Resolution Minerals Ltd (ASX:RML, OTC:RLMLF) has appointed metallurgist and critical minerals specialist Dr Adam Roper as chief metallurgist – critical metals extraction, strengthening the company’s downstream strategy at its Horse Heaven Project in Idaho.
The move comes as the US military accelerates plans to build a fleet of small-scale refineries for strategic minerals — beginning with antimony — in partnership with the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and next-door neighbour Perpetua Resources, which operates the Stibnite Gold Project.
A small critical minerals refinery developed by a US military-led program, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, US. (source: Perpetua Resources/Handout).
Strengthening Resolution’s US critical minerals push
Roper will lead the design, piloting and commercial development of onshore processing pathways for antimony, tungsten and gold produced from Horse Heaven, providing a major lift to its goal of becoming a US-aligned supplier of strategic metals.
Roper brings more than a decade of end-to-end process development experience across antimony, lithium, niobium, rare earths, base metals and platinum group metals (PGMs). His background includes:
- Senior roles at ANSTO Minerals, consulting on advanced flowsheets for global critical minerals projects.
- Technical leadership at Australia’s largest e-waste processor, delivering innovations in recovery and complex chemistry management.
- A PhD in antimony geochemistry, specialising in solubility, mobility and environmental dispersion — expertise Resolution says is directly aligned with its downstream strategy.
Resolution noted that Roper has led multidisciplinary teams across mining, chemical processing and manufacturing, delivering projects from concept to pilot and production scale.
Building a Western-aligned antimony and tungsten supply chain
Roper’s immediate focus will be advancing processing pathways tailored to Horse Heaven’s polymetallic mineralisation, including:
- Scalable, commercially robust flowsheets for antimony, tungsten and gold.
- Piloting downstream refining routes to produce high-purity materials for the US defence, electronics and energy-storage sectors.
- Assessing co-processing and shared infrastructure opportunities in the Stibnite-Horse Heaven district to enhance project economics and development speed.
With Perpetua partnering with INL on a modular pilot processing plant for defence-related minerals, Resolution says the region is shaping into a strategic hub for Western-aligned supply chains.
Leadership perspectives
Roper described Horse Heaven’s location and resource profile as “an incredible opportunity to establish a US-based critical minerals processing facility for the production of antimony”.
“The strategic importance of antimony continues to grow, and the US has a genuine need for secure, modern processing capacity,” he added. “I am excited to join Resolution at a pivotal time and to contribute to building a technically robust and commercially compelling pathway to supply critical metals into the US market.”
Resolution strategic adviser Brett Lynch called Roper’s expertise in complex chemistries and flowsheet commercialisation a “major asset” for the company.
“His deep technical ability — particularly in antimony — strengthens our competitive position and accelerates our path toward establishing a North American supply solution for high-value strategic minerals,” Lynch said.
Resolution added that the US military’s December 9 update underscores the rising urgency around supply security, with antimony confirmed as the first target for new domestic refining capacity.