According to an article
in North of 60 Mining News:
“Falling in the grey area between metals like zinc and
nonmetals like carbon, antimony is a semi-metal that possesses some interesting
properties that make it a vital ingredient in a wide range of household,
industrial, high-tech, and military goods.”
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports that more than 50
million pounds of antimony are used every year for fireproofing compounds,
batteries, ammunition, electronics, specialty glass, and other products. The
U.S. military uses antimony for flame-retardant fabrics, communications
equipment, night vision goggles, ammunition casings, laser sighting, and many
other kinds of equipment. The USGS also reports that 80% of the global antimony
supply comes from three countries, China, Russia, and Tajikistan. Since those
are often not friendly countries, it stands to reason that diversifying and
domesticating antimony supply should be pursued.
Antimony is classed
as a metalloid, and like the other metalloids boron, silicon, germanium,
arsenic, and tellurium, it has properties of both metals and non-metals. Its
properties make it suitable for use in alloys, catalysts, flame retardants,
optical storage, semiconductors, and electronics. An antimonial lead alloy is used
in lead-acid batteries.
“Bullets and shot, bearings, electrical cable sheathing,
printing machines, solders, and pewter are among the products made of alloys
that contain some amount of antimony.”
“Antimonial lead (43%) and flame retardants (35%)
continue to be the largest uses for antimony in the U.S.”
A fire retardant
made from antimony is credited with saving many lives in World War II. It is
used to make high-quality glass for lenses and optical equipment. The
combination of halides and antimony is the basis for flame-retardant action for
polymers, resulting in less flammable chars. These flame retardants are used in
electrical apparatuses, textiles, leather, and coatings. Antimony is also a suspected
carcinogen so safety and minimizing exposure are important. Antimony is used in
a number of ways in ammunition.
The U.S. imports
80% of its antimony and over 76% of imports of antimony oxide – which includes
antimony trioxide – come from China. According to an article in The Diplomat:
“China is the largest U.S. import source for unwrought
antimony metal and powder at 26 percent of U.S. imports, while India is the
second-largest import source at 23 percent of U.S. imports.”
Belgium and India
also process antimony, having stockpiles of mostly Chinese-sourced supply.
Data on the global
supply and mine production are shown below.
Recycling Antimony: 25% of Global Supply Comes from Recycling
Post-Consumer Products
In the U.S. about
18% of antimony comes from recycling lead-acid batteries from ICE vehicles. According
to a November 2022 paper in Resources, Conservation and Recycling about
25% of the global supply of antimony is derived from recycled post-consumer
products. That is a pretty impressive circular economy compared to other materials.
Much of that is attributable to lead-acid battery recycling which is well
established. It can also be quite dangerous as lead dust associated with
improperly protected recycling facilities is implicated in childhood disease
and death in several developing countries.
The chart below from
the paper shows the dynamics of the global antimony supply chain.
China’s Commodity Protectionism, also known as Commodity
Warfare
China is
responsible for nearly 50 percent of global antimony mining and about 80
percent of global antimony processing. China enabled new state-controlled
restrictions on antimony exports that went into effect on September 15, 2024. This
brings about the possibility of future supply chain disruptions. According to
the North of 60 Mining News article:
“China's Ministry of Commerce said the government
controls on exports of antimony needed for civilian and military purposes are
required "to safeguard national security and interests, and fulfill
international obligations such as non-proliferation."
"It's a sign of the times," said Christopher
Ecclestone, a mining strategist at the consulting firm Hallgarten & Company
in London. "The military uses of Sb (antimony) are now the tail that wags
the dog. Everyone needs it for armaments, so it is better to hang onto it than
sell it."
“With only a limited supply of already circulating
antimony to hold onto, over the past couple of years, the U.S. Department of
Defense has backed a mine in Idaho that would provide a secure and reliable
source of antimony on American soil.”
China’s export
controls include antimony ore, concentrate, metal, oxide, chemicals, and
smelting and separation technology. They have previous similar controls on
gallium, germanium, and graphite.
The authors of
the Diplomat article explain what is likely to happen:
“However, the impact of China’s antimony export controls
on U.S. firms will probably be minimal, similar to China’s export controls on
gallium, germanium, and graphite. Before the antimony controls take effect,
U.S. firms and firms from other countries will predictably stockpile more
antimony, increasing prices. In the first few months after the export controls
take effect, China’s antimony exports will be severely curtailed as it usually
takes two to three months for the Chinese government to review export license
applications.”
“The Chinese government will likely grant export
licenses, but antimony exports will be less than before the controls. Importers
of Chinese antimony will naturally seek to increase antimony imports from
countries outside China, like Myanmar. Still, China’s dominant share of
antimony mining and processing will make fully detaching from Chinese antimony
imports highly unlikely. Antimony prices will eventually stabilize as firms
source antimony from other countries and adapt to longer lead times for importing
Chinese antimony.”
New Antimony Supplies for the U.S. and Canada
Perpetua Resources Inc.'s Stibnite Gold
project in Idaho, home to the historic mine said to have saved those lives in World
War II, is being targeted for revamping the domestic antimony supply. Antimony is
often found along with gold. In fact, as the paper in Resources, Conservation,
and Recycling 70% of antimony is mined as either a by-product or a
co-product. Stibnite is often produced along with gold which is much more
valuable. Stibnite is an antimony sulfide. Stockpiling antimony has been a
common and successful strategy.
The original Stibnite
Gold project recovered 90% of the antimony and 40% of the tungsten used in
World War II from 1941 to 1945. The mine is credited with shortening the war and
saving many lives.
"China is weaponizing the world's access to critical
minerals, and it's never been more urgent to secure the United States' critical
mineral supply," said Perpetua Resources President and CEO Jon Cherry.
"For a vast, secure source of American-made antimony, Perpetua Resources'
Stibnite Gold project is the clear solution."
The project is
hoping to produce military-grade antimony trisulfide. That grade is also used
in PV solar panels. The U.S. Dept. of Defense and the Export-Import Bank of the
United States (EXIM) are involved in financing, fast-tracking, and backing the
project. The U.S. government has been working to develop domestic supplies and
supply chains for several critical minerals, including antimony. Financing also
accords with EXIM's "Make More in America" initiative. A 2020
feasibility study estimated that it would cost about $1.66 billion to build the
Stibnite Gold Mine. Since then, inflation will likely increase the cost. Once in
production, the mine is expected to supply about 35% of America's antimony
demand.
The USGS has
identified potential antimony deposits in Alaska, Montana, and Nevada. Alaska
once supplied some antimony and is known to have considerable deposits of
antimony sulfide. Over the past couple of years, Felix Gold Ltd has been
focused on building a gold-antimony resource at NW Array, an area about a mile
northwest of the historic Scrafford Mine which produced gold and antimony in
the past.
“Nova Minerals Ltd. has also identified high-grade antimony alongside the 9.9 million ounces of gold that it has outlined so far on its Estelle project about 100 miles northwest of Anchorage, Alaska.”
These are both
high-grade deposits and along with the Idaho mine could host another chunk of
U.S. supply that could wean us off of China and Russia.
"While Nova's primary focus continues to be on the
gold, the discovery of high-grade stibnite, a primary ore source for antimony,
associated with the gold system emerging at Estelle, represents a significant
development for the company as antimony is listed as a critical and strategic
mineral to U.S. economic and national security interests by the U.S. Department
of Interior," said Nova Minerals CEO Christopher Gerteisen.
Stibnite ore is processed
by grinding, crushing, flotation, and other processes and then oxidized which
forms antimony III oxide, or antimony trioxide. The chemical process is as
follows according to Wikipedia:
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Re-volatilizing of crude antimony (III) oxide
Step 1) Crude stibnite is oxidized to crude antimony(III)
oxide using furnaces operating at approximately 500 to 1,000 °C. The reaction
is the following:
2 Sb2S3 + 9 O2 → 2 Sb2O3 + 6 SO2
Step 2) The crude antimony(III) oxide is purified by
sublimation.
Oxidation of antimony metal
Antimony metal is oxidized to antimony(III) oxide in
furnaces. The reaction is exothermic. Antimony(III) oxide is formed through
sublimation and recovered in bag filters. The size of the formed particles is
controlled by process conditions in furnace and gas flow. The reaction can be
schematically described by:
4 Sb + 3 O2 → 2 Sb2O3
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Canada is also preparing
to revisit historic antimony mines. A company called Military Metals Corporation
is in the process of restarting mining at a mine site in Nova Scotia at the
historic West Gore Antimony Project. This mine produced antimony during World
War I and II. The company also owns a mine in Slovakia which they plan to
produce and become a leading global antimony producer. An article in
OilPrice.com gives five reasons that antimony in general and Military Metals Corp. specifically is a
good future investment: 1) A historic mine with modern relevance; 2) military
and industrial demand; 3) China’s supply and processing monopoly; 4) government
support for critical minerals; and 5) rising demand across multiple industries.
Importing Antimony (and gallium, germanium, and superhard materials) From China Now Restricted
References:
How to
Play the Coming Boom in Antimony Stocks. Michael Kern. Oilprice.com. November
20, 2024. How
to Play the Coming Boom in Antimony Stocks | OilPrice.com
Antimony
is high on DOD mineral concerns. Shane Lasley, Data Mine North. North of 60
Mining News. September 16, 2024. Antimony
is high on DOD mineral concerns - North of 60 Mining News
Resilience
in the antimony supply chain. Susan van den Brink, René Kleijn, Benjamin
Sprecher, Nabeel Mancheri, and Arnold Tukker. Resources, Conservation and
Recycling. Volume 186, November 2022, 106586. Resilience
in the antimony supply chain - ScienceDirect
Antimony
trioxide. Wikipedia. Antimony
trioxide - Wikipedia
Understanding the Significance of China’s Antimony Export Controls. Gregory Wischer and Morgan Bazilian. The Diplomat. August 22, 2024. Understanding the Significance of China’s Antimony Export Controls – The Diplomat
China’s new trade war blow could be fatal for US’s ability to arm itself. JChina’s new trade war blow could be fatal for US’s ability to arm itself
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