto Blanco mill in
Guanajuato, Mexico where the recovery has been 45-50%. The concentrates
average 32% antimony with moisture at approximately 10%. Recently a 100
ton lot was sold for $98,800.00 FOB the mill which calculates to $1.50
per pound of contained antimony.
GOLD AND SILVER BUSINESS
The production of gold and silver from the Los Juarez deposit in
Queretaro, Mexico is awaiting two circuit additions. The first addition
is at Madero and the equipment is being built and installed. It is
expected to result in high metallurgical recoveries of gold and silver
from the flotation concentrates. The second addition will involve a
cyanide leach circuit at the flotation mill at Puerto Blanco in
Guanajuato to recover the rest of the gold and silver from the
floatation tailings. The application for this permit is being worked on,
and commencement of Los Juarez production could proceed during the first
half of 2016. The Company does not claim any ore reserves by definition
of the S.E.C. standards.
CEO John Lawrence said that, “The Company is rapidly increasing the
production of zeolite to take advantage of the growing market,
increasing the antimony production to lower costs, and getting the Los
Juarez gold and silver on line to generate more revenue and prevent
dilution of the shareholder equity. All capital is being generated
internally.”
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, 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-KSB
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151102005197/en/
Copyright Business Wire 2015