ANTIMONY

Antimony is a lustrous silvery-white material. Although it is usually described as a metal, it possesses mixed metallic and nonmetallic characteristics and is more properly classified as a semimetal or metalloid. Among the elements found in the Earth’s crust, antimony ranks 53rd in abundance. At an average crustal concentration of 0.20 g/t, it is less abundant than tin, arsenic or the rare earth elements but more abundant than bismuth, mercury or silver. Antimony tends to concentrate in sulfide ores with copper, lead and silver. It occurs sparingly as a native metal, usually in association with arsenic, bismuth or silver. Production In 2023, no marketable antimony was mined in the United States. A mine in Nevada that had extracted about 800 t of antimony ore from 2013 through 2014 was placed on care-and-maintenance status in 2015 and had no reported production in 2023. Primary antimony metal and oxide were produced by one company in Montana using imported feedstock. Secondary antimony production was derived mostly from antimonial lead recovered from spent lead-acid batteries. The estimated value of secondary antimony produced domestically in 2023 was about $49 million. China continued to be the leading global antimony producer in 2023 and accounted for 48 percent of global mine production. World production of antimony has not recovered to pre-2020 levels as the leading mine in Russia is focusing its production on gold, and producers in China have decreased production since 2021 as mandated by the government citing environmental concerns. Consumption and end uses Apparent consumption of antimony in the United States in 2023 was estimated to be 22 kt, 12 percent less than in 2022. Recycling supplied about 18 percent of estimated domestic consumption, and the remainder came mostly from imports. In the United States, the leading uses of antimony were metal products, including antimonial lead and ammunition, 43 percent; flame retardants, 35 percent; and nonmetal products, including ceramics and glass and rubber products, 22 percent. Imports and exports The United States is highly reliant on imports of unwrought antimony metal and antimony trioxide. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, imports in 2023 of unwrought antimony for consumption were 7.7 kt, 7 percent less than in 2022. Imports of antimony trioxide were 14 kt, 17 percent less than in 2022. The imported unwrought antimony was principally sourced from the United Kingdom, 22 percent; India, 18 percent; Thailand, 17 percent; Oman, 12 percent; and China, 10 percent. The imported antimony trioxide was principally sourced from China, 74 percent; Belgium, 10 percent; and Bolivia, 7 percent. The United States exported 1.9 kt of unwrought antimony metal in 2023, 7 percent more than in 2022, and 1.7 kt of antimony trioxide, 28 percent less than in 2022. The unwrought antimony was principally exported to Mexico, 45 percent, and Canada, 39 percent. The antimony trioxide was principally exported to Japan, 30 percent; Canada, 14 percent; and the Netherlands, 11 percent. Prices In 2023, the average antimony price was $5.49/lb, 11 percent lower than $6.18/lb in 2022. The monthly antimony price ranged from $5.12/lb in December 2023 to $5.97/lb in June 2023. World resources U.S. resources of antimony are mainly in Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Nevada. Additional antimony resources may occur in lead deposits in the eastern United States. Principal identified world resources are in Australia, Bolivia, Burma, China, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Tajikistan and Turkey. Trends and outlook According to Roskill, the shares of antimony consumption within the two main groups of end products, lead-acid batteries and flame retardants, have been decreasing. This trend is expected to continue as manufacturers, driven by increased prices and legislative changes to flame-retardant formulas, turn to substitutes. In batteries, lead-calcium alloys have increasingly been used instead of antimonial lead in battery grids. Antimony ore supply is expected to remain strained due to reduction in antimony output by mines in China and Russia. References U.S. Geological Survey, 2024, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024—Antimony: U.S. Geological Survey, p. 34-35, https://www.usgs.gov/publications/mineral-commodity-summaries-2024. Roskill, 2020, Antimony – Outlook to 2030, 14th ed. p. 4.

ANTIMONY

Authored by:
Kateryna Klochko

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Mining education gets federal boost as industry faces workforce crunch

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To view the past issues of the UCA magazine you must be a member of SME/UCA.

Recycling of SmCo magnets by removal of iron via oxidative leaching

BENTONITE

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