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Published: October 15, 2026 |
Ares Strategic Mining officially opened its Fluorspar Lumps Plant on Friday, October 9, 2026. The Lumps Plant processes raw fluorspar from the company’s fully permitted Lost Sheep Mine, into industry-ready metallurgical-grade lumps — an essential ingredient for steel and aluminum production. The official opening solidifies Ares as a vertically integrated company that owns and controls the critical mineral from the ground to its final, market-ready forms.
“Ares was built on a simple idea: become the leading fluorspar mining company in North America and return fluorspar manufacturing to the U.S. Opening this plant is the start of that realization,” said James Walker, CEO, Ares Strategic Mining.
The ceremony was attended by state and federal congressional representatives, key regional and local stakeholders, including the Delta City Council, the entire Ares and Provo Mining teams and local Delta families.
The opening ceremony was led by keynote speaker U.S. Representative Mike Kennedy, who highlighted the ongoing support from both the state and federal government.
“The federal government is committed to helping great people, like Ares, who are re-domesticating industries like fluorspar that we’ve put to the side for decades, and who are actually making our country more secure. The state of Utah supported Ares with an $11 million loan, and we know that working together, both state and federal, we can make our country more secure, stable and prosperous,” said Mike Kennedy, U.S. Representative, Utah.
The Spor Mountain district once supplied fluorspar to industry for more than eighty years. Ore was hauled into Delta and shipped out by the district’s earliest operators, which included local Delta families. Ares is putting that history back to work: mining the Spor Mountain, trucking ore to Delta, and processing it on site alongside the local community.
ROBUST MARKET DEMAND AND COMPANY POSITION
Market demand for fluorspar remains strong. In addition to the company’s $168.9 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense for its future acidspar product, Ares maintains a signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) with global commodities trader Cremer Erzkontor to distribute its metspar product across North America.
Ares is favorably positioned as the only commercial fluorspar operation in the U.S. At the Lumps Plant’s 165,347-ton annual capacity and current metspar prices between $350 and $520 per metric ton, potential gross product value exceeds $25 million annually, signaling the company’s transition into revenue generation.
ACCELERATED MINING AND FUTURE EXPANSION
The Lumps Plant facility is approximately seven acres in footprint, situated on a fully owned 50 acre site off Highway 6 in Delta, Utah. Ares aims to expand its Delta footprint with the construction of a complementary Acidspar Flotation Plant. The Flotation Plant machinery is already on site and construction has commenced. Once both plants are operational, the company can shift between producing both metspar for steel and aluminum industries, and acidspar for EV batteries, semiconductors, and technology applications.
The Lumps Plant will initially be fed by ore from the Lost Sheep Mine, which represents just one of the company’s 353 claims in the district. Recent geophysical surveys confirmed a further 49 preliminary fluorspar targets near the Lost Sheep Mine’s existing infrastructure. The company intends to continue supplying both plants in the longer term from these surrounding claims.
Additionally, the company intends on further developing its program, in collaboration with Found Industries, for the recovery of gallium, germanium, and other strategic critical materials from ARES-owned or controlled feedstocks associated with the Lost Sheep Mine.
“There’s a new American industrial base hiding in plain sight. Metals like gallium, germanium, and indium are essential to our energy, communications, space, and defense industries. Many are recovered alongside other minerals and producing them takes industrial infrastructure, and the people who know how to operate it,” said Peter Godart, president and CEO, Found Industries.
“Ares is building a domestic supply chain for fluorspar and in doing so is creating an opportunity to recover other critical metals from the same resource. Lost Sheep is one of the most promising domestic feedstocks we have encountered for exactly this work,” added Godart.
RECOGNITION OF TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONAL PARTNERS
The successful commissioning and opening of the Delta Lumps Plant, Lost Sheep Mine, and Processing Facility is the result of the dedicated efforts across engineering, capital partnerships, and site operations.
The company recognized its engineering partners, KC Harvey and Aspect Engineering, for their primary technical design, environmental planning, and plant engineering. The company also acknowledged the contribution of its shareholders, and its strategic and capital partners, including Sorbie Bornholm, whose continued backing powers Ares’ growth trajectory. In addition, the company thanked Roy Durr of Provo Mining & Construction, and his operations team, whose expertise and incredible dedication have provided the foundation for the entire operation.
“I am proud of this project, and prouder still of the crew that built it. Our people have been at the mine face and on the plant floor from the start, turning a permitted site into a working operation. Opening day belongs to them,” said Roy Durr, P.Eng., president and CEO, Provo Mining and Construction.
Ares Strategic Mining is a junior mining company focused on the development of its fluorspar projects in the U.S. The company aims to become a significant supplier of high-grade fluorspar to North American markets, supporting industries vital to modern technology and infrastructure.
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