Ares Strategic Mining Inc. (CSE: ARS) (OTCQX: ARSMF) (FRA: N8I1) has announced that fluorspar ore mined from its Lost Sheep Mine in Utah is now being transported to its processing facility in Delta, Utah, where it has begun entering the Metallurgical Lumps Plant for processing. This milestone connects the mine to the plant, marking a significant transition from infrastructure development to mining and processing operations.
The arrival of mined ore at the plant represents a critical step for the company, which has spent years developing the mine, constructing the processing facility, and commissioning its systems. Over the coming week, the operations team will use increasing quantities of actual mined material to tune and optimize the Lumps Plant around the specific characteristics of Lost Sheep ore. This live-material ramp-up phase is designed to refine plant settings and operating parameters before moving toward sustained production rates.
James Walker, President and CEO of Ares Strategic Mining, stated, "There is an enormous difference between constructing and commissioning a plant and actually seeing trucks of your own ore arriving and that material entering the processing circuit. We have now connected the mine to the plant. This is the physical supply chain we have spent years building. Over the next week, our engineers and operators will use real Lost Sheep material to fine-tune the plant and understand exactly how the ore behaves through each stage of the process."
The introduction of mine-run ore allows the team to evaluate and refine plant performance, including ore feed rates, crushing performance, conveyor loading, drying performance, and PLC/HMI systems. The purpose is to establish how the complete facility performs when processing representative ore continuously and to make adjustments for reliable, repeatable production.
The Lumps Plant is designed to manufacture metallurgical-grade fluorspar (metspar), used primarily as a flux in steelmaking and other metallurgical applications. This plant is the first major processing component of Ares' broader strategy, which also includes an adjacent Flotation Plant for producing acid-grade fluorspar (acidspar), containing at least 97% calcium fluoride, used in hydrofluoric acid production.
This operational milestone comes at a strategically important time for U.S. mineral security. Fluorspar remains on the 2025 U.S. List of Critical Minerals, and the U.S. was 100% net import reliant for fluorspar in 2025, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's 2026 Mineral Commodity Summaries. Ares believes its mine-to-plant operations represent tangible progress toward rebuilding domestic industrial capability for this critical mineral.
The company has also secured a multi-year Defense Logistics Agency framework for future supply of acid-grade fluorspar, underscoring the strategic importance of establishing scalable domestic mining and processing capabilities.
For shareholders, this milestone provides visible evidence of the company's transition from development to operations. Walker added, "Our shareholders have watched the underground workings being built, the processing plant rise from concrete foundations, the steel structures go up, the conveyors and electrical systems come online, and thousands of tons of ore accumulate at the mine. Now they can see that ore on trucks and entering the plant."
Ares has previously announced commercial arrangements covering its anticipated initial metspar output, providing an established route to market. The company's immediate priority is to use the live-material campaign to optimize plant performance and establish repeatable operating parameters, with further updates expected as the ramp-up progresses.
