Antimony Resources’ Jim Atkinson on the Critical Metal Nobody Knows and NA’s Highest-Grade Deposit

Jim Atkinson calls antimony “the most critical metal that nobody knows about.” As Chief Executive Officer and Director of Antimony Resources Corp. (CSE: ATMY), he is leading the charge at Bald Hill in New Brunswick, home to the highest-grade antimony deposit in North America. With a Phase 2 drilling campaign now underway, Atkinson’s vision is clear: to transform the continent’s neglected antimony story into one of strategic supply and national security.In an interview with InvestorNews host Tracy Hughes, Atkinson outlined a drilling program designed both to expand the known deposit and to fill in critical data gaps. “Our plan is twofold. First, to expand the footprint of the deposit… We also expanded it to depth by about 50 meters, down to 400 meters, where we intersected mineralization. Our plan is to continue with that kind of expansion drilling, but also to fill in gaps in the data.” With approximately 6,000 meters of drilling planned before Christmas and a second drill scheduled to mobilize in October, he added: “The ultimate goal is to get drill hole density and mineralization continuity to a state where we can present this for a maiden resource calculation.”Atkinson brings unusual depth of experience to this task. “I worked for some years at the only antimony producer in North America at the time, Lake George Antimony, in New Brunswick—only about 100 kilometers from where we’re working now,” he recalled. “I was chief geologist there, also chief engineer, and did the surveying. It was a small operation, so we all did a lot of things.” That early work gave him not only firsthand knowledge of mining and processing antimony but also a global perspective: “We studied antimony deposits and resources worldwide… learned how deposits formed geologically, and applied that knowledge in exploration.”That knowledge underpins his urgency. “Antimony is what I call the most critical metal that nobody knows about,” he said. “Importantly, with expanding military needs, it’s used in military applications—artillery, bullets, shells. It’s also used, perhaps more importantly, as a flame retardant. Every tent in the U.S. and Canadian militaries is sprayed with antimony trioxide.” The mineral strengthens car batteries, is mandated in flame-retardant regulations for furniture and clothing, and is embedded in modern defense supply chains. In 2024 alone, the U.S. imported 140,000 metric tons of antimony trioxide. China, which once supplied much of the global market, now keeps concentrate for domestic use as its largest mine runs low after 120 years. “Every country in the world includes antimony on its critical minerals list,” Atkinson observed, noting the Pentagon’s investments in Idaho and Montana projects. “The U.S. government considers Canadian supply ‘domestic.’ We’re only 75 kilometers from a deep-sea port and 80 kilometers from the U.S. border, so access is excellent.”Recent results have added momentum. On August 28, Antimony Resources reported a string of strong assays from its Bald Hill project, including grades as high as 11.3% Sb over one meter and 5.27% Sb over nearly five meters. “Significant high-grade antimony has been intersected in over 75% of our drillholes,” Atkinson stated in the news release. “Our recent drilling extended the Main Zone by over 100 meters to the southeast and to a depth of at least 400 meters, significantly expanding the potential of the deposit.” The company is preparing an updated 3-D model to guide the next phase of exploration and ultimately underpin a maiden resource estimate.