Dateline Resources is continuing to flex its muscles in the high-stakes arena of United States critical minerals, by snapping up the promising Argos strontium project, about 100 kilometres from the company’s groundbreaking Colosseum gold-rare earths project in California.
In a powerhouse move that catapults Dateline’s American footprint into overdrive, the company has sunk its teeth into the US’s largest known strontium deposit, the little-known mineral’s sole domestic deposit of scale. No strontium is currently produced in the US.
The canny acquisition supercharges the company’s critical minerals portfolio, which is already teeming with Colosseum’s rare earths potential. Colosseum also has an existing JORC-compliant gold resource of 27.1 million tonnes grading 1.26 grams per tonne (g/t) for 1.1 million ounces.
Adding strontium to its minerals portfolio increases the company’s kitty of valuable critical metals needed for US defence and high-tech industries.
Dateline believes the project enhances the US supply-chain security for strontium, perfectly aligning with the US administration’s strategic minerals agenda to secure domestic sources of vital critical minerals.
Bolstered further by President Donald Trump’s re-election, the US Department of Defence is hell-bent on establishing domestic production of defence-critical minerals and chemicals, including strontium compounds used in munitions, highlighting its strategic importance to national security and associated industrial supply.
The US Department of Defence recently awarded rocket propellant manufacturer Estes Energetics US$13 million (A$19.5 million) to produce domestically a range of strontium-based oxidisers for military applications.
Notably, the European Commission (EC) in 2020 declared strontium a critical raw material due to its economic importance and risk of supply.
The company plans to motor the Argos project forward, in combination with Colosseum’s rapid development, to deliver on its goal of supplying minerals crucial for US security needs.
Dateline Resources managing director Stephen Baghdadi said: “Consolidating 100 per cent ownership of the Argos strontium project is a significant milestone for Dateline. It gives us full control over a uniquely strategic asset at a time when the US is urgently seeking domestic sources of minerals. Argos is a natural fit within our portfolio; it’s nearby our Colosseum project and complements our focus on minerals needed for advanced technologies.”
Baghdadi said with strontium’s importance in electric vehicles, defence ordnance and the growing space systems sector, having the only US strontium deposit of note places Dateline in an enviable position.
The purchase of Argos catapults Dateline into a diversified critical minerals play, providing investors with a hold-onto-your-hat ride into the green energy, defence and high-tech applications sectors.
Strontium is an abundant element, ranking as the 15th most common element in the Earth’s crust. It is only commercially viable for extraction when present in the form of celestite or strontianite.
Strontium compounds have long been used in signal flares, fireworks and propellants. It is known for imparting the bright red hues to a significant celebration favourite, an eye-opening pyrotechnics display.
Strontium ferrite magnets are a key component of small electric motors, used for their low cost and strong magnetic properties. They are made from mixing iron oxide with strontium carbonate and provide a low-cost alternative to stronger, more expensive magnets.
The Argos deposit is a celestite-hosted deposit. Celestite is also called strontium sulphate. It is known for its exceptional purity, with high ore grades and very low barium content, a well-known impurity. Historical analyses of material from the deposit returned up to 95 per cent strontium sulphate, indicating extremely high purity.
Its clean metallurgy should allow a concentrate to be produced with minimal processing, from potentially open-pit mining due to the deposit being near-surface. The mineralisation is exposed along a more than 1200m stretch of the Cady Mountains foothills, with no significant overburden.
Argos was mined until 1959, producing high-grade concentrates. Dateline assayed a series of rock chip samples in 2023, reporting results up to a significant 88 per cent strontium sulphate, equivalent to 49.8 per cent strontium oxide.
Production of strontium today is dominated by China, Iran, Mexico, Turkey and Spain, accounting for virtually all production.
Mexico, the largest exporter of the mineral to the US, and Turkey mine the metallic element at more than 90 per cent strontium sulphide content. Due to the shallow, bedded nature of the ore, open-pit mining is the go-to method for low-cost extraction.
Dateline’s management believes Argos can be developed as a cost-competitive domestic source of supply due to its similarities with the best Mexican shallow deposits.
The deal structure for the acquisition is shareholder gold. The company has acquired full ownership of Western Strontium, which owns four patented claims covering the Argos deposit.
Consideration is the gift-wrapping of 8 million shares in Dateline, representing a near-$2 million value at the time of the agreement. Plans are for the shares to be provided in a staged process of one million shares per month for eight months. The vendor retains a 1.25 per cent net smelter royalty on the project.
The Argos acquisition offers diversification heaven for Dateline and its stash of vital minerals, all in a jurisdiction crying out for supply, while offering much welcomed support for the critical sector. The burning question is: Could the addition of strontium to its minerals mix add a green hue to the company’s share price when it trades on the ASX board today?
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Craig Nolan
