Perpetua Resources (TSX: PPTA | NASDAQ: PPTA) has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Perpetua Resources Idaho, was awarded an Ordnance Technology Initiative Agreement (OTIA) of up to US$15.5M by the US Department of Defense (DoD).
“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,” commented Laurel Sayer, Perpetua Resources president and CEO.
Managed by the U.S. Army Joint Center of Excellence for Guns and Ammunition at the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, the objective is to demonstrate a fully domestic antimony trisulfide supply chain using ore from the Stibnite gold project site 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.
Antimony trisulfide is considered essential to national defence as a key component for munitions. China, Russia, and Tajikistan currently control approximately 90% of antimony supply and the United States has no domestically mined source of the critical mineral. Perpetua plans to re-establish domestic supply as a by-product of one of the highest-grade open pit gold resources in the US.
Under the OTIA, Perpetua will be reimbursed for these activities on a cost-plus fixed fee basis over a 24-month period. The estimate of up to US$15.5M is subject to adjustment based on scope, costs, budget, or other factors as the programme advances.
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