US company, ARES Strategic Mining, has been awarded a five-year supply contract by the US Department of Defence (DOD) through the Defence Logistics Agency (DLA).

The Defence Logistics Agency has awarded a US$168.9M contract to ARES Strategic Mining, as part of a five-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) agreement, with a total contract value of up to US$250M.

This news comes after the US Government issued a solicitation for a long-term contract for acid-grade fluorspar (acidspar) on 19 September 2025, which closed on 3 October 2025. Importantly, the solicitation itself had identified ARES Strategic Mining as the intended contractor.

ARES Strategic Mining’s Lost Sheep project, located in Utah, USA, has an expected production capacity of 50ktpy of acidspar. The company recently completed key underground infrastructure works and is at an advanced stage in preparing the processing plant site.

The awarding of the single-source procurement contract to ARES was achieved under some specific sections pertaining to the "industrial mobilisation; engineering, developmental or research capability; or expert services" as outlined in the US Government’s competition requirement regulations.

The terms under which the contract was awarded highlight the US government's recognition of the strategic importance of fluorspar to the US supply chain.

Currently, ARES Strategic Mining’s Lost Sheep fluorspar project is the only fully-permitted fluorspar mine in the country. The award aligns with broader efforts to preserve domestic industrial capacity and support strategic stockpiling of fluorspar to reduce supply-side risk.