Newton Golf has acquired an exclusive option on full ownership of the Pole Canyon project: 16 unpatented lode claims covering some 330 acres in White Pine County, Nevada. In exchange Newton has issued shares equal to 19.9 percent of its common stock outstanding immediately before the deal closed.
The option, says Newton, provides exposure to the project (i.e., the explored or developed property) while limiting near-term operating and capital commitments.
Should it exercise the option Newton will be acquiring not the land itself but the rights to the minerals it yields up. According to Newton, the project is “past-producing”: in other words, ore has at some point been mined there.
Beryllium and tungsten alike figure on the list of critical minerals published in 2025 by the US Department of the Interior and the US Geological Survey. Newton highlights the importance of these minerals for “defense, aerospace and advanced manufacturing.” Newton itself uses tungsten weights in some of its Gravity Putters: the Duke, Prism and Drac models.
Critical minerals, and rare-earths in particular, have been a concern for the Trump administration, especially in its relations with China, whose rare-earth reserves account for 44 million of the world’s more than 85 million tons, according to the US Geological Survey. China is particularly strong in the refining of rare earths (91% of the world’s output in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA)) and in the production of sintered permanent magnets (94%, again according to the IEA).
According to the Department of the Interior, the US imported 80 percent of its supply of rare earths in 2024. The Department describes rare-earths as “a subset of critical minerals whose supply disruption would impose the highest cost on the U.S. economy” and as “essential to technologies like smartphones, hard drives, and advanced defense systems.”
Newton calls this acquisition a “first step” into the sector and points out that several other public companies have announced similar transactions. As far as we can tell, no other companies in the sporting-goods industry have engaged in any such transactions.
In any case, Newton says that for now it will not be conducting any mining directly. Rather, it “intends to evaluate” agreements, collaborations, partnerships, joint ventures or sales for the option and related rights. According to interim CEO and CTO Akinobu Yorihiro, Newton will be pursuing all related opportunities “aggressively.”
Terms
According to the 8-K filed with the SEC, the deal took the form of an assignment agreement, dated Sept. 23, between Newton, Spartan Crest Capital and Cannon Bridge Mining Services. Spartan Crest assigned Newton the option it had held from Cannon Bridge since Aug. 1, and Spartan Crest’s designees received the shares. Newton in turn assumed the remaining obligations to Cannon Bridge: cash option payments totaling $200,000 (of which $165,000 is unpaid), due in installments over 24 months from Aug. 1; $200,000 in shares, counted within the 19.9 percent; and a 2 percent royalty on the property’s net smelter returns once the option vests. Spartan Crest may also designate two independent directors, to be approved by Newton’s board, and one executive officer, whose responsibilities are to be negotiated by the two companies.
