The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Critical Minerals Alliances 2024 - September 16, 2024
The U.S. military uses antimony for flame retardant fabrics, communication equipment, night vision goggles, ammunition, laser sighting, and a wide array of other equipment.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States has offered to lend Perpetua Resources $1.8 billion to fund the development of a mine at Stibnite Gold.
While providing a 21st-century domestic supply of antimony, Perpetua Resources is rehabilitating environmental impacts from World War II-era critical minerals operations at its Stibnite Gold project.
Antimony is a metalloid critical to America's economic well-being and national security.
Perpetua Resources' Stibnite Gold project is home to a historic mine credited with saving the lives of one million American soldiers due to its supply of critical minerals during World War II.
Perpetua Resources worker collect water samples as part of the historical mining remediation efforts being undertaken in conjunction with establishing a modern mine at the Stibnite project in Idaho.
A high-grade sample of stibnite, a sulfide mineral that is the principal source of antimony.
Massive stibnite collected from the Stibium prospect on Nova Minerals' Estelle property.
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.
Despite its widespread uses, many people have never heard of antimony and fewer still realize that this intriguing metalloid is considered critical to America's economy and security.
Antimony is a metalloid critical to America's economic well-being and national security.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, American manufacturers use more than 50 million pounds of antimony each year for fireproofing compounds, batteries, ammunition, electronics, specialty glass, and other products.
Approximately 18% of America's demand for antimony came from recycling internal combustion engine vehicle batteries. Without any domestic antimony mines, however, the U.S. must depend on overseas suppliers for the remaining 45 million lb.
And the countries that dominate antimony supply are not high on America's friendshoring list.
According to the USGS, China, Russia, and Tajikistan accounted for roughly 80% of the antimony produced globally during 2023.
A heavy dependence on Russia and China for a metalloid that is both critical to the American economy and strategic to its military is not something that many U.S. lawmakers and military officials are comfortable with.
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 worries over potential antimony supply disruptions have been validated by China's new state-controlled restrictions on antimony exports that went into effect on Sept. 15.
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.
Antimony is one of six elements on the periodic table classified as metalloids – boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, and tellurium are the others. Sharing properties with metallic and nonmetallic brethren, this specialty class of elements is often used in alloys, catalysts, flame retardants, optical storage, semiconductors, and electronics.
A high-grade sample of stibnite, a sulfide mineral that is the principal source of antimony.
"Antimony is ... vital to our military's effectiveness and has been since it was labeled as crucial to the war effort during World War II," U.S. Army Major General (retired) James "Spider" Marks penned in a 2020 column published in The Washington Times.
An antimony-based fireproofing compound applied to tents and vehicle covers is credited with saving countless lives during World War II.
Over the eight decades since the end of World War II, this critical metalloid has continued to save innumerable lives – from soldiers in the field to families on a road trip – by lending its flame-resistant properties to personal protective equipment, mattresses, electronic devices, aircraft, and automobile seat covers.
In addition to its widespread flame-resistance applications, antimony imparts increased hardness and mechanical strength into an alloy known as antimonial lead.
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.
The most common application for antimonial lead, however, is improving the plate strength and charging characteristics in the lead-acid batteries that have been used to start most ICE vehicles for more than a century.
Antimonial lead (43%) and flame retardants (35%) continue to be the largest uses for antimony in the U.S.
Another major use for antimony is to make high-quality glass used by both civilians and soldiers. For example, a small amount of antimony oxide has the ability to remove bubbles from super-clear glass used to make lenses for binoculars and similar optical equipment, as well as the glass screens of smartphones and other electronic devices.
"Antimony is a key ingredient in communication equipment, night vision goggles, explosives, ammunition, nuclear weapons, submarines, warships, optics, laser sighting, and much more," Marks wrote.
Given antimony's critical and strategic applications, Pentagon officials are not comfortable with the U.S. being beholden to Russia and China for its supply of this critical and strategic metalloid.
DOD's investments in a secure, 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 a million American soldiers during World War II.
The name of this project underscores a critical and precious metals relationship that is key to future domestic supplies of antimony. Stibnite, an antimony mineral that is a primary source of this critical metalloid, is found alongside gold.
Perpetua Resources' Stibnite Gold project is home to a historic mine credited with saving the lives of one million American soldiers due to its supply of critical minerals during World War II.
The value of the stibnite, however, typically pales in comparison to gold and is often discarded in favor of the precious metal. This dynamic, however, reversed at gold mines in Idaho and Alaska when antimony's strategic value increased during the World Wars.
This is particularly true for Stibnite Gold, which shifted its focus to recovering tungsten and antimony to support the needs of the U.S. military during World War II.
From 1941 to 1945, Stibnite singlehandedly produced 90% of the domestic antimony and 40% of the tungsten needed to support America's wartime effort. This strategic metal mine's contribution is credited with shaving an entire year off the global conflict.
"In the opinion of the munitions board, the discovery of that tungsten at Stibnite, Idaho, in 1942 shortened World War II by at least 1 year and saved the lives of a million American soldiers," according to the March 7, 1956, U.S. Senate Congressional Record.
With geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and the world's top two antimony suppliers on the rise and China installing a government-controlled spigot on nearly half of the world's supply, DOD is once again looking at the historic Idaho mine to ensure secure supplies of the strategic metalloid.
"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."
While providing a 21st-century domestic supply of antimony, Perpetua Resources is rehabilitating environmental impacts from World War II-era critical minerals operations at its Stibnite Gold project.
To break America's dependence on China and Russia for the antimony needed for ammunition, fireproofing compounds, night vision goggles, and other military hardware, the Pentagon's investments in Stibnite Gold began with $200,000 in grants to see if military-grade antimony trisulfide could be produced from the Idaho project.
Following this initial 2022 study, DOD has awarded Perpetua $59.4 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," said Cherry. "From EXIM's potential financing of up to $1.8 billion to the multiple Department of Defense's multi-million-dollar awards to Perpetua, there is a profound recognition that we need domestic antimony production now."
The critical significance of antimony and America's dependence on imports from countries like China and Russia makes Stibnite Gold a prime candidate for funding under EXIM's "Make More in America" initiative, a tool established to improve the resiliency of U.S. supply chains and level the playing field for American companies competing in overseas markets.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States has offered to lend Perpetua Resources $1.8 billion to fund the development of a mine at Stibnite Gold.
In addition, Stibnite Gold is likely also eligible for special considerations under EXIM's "China and Transformational Exports Program," which offers reduced fees and extended repayment periods for projects that must compete with companies backed by Chinese government subsidies.
EXIM is conducting the due diligence necessary to determine if Stibnite Gold meets all the requirements for a final loan commitment.
Loan eligibility requirements include the completion of federal permitting under the National Environmental Policy Act, which is expected by the end of the year.
"The EXIM debt funding could fund a substantial portion of the estimated costs to build the Stibnite Gold Project," said Cherry.
A 2020 feasibility study estimated that it would cost roughly $1.66 billion to build the Stibnite Gold Mine. Inflation over the past four years, however, has likely pushed the development price tag higher.
Once in production, the mine proposed to be developed at Stibnite Gold is expected to produce roughly 35% of America's antimony needs.
The Pentagon's push to pivot America's antimony reliance away from Russia and China has encouraged mineral exploration companies to take a closer look at this metalloid's association with other gold deposits in the U.S.
Besides Idaho, the USGS has identified Alaska, Montana, and Nevada as the best states to explore for domestic supplies of antimony.
Alaska, in particular, is both a past supplier and potential future source of antimony.
"It has long been known that stibnite, the sulfide of antimony and the principal source of that metal, is widely distributed in Alaska," Alfred Brooks penned in a 1917 USGS report titled "Antimony deposits of Alaska."
Brooks' early 20th-century investigation identified 67 stibnite occurrences in Alaska, most of which are found in areas also rich in gold.
One such occurrence is the historic Scrafford mine, which provided the U.S. with a strategic source of antimony during both World Wars.
Intermittent mining at Scrafford from 1915 to the 1970s produced an estimated 1.08 million kilograms (2.4 million pounds) of antimony from 2,800 metric tons of hand-sorted ore averaging 38.6% stibnite.
Today, Felix Gold Ltd. is exploring the potential of establishing a gold mine on the Treasure Creek project where the historic Scrafford Mine is found that could also provide a byproduct supply of antimony.
Over the past couple of years, Felix has been focused on building a gold-antimony resource at NW Array, an area about a mile northwest of Scrafford Mine.
"While antimony is often found in lower concentrations alongside gold deposits, the extraordinary high-grade nature of this antimony discovery presents opportunities to assess the independent potential of antimony operations," said Felix Gold Executive Director Joseph Webb.
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.
While Nova Minerals' exploration at Estelle has primarily focused on gold, an expansive sampling program carried out across the 198-square-mile property in 2023 discovered widespread antimony, copper, and silver associated with gold at several sites across the Estelle property.
Some of the best samples collected during this campaign contained:
• 12.7 g/t gold, 1,600 g/t silver, and 2.1% antimony.
• 1.2 g/t gold and 19% antimony, and 0.9 g/t gold and 21.7% antimony.
• 2.4 g/t gold, 500 g/t silver, 1.6% copper, and 2.5% antimony.
• 0.7 g/t gold, 588 g/t silver, and 16.8% antimony.
Massive stibnite collected from the Stibium prospect on Nova Minerals' Estelle property.
"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.
With the Stibnite Gold project in Idaho expected to meet roughly 35% of America's current antimony demand, recovering stibnite as a byproduct from future mines at these gold deposits in Alaska could offer additional alternatives to China and Russia for this critical and strategic metalloid.
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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