The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Metal Tech News - August 15, 2024
Antimony is critical to ammunition, communication equipment, night vision goggles, and other military equipment.
Gallium and germanium are on the growing list of critical minerals that require Chinese government approvals for exports.
Antimony and tungsten from the Stibnite Gold mine is attributed to shortening World War II by one year and saving the lives of 1 million American soldiers.
In its latest move to tighten controls of critical minerals, China has announced that it is placing state-controlled restrictions on the export of antimony, a vital ingredient in a wide range of household, industrial, high-tech, and military goods.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, American manufacturers use nearly 50 million pounds of antimony each year for fireproofing compounds, batteries, ammunition, electronics, specialty glass, and other products.
Roughly 18% of America's annual antimony needs are met through the recycling of internal combustion engine vehicle batteries. Without any domestic antimony mines, however, the U.S. must depend on overseas suppliers for the remaining 40 million lb.
China (48%), Tajikistan (25%), and Russia (5%) control nearly 80% of the world's antimony supply.
U.S. policymakers and Department of Defense officials have become increasingly concerned over America's heavy reliance on China and Russia for this metalloid vital to military communication equipment, night vision goggles, and ammunition.
In a 2022 report, the U.S. House Armed Services Committee said it "is concerned about recent geopolitical dynamics with Russia and China and how that could accelerate supply chain disruptions, particularly with antimony."
These concerns are being realized with China's Ministry of Commerce announcing that it will be putting controls on the export of antimony critical "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 antimony being a top strategic concern for several years, the Pentagon has been looking into domestic projects that could provide a reliable and secure supply of this critical metalloid.
DOD's investments in shoring up a domestic supply of antimony have thus far focused on Perpetua Resources Inc.'s Stibnite Gold project in Idaho, home to a historic mine credited with saving the lives of one million American soldiers during World War II.
Antimony and tungsten from the Stibnite Gold mine is attributed to shortening World War II by one year and saving the lives of 1 million American soldiers.
While gold is the primary metal in terms of value, that antimony that would also be produced at Stibnite would meet approximately 35% of America's current needs.
Since 2022, DOD has awarded Perpetua $59.6 million in Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III funding to complete environmental and engineering studies necessary to finalize permitting and then advance the gold-antimony project to construction readiness.
With the Pentagon helping to advance the Stibnite Gold frontline to the brink of development, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) has extended an offer to loan Perpetua $1.8 billion to build a mine that will deliver a domestic supply of antimony.
"We are seeing a whole-of-government approach to bring antimony production home," Perpetua Resources President and CEO Jon Cherry said earlier this year.
The looming restrictions on antimony exports is just the latest example of China leveraging its dominance over the supply of most of the minerals and metals critical to modern living.
This initially began with the mid-2023 announcement that the country would be placing state-controlled restrictions on the export of two technology metals vital to chipmaking – gallium and germanium.
Gallium and germanium are on the growing list of critical minerals that require Chinese government approvals for exports.
Gallium serves as a primary ingredient in semiconductors used in next-generation smartphones, telecommunication networks, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), thin-film solar cells, and medical devices.
Germanium, an intrinsic semiconductor with superior optical qualities, is a powerful ingredient in fiber optics, night vision devices, triple-layered solar panels, and transistors for classic and quantum computers.
Various semiconductor products made from both critical tech metals are used to make the computer chips used in virtually every electronic device.
China controls 98% of global gallium supply and is a major producer of germanium, though the exact number for the latter is not known due to the opacity of markets.
"Gallium and germanium are chess pieces in a geopolitical game of enormous proportions," Ecclestone told Washington, DC-based Foreign Policy at the time.
The gallium and germanium export restrictions were followed by similar controls on shipments of graphite, the largest single ingredient in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
In December 2023, China's Ministry of Commerce placed similar state-approval export restrictions on nine types of high-purity graphite products that would require state approval.
In all of its critical mineral export restriction announcements, the ministry cited a need to "safeguard national security interests" as a primary reason to require Chinese suppliers to get government approvals before exporting any of these critical minerals.
China's reigning in of critical mineral supplies that the U.S. and other Western nations depend on is an increasing concern and an impetus to establish secure and domestic sources.
"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 Cherry. "For a vast, secure source of American-made antimony, Perpetua Resources' Stibnite Gold project is the clear solution."
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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