Resolution Minerals appoints industry experts to fast-track US growth strategy
Resolution Minerals (ASX:RML) has brought two highly respected mining executives on board to guide the company as market-focused senior strategic advisors as RML looks to crack the U.S. critical minerals sector.
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This article is disseminated in partnership with Resolution Minerals. It is intended to inform investors and should not be taken as a recommendation or financial advice.
The timing is key – Trump and his White House are fast-tracking mining permits for key minerals in the U.S. in a bid to build self-reliance and reduce dependency on other countries, especially those they’re levying tariffs on.
HotCopper caught up with Resolution’s newest advisors, Steve Promnitz and Brett Lynch, to talk about where the miner’s heading next under their guidance.
The following is a transcription of the above HotCopper video, edited for clarity.
Jonathon Davidson: Resolution Minerals is quickly becoming a popular name on the market, steadily rising up the ranks since its Horse Haven Project acquisition earlier this year. This rise in attention has garnered interest from a wide variety of heavy hitters. Two of these hitters, Steve Promnitz and Brett Lynch, have joined the company as advisors. Both have had incredible success in creating enormous value in the critical minerals space. Steve built Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) into a $3 billion lithium developer through the Kachi project, while Brett led Sayona Mining’s (ASX:SYA) transformation into a $4 billion U.S. lithium powerhouse. Together, bringing over $7 billion of combined value creation and decades of experience in developing North American assets within ASX-listed companies, Steve and Brett join me now. Welcome to you both. Let’s start at the why Resolution Minerals? What attracted you both to this company, and its opportunity?
Steve Promnitz: Thank you very much for the opportunity. Personally, I’ve been looking at a number of critical minerals opportunities. Thankfully, a few come past my desk. Tis one, it’s got the trifecta of right commodity, prime location, and a pathway to development. And I think I can actually help fill in some of the gaps and help their executive team deliver.
Brett Lynch: From my side, Jonathon, I’ve been involved in developing some fast-growing companies in the critical metal space and now with antimony, that’s what caught my eye in terms of Resolution. The antimony in the U.S. is on the Super Critical list. There has to be a solution for a local supply chain. China currently controls all of that in the USA. That’s just not sustainable, particularly from a U.S. government military perspective. So there is going to be a local supply chain created, and I think Resolution is well placed to be part of the leadership for that journey.
JD: What makes the Horse Heaven projects stand out from other critical minerals projects around the country?
Lynch: It is ideally placed alongside the Knight Project, which is the first permitted antimony mine in the U.S., and we are literally located next to that. That’s a great way to start a mine. Both their deposit and our deposits have a long history, dating back to the world wars, of actually producing antimony and gold and tungsten, so that already gives us a head start in terms of the rest of the contenders for leadership in developing this local supply. The U.S. government needs to find a local solution to its antimony mineral, full stop. They’re providing a lot of support across the critical metals industries and taking [an] example, recent investments and support for Middle Mountain Pass and Apple, in rare earths. This, I have no doubt, will roll over into other areas, including support for a secure supply chain for antimony. Also, our gold base: We have significant potential to further develop. The short, medium, and long-term gold reserves and for any junior developer, then having a base load that could be with current prices commercialised very quickly and very significantly to help underwrite future capital funding, as well as de-risking the company, is just a unique added bonus to this asset.
JD: So, before we turn to your respective backgrounds, can I just ask one last question for those listening at home? Antimony and tungsten critical minerals: Why are they so important right now?
Promnitz: It’s as Brett mentioned, the U.S. needs to strengthen its self-sufficiency across many of the critical minerals and this one, as Brett mentioned, is super critical. The thing is, the U.S. has a huge military-industrial complex, the biggest in the world. There has to be fed, and as Brett mentioned, most of the antimony comes from offshore and just about all the processing is done by China, and they’re virtually turned off that tap. That has to come from somewhere. They want to be self-sufficient. We’ve learned about onshoring these critical supply chains since COVID. And that’s why antimony is absolutely critical. It’s a military metal. It’s a war metal, and even in Australia, we were producing it back in the two World Wars. And on top of that, this current U.S. administration really wants to show that it can have that sort of self-sufficiency of supply. Now the same is for tungsten. It’s also important. But antimony, now that China has turned off the tap, has become absolutely critical.
JD: Now, you both have experience within the U.S. market. So the question becomes how would your previous ventures in this region shape your approach to RML’s strategy?
Promnitz: There’s a good executive team in place, they’re familiar with the project, and they’ve developed things before. It’s that both Brett and I can add is essentially filling in the gaps, having been there before, knowing who to talk to, who not to talk to, assisting with off-takers, assisting, and opening doors. That’s the key difference, and I’ve been going now to the U.S. market for more than 25 years. So you’re familiar with who to talk to, and that makes all the difference, essentially speeding up and being able to demonstrate that you can deliver permitting, finance, and how it can be developed.
JD: So why is now the right time for investors to focus on Resolution?
Promnitz: Right project, right commodity, good team, heaps of news flow to come.
JD: Well, you preempted my next question with that one because probably what the investor wants to know the most is: What can we expect from the company in the next 12 months?
Lynch: One of the key things is to clarify our vision and where we will be. Over and above having a great starting point with our asset, I think it’s about then delivering on a supply solution for the U.S. The USA needs a fully integrated supply chain for antimony, particularly, and they need that very quickly. We’re in a great position to be able to take positions further along the supply chain than just mining, and that’s what I think we’ll see that I will be able to help shape out because of a lot of our experience to date in developing that type of supply chain for North America. In addition to that, it’s these little steps that I think we need to focus on as we grow our business. You can see the first step is about increasing and defining our resource, and I’m certain everyone can see that. It’s impressive in terms of what the local team has been able to do in delivery already: A permanent drilling campaign in days and weeks, not months and years. It’ll be some of those steps that we continue to build on as we head towards further downstream steps on a secure supply chain for the U.S.
JD: So, we’ve covered a lot of ground today, just to summarise, what do you think investors should take away from today’s announcement regarding Resolution’s overall strategy in the U.S.?
Promnitz: This commodity, antimony, the U.S. needs it. The project right next door is fully permitted [and is] going into production. This is the mirror image, and the information over the next 12 months is going to demonstrate that and the role that I have, along with Brad, is to fill in the gaps with that executive team to accelerate that whole process and help make it happen.
JD: Brett and Steve from Resolution Mining. Thanks for being here today.
Promnitz: Thank you.
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Resolution Minerals appoints industry experts to fast-track US growth strategy
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