Locksley (ASX: LKY) uncovers high-grade antimony up to 26.1% at Mojave, sharpening U.S. critical minerals push

Key Highlights

• Batch sampling returns exceptional antimony grades up to 26.1% Sb
• Weighted average of 18.7% Sb across 287kg of material
• High grades could lower processing costs and speed flotation recovery
• Pilot plant design and metallurgical optimisation underway
• Shares steady at $0.178, market cap $65.3M, 1-year return +834%
  
   

As governments and industry place greater emphasis on domestic critical minerals supply, Locksley Resources Ltd (ASX: LKY) has released fresh sampling data from its Mojave Project, with results derived from collected ore batches pointing to notably high antimony grades.

At the company’s Desert Antimony Mine within the Mojave Project in California, a fresh batch sampling program has returned antimony grades as high as 26.1%, with multiple samples comfortably above 20%. For context, that is unusually rich ore by global standards.

According to the company’s ASX announcement dated 3 February 2026, the program collected 287 kilograms of mineralised material from historical underground workings. The combined weighted average grade came in at 18.7% antimony, with individual batches averaging 25.7%, 21.3% and 11.4% Sb respectively.

For a metal that is typically mined as a low-grade byproduct of gold or silver, these numbers suggest something different. This looks like a primary, high-grade antimony system.

Why these grades matter

Antimony may not be a household name, but it sits quietly inside defence systems, semiconductors, batteries, flame retardants and specialised alloys. The United States currently has no meaningful domestic production, with China dominating global supply.

That geopolitical backdrop gives projects like Mojave strategic weight.

From a mining perspective, higher grades mean simpler economics. Less rock needs to be crushed and processed to produce the same amount of metal. Energy use falls. Equipment can be smaller. Recovery can improve.

Locksley notes that the double digit grades could reduce mass pull and grinding requirements, leading to faster flotation and lower capital intensity for its planned pilot facility.

Management’s take

Managing Director and CEO Kerrie Matthews did not hide the company’s confidence.

“For Locksley to consistently return double digit percentages at over 25% underscores the potential of the Desert Antimony Mine. We aren’t just looking at byproduct antimony, we are looking at a rich, primary source of a metal that the U.S. Department of Defence and the energy sector desperately need. With these results, the completion of pad preparation and other pre-drilling activities, added to the imminent arrival of the drill rig at Mojave, we are entering a very exciting time for Locksley.”

It is a direct message. The company sees Mojave not just as exploration upside, but as a nearer term production pathway.

What happens next

Locksley has laid out clear operational steps:

• Metallurgical flotation and crushing testwork
• Finalising flowsheet design
• Engineering work for a Phase 1 pilot processing facility
• Permitting and planning for larger scale extraction
  
   

Each of those steps moves the project closer to actual production rather than remaining a geological story.

Market snapshot

The share price response has been measured but positive.

• Price: $0.178
• Change: +1.43%
• Volume: 4.44 million shares
• Market cap: ~$65 millio 
• 1-year return: +834%
  
   

The stock has already delivered strong gains over the past year, so incremental operational progress rather than speculation may be the next catalyst.

The bigger picture

Critical minerals are no longer just about resource size. They are about grade, jurisdiction and timing.

Locksley ticks all three boxes:

• High grade mineralisation
• U.S. location
• Defined pathway to pilot scale processing
  
   

That combination is rare.

Finding metal is one thing. Finding it rich enough and close enough to infrastructure to produce economically is what counts. Mojave appears to be trending toward the latter.

The next few months, particularly drilling and metallurgical work, will determine whether these surface and underground samples translate into scalable tonnes.

But for now, the numbers speak clearly. Antimony at 20% plus is not common. And in a world racing to secure domestic supply, that matters.