Trigg Minerals (ASX: TMG) has announced the acquisition of 100% of the Central Idaho Antimony (CIA) Project, a district-scale land package located in Elmore County, Idaho. The deal marks a significant step in the company’s strategy to become a leading supplier of critical minerals in North America and is supported by a $5 million placement from Tribeca Investment Partners.
The CIA Project sits approximately 75 road miles northeast of Boise and benefits from excellent infrastructure, including road access maintained by both state and forest service authorities. The project covers multiple historic antimony workings and prospects, many of which have seen little to no modern exploration. Surface sampling from the site has returned exceptionally high grades, including 17.6 % antimony from historic workings, over 1.0 % antimony with 0.19 g/t gold from the A47 Showing stockpile, and 7.5 % antimony with 3.1 g/t gold from the Svensson Prospect.
The geology of the project area shares strong similarities with the nearby Stibnite Gold Project, which is one of the largest antimony and gold deposits in the United States. Historical exploration by the US Bureau of Mines revealed widespread hydrothermal alteration, with one drill hole intersecting more than 75 m of altered granite containing anomalous antimony values. This supports Trigg’s view that the project has the potential to host both high-grade vein targets and a larger, bulk-tonnage stockwork system.
Importantly, there are no legacy tailings or waste dumps on site, as historical ore was milled off-site. This clean environmental baseline could significantly simplify future permitting and development.
Trigg has outlined an aggressive Phase 1 exploration program to unlock the project’s potential. Planned work includes trenching and channel sampling at priority prospects, reopening of historical adits for underground mapping and sampling, regional prospecting across the claim block, and staking of additional ground to the south to capture prospective structural intersections. The company also intends to leverage geospatial and LIDAR data to refine its structural interpretation and identify concealed targets.
On the corporate front, the $5 million placement will fund exploration activities, working capital, and investigation of a potential U.S. mainboard listing. The acquisition terms include staged cash payments totaling nearly US$5 million over several years, minimum work commitments, and a 2.5% net smelter royalty with a partial buy-back option.
While the project is still at an early stage, the combination of high-grade surface results, district-scale potential, favorable jurisdiction, and institutional investor backing places Trigg Minerals in a strong position to rapidly advance the CIA Project. Success in confirming grade continuity and scale could position Trigg as a key player in the re-establishment of a secure, conflict-free antimony supply chain in the United States, while providing exposure to gold as a valuable by-product.
Aleksei Andrievskii is the founder of the ANDRIEVSKII SEA WEALTH family office in Cyprus, a member of the advisory board at Bendura Bank AG, Liechtenstein