Published: August 30, 2023 |

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Perpetua Resources said its wholly owned subsidiary, Perpetua Resources Idaho, was awarded an Ordnance Technology Initiative Agreement (OTIA) of up to $15.5 million under the prototype other transaction (OT) authority of the Department of Defense (DOD) through the DOD Ordnance Technology Consortium (DOTC).

Managed by the U.S. Army Joint Center of Excellence for Guns and Ammunition at the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, the objective of the OTIA is to demonstrate a fully domestic antimony trisulfide supply chain using ore from the Stibnite Gold Project for use in munitions. To meet this objective, the company plans to obtain additional core samples from the project site, conduct a pilot plant study to produce mil-spec antimony trisulfide from the samples, design a full-scale process circuit, and deliver a modular pilot plant for the DOD to use in further investigations. 

Under the OTIA, Perpetua will be reimbursed for these activities on a cost-plus fixed fee basis over the 24-month period of performance. The current estimated amount is $15.5 million, which is subject to adjustment by the DOTC based on scope, costs, budget, or other factors as the program advances. Perpetua will be entitled to reimbursement for all costs incurred under the agreement.

“We are excited to expand our partnership with the Department of Defense and are proud to help demonstrate a fully domestic supply chain solution for the ammunition our troops need to keep our Nation and our allies safe,” said Laurel Sayer, president and CEO of Perpetua Resources.

“Our vision remains unchanged, which is to redevelop a world class gold deposit, provide the country with the critical mineral antimony, and restore an abandoned brownfield site. Perpetua is ready to be part of the solution and support our country’s defense supply chains from ground to round,” added Sayer.

Antimony trisulfide is essential to national defense as a key component for munitions. Currently, China, Russia, and Tajikistan control approximately 90 percent of the world’s antimony supply and the United States has no domestically mined source of the critical mineral. Perpetua plans to re-establish a domestic supply of the critical mineral antimony as a by-product of one of the highest-grade open pit gold resources in the United States. 

DOTC was established to foster innovation in defense technology through collaboration between industry, academia, and government to advance and expand our military technological superiority. The DOTC funding allows the company to demonstrate the suitability of the project’s antimony trisulfide concentrate for use in munitions while the company continues through the ongoing permitting process, led by the United States Forest Service (USFS). The agreement does not interrupt the ongoing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process. The OTIA will build on research conducted under a Small Business Innovation Research Grant. 

Perpetua Resources, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is focused on the exploration, site restoration and redevelopment of gold-antimony-silver deposits in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine district of central Idaho that are encompassed by the Stibnite Gold Project. The project is one of the highest-grade, open pit gold deposits in the United States and is designed to apply a modern, responsible mining approach to restore an abandoned mine site and produce both gold and the only mined source of antimony in the United States. Further advancing Perpetua Resources’ ESG and sustainable mining goals, the project will be powered by the lowest carbon emissions grid in the nation and a portion of the antimony produced from the project will be supplied to Ambri, a U.S.-based company commercializing a low-cost liquid metal battery essential for the low-carbon energy transition. Perpetua Resources has been awarded a Technology Investment Agreement of $24.8 million in Defense Production Act Title III funding to advance construction readiness and permitting of the project. Antimony trisulfide from Stibnite is the only known domestic source of antimony that can meet U.S. defense needs for many small arms, munitions, and missile types.

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