Antimony prices jump on tight supply, soaring gold market

Antimony prices have climbed 17% since mid-January on supply tightness, limited sources of new supply and soaring gold prices.

The combination sent antimony to highs not seen since a spike in all metals in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Antimony is widely used as a fire retardant and also in photovoltaics, lead-acid batteries and cable sheathing. The US, EU, Canada, India, Australia and others have designated it a critical mineral because of its limited availability outside China, which dominates production and refining.

Record high gold prices are spurring gold miners that also produce antimony to put the niche metal on the back burner while targeting their primary commodity.

That is the case for PJSC Polyus' Olimpiada mine in Russia, Nils Backeberg, founder and director of Project Blue, a critical minerals supply chain market intelligence firm, said in a Jan. 22 note. Olimpiada was the world's No. 4 top-producing gold mine in 2022, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence Data.

"Project Blue expects the market balance to remain tight in 2024," Backeberg said. "The only significant and sustainable relief is a new Chinese-owned joint venture gold-antimony project in Tajikistan."

Limited sources of new supply

Chinese companies own six of the 10 largest active mining properties with deposits of antimony, according to an analysis of Market Intelligence data.

North America lost its largest operating antimony mine in January 2023 with the closure of the Beaver Brook mine in Newfoundland and Labrador owned by China's Hunan Nonferrous Metals Corp. Ltd. The mine has started and stopped production several times since it opened in 1997, according to Project Blue. Operators blamed lower production and increased costs for the latest halt, according to a CBC News report.

Mandalay Resources Corp., owner of Costerfield, the only operating antimony mine in Australia, expects its 2024 antimony production to fall for a fourth straight year to a range of 1,100 to 1,500 metric tons, it said Jan. 16. The mine's antimony output peaked in 2020 at 3,903 metric tons, according to Market Intelligence data. Output in 2023 was 1,860 metric tons.

Project Blue projects that Costerfield's antimony output will shrink to roughly 1% of global mine supply, from 2%-4% in previous years.

The US has a major antimony project in development that could relieve supply problems and further President Joe Biden's goal of easing dependence on China for supplies.

The Stibnite gold-antimony mine in Idaho is set to become the only US source of mined antimony. It holds the fourth-largest antimony reserves and resources in the world, according to Market Intelligence data. Owner Perpetua Resources Corp. said Jan. 2 that it expects to receive an environmental impact statement in the second quarter and final record of decision in the fourth quarter from the US Forest Service. The project was awarded $15.5 million in Department of Defense funding in August 2023.