Locksley Resources announced it has formally signed a strategic Research & Development Agreement with Houston-based Rice University, to develop domestic processing of U.S. sourced antimony. The agreement represents Locksley's initiation of its U.S. Critical Minerals and Energy Resilience Strategy to accelerate "mine-to-market" deployment of antimony in the U.S.
The strategic collaboration with Rice University is centered around maximizing the potential of Locksley's Mojave Project and aims to develop pathways for domestic processing of U.S.-sourced antimony to meet existing domestic demand in the U.S. defense and other industries as well as advance its application in next generation energy storage systems. "This addresses a critical supply chain gap at a time when no commercial scale antimony processing exists in the U.S.," said Nathan Lude, chairman of Locksley.
He added: "This strategic collaboration with Rice, formalized in our agreement, marks a pivotal step for Locksley and provides a first-mover advantage. We are both advancing our upstream strategy while helping rebuild downstream capacity through materials innovation that America urgently requires. Fast-tracking our two research Thrusts allows us to unlock value from our Mojave Asset and play a direct role in the U.S. move to secure critical supply of antimony for its defense, energy and AI infrastructure sectors."
Professor Pulickel M. Ajayan of Rice University's Department of Materials Science & Nanoengineering at the Rice Advanced Materials Institute, said, "Rice University has a long tradition of advancing materials science from the laboratory into real-world applications, and this partnership with Locksley represents an important step in that journey. Developing scalable, domestic pathways for antimony processing is both a scientific and engineering challenge and a national strategic priority. By combining Rice's expertise in advanced materials with Locksley's resources, we can address a critical supply chain gap, accelerate commercialization and build global collaborations that strengthen both U.S. energy resilience and the future of sustainable technologies."
