Antimony exploration ramps up as global demand and geopolitical tensions rise

By Colin Hay - September 5, 2024

Despite featuring high on the critical minerals lists of many nations, antimony has until recently been relatively overlooked.

However, recent discoveries of modern uses for antimony, along with growing supply issues, have sparked global interest in finding and developing what a new Lowy Institute report has described as the “hidden metal”.

Australian miners in particular have dedicated a significant amount of their time and money to antimony, with at least five announcements featuring antimony-related news on the released to the Australian Securities Exchange today.

Emergent resource

Dr Marina Yue Zhang, an associate professor with the Australia-China Relations Institute at Sydney’s University of Technology, recently wrote a Lowy Institute piece noting that antimony has quietly emerged as a keenly-contested global resource.

Dr Zhang says the growing international competition for antimony is merely the latest manifestation of the great power rivalry centred on technological supremacy.

That competition will intensify exponentially in mid-September when China introduces new restrictions on antimony exports, raising concerns within the USA’s defence interests in particular.

Antimony plays a crucial role in the production of various military equipment, further emphasising the impact of the new Chinese measures on US national security.

Australia-US partnerships

In an effort to counter China’s dominance in critical mineral supply chains, the US has forged partnerships with resource-rich countries including Australia.

Dr Zhang says China’s antimony restrictions have helped fuel the increase in Australian mining interests but also noted that Australia’s ability to help overcome the risks associated with China’s dominance remains limited.

She explained that China’s export restrictions target antimony oxides with a purity of 99.99% or higher, and producing such high-purity chemical compounds requires advanced processing technologies.

China’s dominance

According to the US Geological Survey, almost 90% of antimony mine production in 2022 came from China, Russia and Tajikistan.

China was the clear leader, with almost double the output of its nearest rival.

However, China is actually a net importer of antimony metal and 86% of Australia’s antimony exports are currently sent to China for processing.

Antimony market

Mordor Intelligence has estimated size of the antimony market to be 96.72 kilotons in 2024 and expects it to grow at an annual compound rate of 1.5% to reach 104.17kt by 2029.

Meanwhile, Fortune Business Insights says the current global antimony market is valued at around $160 billion and projected to grow to approximately $260b by 2032.

With that sort of growth forecast, it comes as no surprise that Australia’s miners are accelerating their hunt for the “hidden” critical metal.