r/ARSMF

The lumps and floatation plant will use far more electricity than any previous tenets of the industrial site. I am hearing they won’t get the power they need until early 2027. It’s unclear if it’s a Rocky Mountian Power equipment side upgrade that is needed, or just the power allocation amount.

In other news…there are monitoring wells being installed at the Mill site near Delta this week.

I would be surprised if they can get the lumps plant to be fully operational in 2026.

Obviously the new board appointee has investors feeling uneasy given the individual's "interesting" history in the financial services industry.

What's not being talked about, however, is the departure of two board members (Paul Sargeant amd Raul Sanabria).

> Paul is a registered professional geoscientist, who brings significant technical and leadership experience to the role and Company.

> Raul Sanabria offers 20+ years in exploration geology, specializing in mineral deposits

I guess they performed what was needed during the ramp up from defunct/abandoned mine to the present day, and now is the time for some good ole' fashioned fraud, lol.

Joking, joking, the esteemed Mr. Esteva actually has at least one redeeming quality that I admire: he's a gambler. When, as a financial services advisor, you transfer funds between unrelated client accounts that tells me one thing, he's trying to make it happen! Go big or go home as they say.

All kidding aside, further selling pressure today, looks like we're heading back to pre-October prices, which is quite the "accomplishment" given the massive DoD contract, raised capital, and the company being on the verge production -- the way the stock is trading it's as if none of that happened, now trading at intrinsic value given cash + plant + equipment + production Flourspar mining resource liquidation.

I continue to be astonished by how such a sure thing, isn't.

I've been interested in investing in a fluorspar mining company, so I started researching ARSMF and CTVFF. After visiting their respective websites, I found out that the two competing companies are headquartered in the same office building, one being in Unit 1001 and the other in Unit 1008. Is that a cause for concern in your opinion? I honestly find that to be pretty odd, unless these two companies have been collaborating somehow? Interested to hear your thoughts on if you think this is a red flag or a nothing burger.

39c CAD .....

How many warrants left and dates and prices ?

and what is the impact on the stock price ?

in a couples of weeks, the pound permit will be official if no body is complaining ... 4 days since may 10th...

Mick

Been following this one for a while. Today was an information avalanche so figured I’d compile it all.

What they do:
Ares owns the ONLY permitted fluorspar mine in the United States — the Lost Sheep Mine in Utah. Fluorspar is a critical mineral 100% imported into the US, mostly from Mexico. They hold a $169M DoD IDIQ contract as the sole domestic supplier.
What dropped TODAY:
🏭 Plant commissioning underway RIGHT NOW
Official shareholder newsletter confirmed: electrical complete, MCC systems complete, conveyor belts fitted, actively testing each subsection. Quote: “on track to sell product this year.”
⚗️ Gallium MOU signed with Found Industries
Ares signed an MOU to evaluate gallium and germanium recovery from Lost Sheep feedstocks. No domestic primary gallium has been produced in the US since 1987. China controls 98% of global supply and has been restricting exports. Current US retail gallium price: $2,269/kg.
⛏️ 29% land expansion — essentially free
Settled a claim dispute with Hinkinite Resources. Acquired 101 additional mining claims for $77,878 cash + 170,887 shares (negligible dilution). Land position expanded from 353 claims/5,982 acres to 454 claims/7,700+ acres. Also received proprietary geological data.
📈 NASDAQ uplisting signalled
New IR team hired specifically targeting institutional and family office investors. CEO Walker quoted today: “strengthens our position as we advance towards our application for a potential NASDAQ uplisting.”
The macro catalyst nobody is talking about:
Trump’s Section 232 critical minerals report is due July 13, 2026. If tariffs hit Mexican fluorspar, Ares becomes the only non-tariffed domestic source overnight. The China gallium export suspension expires November 2026.
The numbers:
• Ticker: CSE: ARS / OTC: ARSMF / FRA: N8I1
• Current price: ~$0.37 CAD
• 52-week range: $0.19 — $1.03
• Market cap: ~$97M
• Analyst target: CA$2.05
Risks (be honest):
• Pre-revenue, no earnings yet
• CEO also runs NANO Nuclear simultaneously
• Director Bob Li sold ~560k shares Jan-March (has since stopped)
• Warrant overhang around USD $0.40
• Junior CSE listing = thin volume

The thesis in one sentence:
Plant is commissioning, DoD contract is live, gallium partnership just signed, land expanded 29%, and the stock closed today at $0.37 on a day all of this dropped.
Not financial advice. Do your own DD.
$ARS $ARSMF 🦅

As I understand it, the metspar lumps plant is dry and does not use a tailings pond nor require a groundwater discharge permit. The lumps process breaks down and separates the ore. The ore quality out of the ground is high quality which makes the metspar usable in the steel and aluminum industries even with this minimal processing. This is the processing plant that is being worked on now with electric and conveyor belts mentioned in this week’s press release. I suspect Ares will be selling some metspar this year perhaps even this summer.

Ares work continues on getting the permitting and site planning done for the construction of the flotation plant required for the acidspar processing which is where the government contract and the Found Metals MOU come in. The company mentioned last year (prior to the county planning board meeting) that they thought they’d be able to get the flotation plant construction started in the Fall of this year. But the recent construction permit contingencies include a 30 day notice public hearing on the GWD permit and construction of the tailings pond likely won’t start until after this has been done especially since its location on the property appears to be one of the sticking points. Once construction is done which will likely take at least as long as the lumps plant, there will be a whole new process of getting operations inspections and permits for the flotation plant. I suspect flotation plant production is more than a year out.

Short term, getting to revenue and achieving the rebirth of the fluorspar mining industry in America will be with the lumps plant production of metspar for the steel and aluminum industries.

I post this because I think there is some confusion as to what’s coming online and when and specifically where the government contract and the new Found Metals MOU fit in the scheme of things.

Not here to play devils advocate but I do feel another perspective is getting ignored while everyone’s bitching and getting antsy. And I do get the frustration. The stock’s been crabbing, updates come slow, and James’s comms aren’t exactly hype machine polished.

But if you actually look at who this guy is technically, it makes sense why he’s playing the long game instead of chasing short-term pumps.

He holds a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nottingham, an MSc in Mining Engineering from the University of Exeter, and an MSc in Nuclear Physics and Engineering from Cranfield University. He’s a Chartered Engineer, Chartered Physicist, Professional Engineer, and holds project management and accountancy qualifications.

His hands-on career is where it gets serious. He started as a mechanical engineer with the UK Ministry of Defence in the nuclear weapons division and then moved into nuclear submarines. The MoD selected him for advanced nuclear engineering training, which led to his second MSc. He was seconded to Rolls-Royce, where he worked on reactor design, nuclear physics, modeling for their Zero-Power reactor supporting UK submarine programs, and thermal hydraulics for safety cases. Later he returned to the MoD as project lead for constructing the new Rolls-Royce Nuclear Chemical Plant.

He served as the UK SME for Nuclear Material Recovery Capabilities and as technical project manager for building reactor core manufacturing facilities. His experience covers nuclear reactors, submarines, chemical plants, factories, mine processing, infrastructure, and safety management.

This isn’t a mining exec who read a book on nuclear. This is a nuclear physicist and engineer who has actually built and managed complex, highly regulated nuclear infrastructure projects for one of the world’s top defense programs.

That’s exactly the skillset you want when you’re redeveloping the only permitted fluorspar mine in the US and slotting it into the domestic nuclear fuel supply chain.

He’s not a natural showman on investor calls. But he’s the guy quietly aligning Ares’ critical minerals output with Nano Nuclear’s microreactor tech under one vision, something literally no one else is executing at this level. Government backing from the DOE and DoD lines up perfectly with his track record. He’s creating a vertically integrated nuclear supply chain - no one else is doing that.

I feel like a lot of people in the forums are way too tough on him and straight-up disrespectful. Constantly ripping into the guy like he’s some shady promoter instead of a legit engineer executing in one of the hardest industries on earth.

That energy just shows them up as short players chasing quick flips, not proper long-term investors who understand what building real infrastructure actually takes.

The pace sucks if you want overnight results. Mining plus nuclear doesn’t work that way. But I’m convinced the technical depth and long-term execution mindset are why this has real legs.

I sincerely hope that one day this awkward, slow-moving engineer is gonna be on the cover of Time magazine as the guy who helped secure America’s nuclear future… and we’ll all be laughing in the comments about how we used to bitch about “no news.”

I’m putting more in this week and HODLing. Patience will pay on this one.