r/ARSMF

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.

This appears to be an approval order for most of the project. Still a few issues being worked through.

From: https://millardcounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/01082026-FINAL-minutes.pdf

January 8, 2026

No subsequent mention of Ares in Feb or Mar minutes.

11. PUBLIC HEARING— C-2 Conditional Use Permit Amendment Application #Z-2025-
066 for Industrial/ Manufacturing Activity (General) at approximately 1365 N HWY 6,
Delta - Ares Strategic Mining Inc., Owner; Provo Mining & Construction Inc., Applicant

Commissioner Phil Diaz made a MOTION to open the public hearing. Commissioner
Wayne Jackson SECONDED the motion.

Roy Durr approached the commission on behalf of the applicant and gave a description
of the application. They are needing settling pond to ensure that they are recirculating
100% of the water. The pond will be double lined with a system of leak detection so
there will be zero discharge.

KC Bogue approached the commission on behalf of Delta City. He stated they are
strongly opposed to it being in their community. He believes that the land is developable
land rather than mining land.

Jason May approached the commission. He is opposed to the application and
concerned about the water in the area being contaminated.

Joyce Barney approached the commission. She stated that the initial application was to
process it there, crush it and move on. She is opposed to this application and doesn’t
believe it should be approved. She believes that if they’re going to expand, they need to
be in a different location.

Justin Ashby approached the commission. He owns a home west of the project site and
is concerned about water contamination. He is opposed to the application.

Deran Smith approached the commission. He is also opposed to the application.

Shauna Nelson approached the commission. She owns a well next to the property. She
is concerned about the contamination of her wells.

Commissioner Ron Larsen made a MOTION to close the public hearing. Commissioner
Phil Diaz SECONDED the motion. Voting was unanimous in the affirmative.

12. REVIEW and POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION – C-2 Conditional Use Permit
Amendment Application #Z-2025-066 for Industrial/ Manufacturing Activity (General) at
approximately 1365 N HWY 6, Delta - Ares Strategic Mining Inc., Owner; Provo Mining
& Construction Inc., Applicant

Planner Adam Richins asked the applicant to inform the commission the definition of
fluorspar.

Commissioner Erin Sorenson stated that she believes there isn’t enough information to
make an informed decision tonight and asked the applicant to bring back
correspondence from the DEQ and proof that what they are wanting to do is a permitted
use.

Commissioner Phil Diaz stated his concerns with the application.

Commissioner Wayne Jackson made a MOTION to continue this application to give the
applicant time to get more information. Commissioner John Nye SECONDED the
motion. Voting was unanimous in the affirmative.

// end section

// my personal comments

As someone who has personally interacted with local officials and the public in trying to get commercial work done in a small rural community, this doesn’t concern me much other than timelines. The commission is doing additional homework and has asked Ares to do some homework to answer these questions. There likely will NOT be another public hearing. This was it. So when Ares shows up with the proper info assuming it is allowable, and they address the concerns brought up by the public, the commission will make a decision then. Nothing here to me is a red flag except timelines being shifted to address these issues.

As I recollect from discussion on this, this washing process is a non-chemical washing. This is settling of silt from the product not chemicals. There are no contaminants other than silt which is natural and why this pond will exist.

The DEQ will have very few issues with this. Utah is a conservative and pro-mining state. Utah has lent Ares millions of dollars specifically for this development. Utah is aware that fluorspar is a US strategic critical mineral and that Ares is the only permitted fluorspar mine in the US. Federal will have even less issues. The DEQ letter is CYA for the elected commissioners.

A contingent approval would have been a bit better because Ares could have met the contingencies and not had to go back to the commission. But this isn’t bad. It’s just normal business.

I’ve been running a bunch of recent Reddit threads, StockTwits chatter, and forum posts through Grok, Gemini, and GPT for analysis. Nothing super fancy asking them to scour all the Forums and the news and report back. Just incase I’m missing something, and because well, there’s not much being reported by them and rumours are rampant.

What the models are consistently saying:

Overall Sentiment: Mixed but leaning Cautiously Optimistic
Most models score it around 55-65% positive right now. There’s real excitement about the fundamentals (DoD contract, domestic production, critical mineral angle), but a lot of frustration with the pace.

Main Bullish Points:

Strong tailwinds from geopolitics and U.S. supply chain security.
Tangible progress: stockpiles growing, conveyor done, automation upgrades, Hinkinite claims settled.

The DoD IDIQ contract is seen as a game-changer that most junior miners don’t have.

Long-term potential once production starts - models are calljng this a “real manufacturing business, not just a dig-and-ship story.

Main Bearish / Frustrated Points:

Slow execution - James Walker and the team get roasted pretty regularly for timelines slipping and “overpromising.”
Dilution / warrant overhang concerns.

Lack of a proper resource estimate or feasibility study - although I think that’s been long squashed as not really mattering and James answered this himself .

General junior mining fatigue

One model summed it up well:
“Sentiment is impatient bullish. Shareholders believe in the story but are tired of waiting. The recent operational updates (conveyor, control room, claims) are helping restore some confidence, but the market wants to see first revenue before going all-in.”

Bottom line: The narrative is shifting from pure speculation to “execution phase,” but patience is still required. Frustration is high because people see the potential, but the stock hasn’t rewarded holders much yet.

I’m still in it, still adding small on weakness, but yeah, we’re all feeling the wait 

What do you guys think?

I know there has been a lot of updates and issues especially with the flotation plant. Regardless of any issues it’s amazing how quickly everything is coming together for such a small team.

Here’s to the future as investors! Let’s wish the team well and expect great things!