Nation's only fluorspar processing plant coming to Delta

A company with the only permitted fluorspar mine in the U.S. has announced it will spend $19 million on a first-in-the-nation processing facility in Delta.

Ares Strategic Mining’s 22,000-square-foot project will create 40 jobs in Millard County. The British Columbia-based company said in April it had completed the purchase of a 48-acre, industrially zoned manufacturing site that will be used to process fluorspar from the company’s Lost Sheep mine and its surrounding claims at the Spor Mountain area of Juab County.

Ares is focused on the exploration, production and supply of metallurgical and acidspar grades of fluorspar for the steel and aluminum industries, chemical industries and lithium-ion batteries.

A widely used industrial mineral, fluorspar is the only non-metallic critical mineral that is exclusively imported into the United States. Ares has strategic partnerships with major international fluorspar producers, giving the company access to technology, proceedings information, market information and engineering expertise.

Fluorspar has been deemed a critical mineral by the United States government for its in role in both national security and the U.S. economy. That classification translates to a faster permitting period, enabling mining operations to initiate more quickly than operations for conventional minerals, the company has said.

“Ares has received significant government backing because of the strategic importance of the mineral to the economic security of the United States,” said James Walker, president and CEO of Ares. “We are now a financially well-supported company looking to bring an industry back to the United States and be part of the effort to secure the domestic industrial mineral supply to protect U.S. industry. We are very appreciative of the support and acknowledgment we have received as we progress our company towards production.”

“We’re pleased to welcome the expansion of Ares Strategic Mining in rural Utah,” said Ryan Starks, executive director of the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity. “We’re proud to support manufacturing within the U.S. and appreciate the efforts made by Ares in this pursuit. We look forward to seeing how the expertise and partnerships Ares brings will diversify our economy and strengthen our state.”

“Fluorspar is an important mineral for products used by the U.S. Department of Defense and other key industries, but most of the world’s supply is currently produced outside of the U.S.,” said Scott Cuthbertson, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. “The expansion of Ares Strategic Mining to Millard County is an important win for both rural Utah and the U.S. manufacturing supply chain.”

The company in April said the processing facility property already was fitted with utilities and had its own water wells, reducing reliance on local water networks. It would include both Ares’ lumps and flotation plants and house a large tailings facility for the coming production. The property is connected to the Lost Sheep project via large, paved highways, requiring no infrastructure upgrades outside of the facility for the company to receive material.

Walker said at the time that the company believed it had located the best and most balanced industrial facility and land available after considering its size, location, facilities, accessibility, suitability and cost.

“The new acquisition means no second site is needed for the second processing facility, and staff can be more efficiently managed between operations,” he said then. “Ares will have a good workforce to draw from, accessible water, good access for trucks, and will be located near its newly installed rail spur for shipment of its products throughout the U.S.”

The company’s Lost Sheep fluorspar project encompasses 5,982 acres and 353 claims. The company said this spring that it had closed a $4.42 million loan backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under its Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program, and had been re-awarded a $10 million bond by the state of Utah in order to acquire “a larger and more sophisticated manufacturing facility.”