Locksley launches dual drilling campaign near US rare earths giant

Locksley Resources has officially broken ground in the Mojave Desert with its first drill rig ready to start running on United States soil, and the timing couldn’t be sharper.

The company will imminently kick off drilling at its rare earths and antimony-rich Mojave project in California, just as momentum continues to build around the White House’s critical minerals agenda.

Locksley Resources has started drilling at its Mojave project in California, targeting high-grade rare earths and antimony systems.

With claims abutting MP Materials’ rare earth powerhouse at Mountain Pass and early sample grades up to 46 per cent antimony and 12.1 per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO), Locksley might have fired the starter’s pistol on one of the most strategic drilling campaigns in America this year.

The program will target two separate systems in a single swing, one for rare earths and one for antimony - and both have the potential to plug directly into federally backed initiatives for sovereign supply chain development. The first holes will test the company’s El Campo prospect for rare earths over a defined 860-metre strike, while follow-up holes will hone in on the historic Desert antimony mine that’s returning up to 1022 grams per tonne (g/t) silver and monster antimony grades at surface.

Importantly, all approvals are already in place and drilling is fully funded, following a $1.47 million placement to institutional and sophisticated investors.

Locksley is advancing a twin assault on two of the US’s most strategically important but under-developed metals, rare earths and antimony.

It’s a fair bet that not many Australians have heard of the dusty El Campo prospect in the far reaches of California’s Mojave Desert, but it’s a name that might just be about to find its way onto a very high-powered radar in Washington DC.

That’s because ASX-listed Locksley Resources is sitting on ground that could position it smack bang in the middle of America’s race to rewire its critical mineral supply chain away from China.

Locksley is advancing a twin assault on two of the US’s most strategically important but under-developed metals, rare earths and antimony. Both are now recognised as critical to US defence and industrial applications, both have zero current domestic mine production and both are found in high grades at Locksley’s wholly owned Mojave project in California.

Importantly, the company’s 20-square-kilometre land package is nestled in one of the few places in America where the Federal Government has shown it is not just talking the talk, it is funding the build-out of a sovereign mining-to-magnet supply chain for rare earths.

Locksley’s rare earths ground at El Campo sits directly along strike from MP Materials’ world-renowned Mountain Pass mine, and the company’s antimony tenure surrounds the long-abandoned but high-grade Desert antimony mine.

MP Materials is a name worth remembering. It’s the only current producer of rare earths in the US and was recently handed a multi-billion-dollar public-private partnership with the US Department of Defense (DoD) that will see the DoD become its biggest shareholder, guarantee its off-take price for a decade and back the development of a new US-based rare earth magnet manufacturing plant.

This is where things get interesting for Locksley.

Locksley’s Mojave tenements in California are adjacent to MP Materials’ world-renowned Mountain Pass mine.

Its El Campo prospect, which has recorded rock chip samples grading up to 12.1 per cent TREO and 3.19 per cent neodymium-praseodymium, lies along strike from Mountain Pass and is entirely enclosed within MP’s claims. That’s not a typo: Locksley’s claim is surrounded by MP’s tenements, and the company has gone to great lengths to validate and defend its legal interest in the ground, including securing full Bureau of Land Management approvals to drill under US Mining Law. It has since received no further challenges from MP.

Locksley has a separate drilling program planned for its Desert antimony mine, which has already turned up samples as high as a staggering 46 per cent antimony and up to 1022g/t silver. Despite being mined briefly nearly a century ago, the ground has never been tested with modern drilling technologies and Locksley will now test both the Desert mine and El Campo in a single, federally aligned campaign.

It’s worth pausing here to consider just how rare this opportunity might be.

The US does not have a producing antimony mine, despite 82 per cent of domestic consumption being imported and more than 60 per cent coming from China. With antimony now formally designated a US critical mineral – vital for ammunition, semiconductors and flame retardants – a high-grade, high-certainty supply chain would likely turn some heads.

If the mineralisation stacks up, then Locksley’s location, grade profile and permitting status put it at the front of the queue for potential Federal support.
The support is already being aggressively pursued.

The company has appointed high-powered US advisor Viriathus Capital to help shape its downstream strategy, lead engagement with US government stakeholders and accelerate capital markets awareness through its recent listing on the OTCQB market. Viriathus has also been tasked with opening doors to the DoD, Department of Energy and the US Export-Import Bank – and is helping position Locksley’s rare earths and antimony as key building blocks for resilient US supply chains.

The strategy has plenty of tailwinds. In March, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to accelerate permitting pathways for critical minerals, including provisions for Defence Production Act funding. The energy department’s Critical Materials Institute has also launched new collaboration pathways for rare earths and antimony technologies.

Locksley has confirmed it is actively engaging with these groups, including pursuing cooperative research and development agreements and related downstream collaborations with national laboratories. It’s also flagged the potential for e-waste technology integration and environmental, safety and governance-forward processing partnerships in the US.

On the technical front, the numbers are compelling. The company has secured drilling permits for five rare earths holes at El Campo, where surface mineralisation is interpreted to extend across an 860m strike. A further three holes will target the stibnite-rich Desert antimony system, testing historic structures now guided by modern geophysics and mapping.

Make no mistake, Locksley is swinging for big outcomes, and if it can sink the drill bits into high-grade results this quarter, it might go from the dusty desert fringe to centre stage in America’s new mining revolution.

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