In a market obsessed with the next shiny critical mineral, Ares Strategic Mining (CSE: ARS) is quietly doing something rarer: turning a fully permitted Utah mine into actual cash-flowing production.
The latest investor update makes the case crystal clear. The metallurgical-grade (metspar) lumps plant at the Lost Sheep Mine is in final commissioning. Production is imminent. First shipments are targeted for next month. Roughly 12,000 tonnes of high-grade material already sit stockpiled and ready.
Management is eyeing US$20–30 million in annual metspar revenue—achievable well within three years—before the higher-value acid-grade flotation plant comes online in the first half of next year. That second plant is backed by a five-year U.S. Department of Defense contract with a ceiling approaching a quarter-billion dollars, plus an established offtake relationship with the Kramer Group.
Fluorspar is the only non-metallic critical mineral the United States still imports 100%. It goes into steel, aluminum, hydrofluoric acid, lithium-ion batteries, refrigerants, semiconductors, and more. China remains a net importer after exhausting its own high-grade reserves. Prices have been rising. Domestic supply is not a nice-to-have; it is strategic.
Ares holds a district-scale position across ~6,000 acres of the Spor Mountain range, has already built the bulk of its processing infrastructure, and is advancing a potential NASDAQ uplisting. The company is shifting from pure development spend into self-sustaining revenue.
For investors tired of perpetual “near-term production” stories that never arrive, this one is different: the plant is built, the ore is stockpiled, the customers are lined up, and the clock is ticking in weeks, not years.
Top-pick highlights
- Imminent metspar production and first revenue
- 12,000 tonnes already stockpiled
- Clear path to $20–30 M annual revenue
- DoD acid-spar contract + established commercial offtake
- Fully permitted, infrastructure largely complete
- Solving a genuine 100% import gap in a critical mineral
Watch the full update and judge for yourself:
Ares is no longer a story about potential. It is a story about execution – and the timing looks excellent.
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