According to Mining.com, a Utah-based mining company claims to have discovered a giant deposit of rare earths and other critical metals, stating it could be one of the "largest deposits discovered in North America" to date.
Ionic Mineral Technologies (IMT) announced last week that sample analysis from its Silicon Ridge project in Utah confirms it as a halloysite-hosted ion-adsorption type deposit, which is easier to extract than traditional 'hard-rock' type lithium deposits.
The company stated that ion-adsorption type rare earth deposits account for over 70% of the world's heavy rare earth resources. Furthermore, this deposit is enriched not only with rare earths but also contains gallium, germanium, rubidium, cesium, scandium, lithium, vanadium, tungsten, and niobium.
Preparing for Production
Andre Zeitoun, founder and CEO of IMT, called this discovery a "turning point" for US resource independence. "For the first time domestically, we have a full suite of critical mineral resources that can be developed using extraction and processing methods that are faster and cleaner than traditional hard-rock mining," Zeitoun said.
In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Zeitoun stated that the Silicon Ridge project "could be the largest critical mineral deposit in the United States." The deposit contains up to 16 minerals used in AI semiconductor chips, as well as permanent magnets for defense systems and energy technologies.
Zeitoun emphasized that the project already has a mining permit and a 74,000-square-foot processing plant in Provo, where the company is headquartered. This will enable the project to "achieve commercial production quickly," he said.
The project and processing facility are part of IMT's integrated upstream and downstream strategy. Its primary goal is to transform the single raw material, halloysite clay, from the Silicon Ridge and Halloysite Hills projects into three high-value product lines: critical minerals, high-purity alumina, and nano-silicon.
This co-product approach aims to maximize revenue, minimize waste, and build a domestic supply chain for materials crucial to the US economy and military-industrial base.
Pre-Feasibility Study Underway
The Silicon Ridge discovery was confirmed by the ISO-certified ALS Chemex laboratories after analyzing samples from 106 drill holes and 35 trenches. The project spans 650 acres, with drilling exceeding 10,000 meters.
Preliminary analysis results show an approximate grade of 0.27% for rare earths and critical metals. IMT stated this grade is higher than the 0.05-0.2% average grade for ion-adsorption type rare earth deposits. Importantly, critical mineral grades have only been confirmed within 11% of the total resource area and at depths not exceeding 100 feet, indicating significant potential for resource expansion.
Speaking about its scale in the WSJ interview, Zeitoun said, "This isn't just a mine; it's a mineral district."
"The biggest obstacles to a mine are road and water access, but those are already in place here."
Using the ALS analysis results, the company has initiated a pre-feasibility study for the Silicon Ridge project, expected to be completed in the first half of next year.
The Utah-based company disclosed in a press release that it has appointed Citigroup as its market advisor.
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