Antimony (Sb) is officially designated a critical mineral across the U.S., EU, Canada, Japan, UK and Australia, with irreplaceable roles in flame-retardant systems, defense (munitions, armor, night-vision), and next-gen energy storage.

Supply is highly concentrated (China, Russia and allies dominate mining and refining), which creates persistent security-of-supply risk and policy tailwinds for new Western sources.

Recent export restrictions and stockpiling shifted the market into structural deficit and multi-decade-high pricing, a setup expected to persist as new Western supply is slow to come online.

Howells Lake hosts a historical (pre-NI 43-101) resource in the East Zone of ~1.7 million tons grading ~1.4% Sb, open at depth and along strike; this is historical and not current under NI 43-101 and will require verification drilling and updated modeling.

The broader system shows multiple historical antimony-gold intervals (e.g., up to 24.7 m at ~0.96% Sb; 8.35 m at 5.37% Sb) and very high-grade surface samples (up to 59.2% Sb and 14.19 g/t Au) across >5 km of alteration and deformation corridors, indicating room for scale.

The project sits in Northwestern Ontario, one of the world’s top mining jurisdictions, with road/air access and proximity to the Ring of Fire corridor and Hemlo camp.

Ontario and Canada have explicit Critical Minerals strategies, and the province’s permitting framework and infrastructure focus are supportive for strategically important metals like antimony.

Location, access, and policy alignment reduce geopolitical and permitting uncertainty relative to other venues.

The company emphasizes Ontario positioning, power/road access, and critical-minerals policy support as part of the development pathway.

A data-driven program is underway/advancing: >3,000 km of VTEM airborne geophysics has been flown over the property and is being processed to refine targets; the plan includes verification and step-out drilling to convert historical information into NI 43-101 compliant resources and test newly identified antimony-gold anomalies (system remains open in all directions).

Critical One are entering a catalyst-rich 6–12 month window centered on financing and a winter drill program designed to verify and expand the system.

In parallel, the company has consolidated 100% ownership across ~14,000 ha (subsequently expanded) and aligned vendor agreements/NSRs to enable efficient work programs.

North America currently has minimal antimony mining/refining; that scarcity is precisely why Western policy, defense stockpiling, and offtake interest are intensifying.

Projects with gold co-product (like Howells Lake) gain flexibility through cyclical antimony pricing while targeting strategic offtake routes.

The lack of Western processing capacity, ongoing stockpiling, and the slow pace for new supply elsewhere can support offtake negotiations and development optionality as the project advances toward compliant resources and metallurgy.