Antimony Resources Enlists Critical Minerals Expert as Bald Hill Resource Estimate Nears

China's antimony export collapse sparks scramble; Antimony Resources taps Pentagon advisor John Melkon to advance Bald Hill project, a high-grade deposit critical for defense supply chains.

With China’s export controls squeezing global antimony flows — shipments have reportedly collapsed by nearly 97% — Western governments are scrambling to secure domestic sources of the metal, essential for everything from munitions to missile guidance systems. Antimony Resources is positioning its Bald Hill project in New Brunswick as a homegrown answer, and the company has just brought in a strategist with direct Pentagon ties to help unlock the necessary military and financial support.

John M. Melkon, a director and assistant professor at the United States Military Academy in West Point who also leads the Critical Minerals Consortium, joined the company’s advisory board on 14 July. His résumé includes stints as senior operations advisor for US Army Africa and strategic operations officer in the Department of Defense, giving him a rare blend of security policy and critical-mineral expertise. The company’s aim is clear: Melkon is expected to open doors to Pentagon procurement channels and secure loans or grants from the US Department of War and the Export-Import Bank.

At the centre of the strategy is Bald Hill, a high-grade antimony deposit where a NI 43-101 technical report published this year set an exploration target of roughly 2.7 million tonnes grading 3% to 4% antimony — well above the global average of under 1%. The mineralisation remains open in all directions, and the company is running an 18,000-metre drill programme to expand the known Main Zone and test new targets. The first independent mineral resource estimate is scheduled for completion before the end of the year, a milestone that will mark Bald Hill’s transition from exploration target to formally valued asset.

On the trading floor, the Melkon appointment sparked a 4.5% jump on Wednesday, but the bounce has done little to reverse a deeper sell-off. The stock currently sits at €0.31, down 15.72% over the past seven sessions and 34.94% over the past month. From the 52-week high of €1.05, reached in March, the shares have fallen 70.49%. The relative strength index has dropped to 33.7, now flirting with oversold territory, while annualised 30-day volatility stands at roughly 105%.

The picture brightens considerably over a longer horizon. From the 52-week low of €0.09 last July, the equity has still gained 261.21%, underscoring the roller-coaster nature of a stock that is as sensitive to headlines as it is to raw commodity cycles. CEO Jim Atkinson brings his own pedigree to the story, having previously operated the historic Lake George mine, once North America’s largest antimony producer.

Melkon’s arrival is the latest move in a broader play to turn geopolitical tension into shareholder value. Antimony was long a niche metal, but China’s tightening grip on both mining and refining has made supply-chain security a top priority for the Pentagon, which uses the metal in ammunition, rocket guidance systems and flame-retardant materials. Bald Hill’s grades are high enough to promise better margins than many global peers, but the company has yet to provide concrete timelines or dollar figures for any Pentagon contracts or financing. That leaves the upcoming resource estimate as the critical test — a formal verdict on whether the geological story can live up to the geopolitical rhetoric, and whether it can finally reverse the chart’s steep downward course.