A holistic review of mineralisation surrounding Locksley Resources’ (ASX: LKY) Mojave project in the US has identified new high-grade antimony and copper in rock chip samples collected by the company.

Six samples were taken from the historic Desert antimony mine during reconnaissance for rare earth elements (REEs) and all returned grades of more than 0.5% antimony, including 8.3% and a best result of 11.2%.

Four of the samples returned copper grades of more than 0.5%, including one collected from the south-east of Desert that assayed 4.12%.

Extensive testing

Locksley has completed three surface sampling programs at Mojave over the past 12 months.

223 rock chip samples and 43 stream sediment samples have been collected from the El Campo lease and the North, North-east and South blocks.

REEs have been the main focus given the project’s proximity to the Mountain Pass mine owned by US-based rare earths company MP Materials.

Critical mineral

Locksley managing director Steve Woodham said the sampling results were particularly significant in the current antimony market.

“These results are positive given the importance of antimony as a critical mineral and the recent tightening of export volumes from China, which generates 32% of global supply,” he said.

“Our exploration team will now conduct a follow-up sampling program to evaluate the potential of the known antimony mineralisation and we look forward to reporting these results.”

Antimony market

Antimony is used as a hardening agent for lead and its use in lead storage batteries accounts for around 33% of global use.

Antimony alloys and antimony tin oxide are also used for a range of products from manufacturing solder to ammunition, while in its purest form, antimony is used in semiconductor technology, infrared detectors and diodes.

The global antimony market was valued at $1.6 billion in 2023 and is expected to exceed $3.2b by the end of 2036.

One of the major drivers of this growth is the use of antimony in battery manufacturing, with global demand anticipated to reach more than 1,900 gigawatt hours by 2030.

The rise in electric car production and the need for renewable energy sources are also predicted to increase the consumption of lead-acid batteries, further boosting the antimony market.