Explorers around the world are rejoicing at the US government exempting antimony among a slew of other metals and minerals from President Donald Trump’s hard-hitting new tariffs regime.
Last week, Trump signed an executive order titled ‘Regulating Imports with a Reciprocal Tariff to Rectify Trade Practices that Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits’.
This policy came into effect on 5 April and has already affected global markets.
Antimony is listed as a critical mineral, which will not be subject to tariffs. This exemption aligns with the US Geological Survey’s 2022 Critical Minerals List, which some companies say reflects a coherent US government policy that recognises the importance of antimony to the US and global security.
Antimony is a critical component for battery technology, advanced military systems, and other industrial applications. Several countries including China, the US, Canada, and Australia have listed it as a critical mineral.
The US and other Western nations are highly reliant on antimony imports to meet demand, with China, Russia, Tajikistan and Myanmar controlling 94% of the global antimony supply. As such, there’s a growing number of companies exploring for the critical mineral amid rising prices for the commodity.
Trigg Minerals (ASX:TMG) is one junior explorer rejoicing on the back of the President’s announcement. Trigg is focused on progressing its Wild Cattle Creek deposit, which it says is Australia’s highest grade undeveloped primary antimony resource of 1.52Mt containing 29,900 tonnes of antimony.
Trigg Executive Chairman Timothy Morrison says it is a “remarkable time” to be developing an antimony project in Australia.
“This exemption, in conjunction with NewSouth Wales Government and Australian federal government Critical Mineral incentives, and at a time of record high prices for antimony, sets a development context for our Wild Cattle Creek deposit unlike any nonconflict period in Australian history,” Morrison says.
“There could be no greater recognition of the strategic nature of the Wild Cattle Creek deposit and the importance of antimony, which has many military and other strategic applications, as well as industrial uses, to global supply chains.”
Cosmo Metals (ASX:CMO) recently satisfied a key condition, receiving shareholder support, for the acquisition of the Bingara and Nundle gold-antimony and copper projects in New South Wales.
As reported by Mining.com.au, the projects represent large, camp-scale exploration opportunities with evidence of high-grade multi-commodity mineralisation. They contain an extensive pipeline of prospective targets that are under-explored or untested with modern exploration.
Earlier this year, Cosmo entered into a binding heads of agreement to acquire the two projects and having now satisfied this further condition, will proceed with exploration. Cosmo plans to complete LiDAR and high-resolution imagery capture surveys, which will enhance the efficiency of the mapping, surface sampling, and drillhole positioning phase of exploration.
EV Resources (ASX:EVR) on 1 April reached agreement with a private investor based in the US to obtain 49 unpatented claims over the Coyote Creek Antimony Project. The Coyote Creek claims are located in Garfield County, Utah, 11km east of the town named Antimony.
EV Resources says the US imports all of its antimony concentrates at present and the Coyote Creek Project appears to have the potential to become a domestic supplier of antimony at a time of well documented supply shortages. This agreement follows EV Resources’ recent announcement of the proposed acquisition of 70% of Los Lirios, an open pit antimony mine in Oaxaca state Mexico.
The Coyote Creek Project fits with the company’s preference to develop an Americas antimony division based upon open pit mining opportunities.
Military Metals (CSE:MILI) CEO Scott Eldridge since late 2024 has been looking forward to de-risking the company’s flagship asset in the European Union in 2025 and capturing the value of the rising antimony price.
The company announced its first antimony property acquisition on 24 September 2024 and has since amassed a portfolio of brownfield antimony projects with high-antimony-to-gold ratios in top mining jurisdictions.
In mid-January, Military Metals entered into an agreement to purchase additional claims surrounding the West Gore Antimony Project in Nova Scotia, Canada, as reported. CEO Scott Eldridge says the antimony spot price yet again achieved a new all-time high in February when it was trading at US$51,500 ($86,123) per tonne.
Antimony was one of the top performing commodities for 2024 beginning the year at US$13,000 per tonne and rising to as much as US$51,500 in 2025. Market speculation suggests prices could reach US$100,000.
A member of the arsenic group of elements, antimony is a silvery, lustrous grey metal that exhibits poor heat and electrical conductivity. It is relatively soft, measuring only 3.25 on Moh’s scale of mineral hardness. Known as “stibium” in classical Latin, antimony is represented by the chemical symbol Sb.
Antimony is commonly found in association with gold mineralisation but it also occurs with some silver-lead-zinc deposits. Antimony is rarely found in its pure state and most commonly occurs in nature as the sulphide mineral stibnite.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Umicore& Iltani
