American Pacific Mining Corp. (“American Pacific”) is pleased to highlight the strategic importance of its Palmer VMS Project (“Palmer”) in Southeast Alaska due to its abundance of a key critical mineral — barite (barium sulphate or BaSO4)—to the United States critical mineral supply chain.
The United States is a major global consumer of barite, but relies heavily on imports, due to limited domestic production capacity. This chronic supply deficit makes the U.S. particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions, particularly given the necessity of barite for oil and gas drilling—where even minor interruptions can halt operations, directly impacting GDP and national energy security. According to Visual Capitalist, a significant disruption in barite supply could result in as much as $1 billion in GDP losses for the U.S., placing barite among the most supply-critical minerals.
Palmer hosts a NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate that includes 980,000 tonnes of barite in the Indicated category, and 3.05 million tonnes of barite in the Inferred category. In 2018, metallurgical test results completed by SGS Canada Inc (SGS) demonstrated that a premium-quality barite concentrate can be produced as a co-product from the high-grade copper-zinc-silver-gold resource at Palmer (See Company press release dated January 20, 2025; for more information on the current NI43-101 Technical Report).
Highlights of the at Palmer 2018 barite test work include:
- Produced barite concentrate meets all specifications for oilfield drilling grade barite, including specific gravity, particle size, and purity, and appears to be a market-ready product
- Simple Flowsheet –91.1 % of barite recovered by flotation from the tails of copper and zinc flotation
Warwick Smith, American Pacific CEO, commented: “American Pacific’s Palmer VMS Project in Alaska is poised to deliver barite as a potential byproduct alongside high-value copper and zinc, all of which are critical minerals as per USGS guidelines. The project also boasts gold and silver which have seen a 60 % and nearly 80 % increase in price, respectively, since the beginning of 2025. The polymetallic mix of Palmer contains substantial barite, which could provide a U.S. source of barium sulfate that could directly support critical industries should the Project reach production. Palmer’s geological setting and resource mix place it among the few U.S. based advanced exploration assets with the potential to supply barite at scale.”