Perpetua Resources (TSX:PPTA) has opened a modular mineral processing pilot plant with the US Army and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in Idaho, US, to demonstrate domestic antimony trisulphide production.
The facility aims to establish a secure domestic supply chain for antimony, a critical mineral essential to national security and used in products ranging from defence munitions to solar glass and battery technologies.
The pilot plant utilises antimony samples from Perpetua’s Stibnite Gold Project in central Idaho. Stibnite is the only identified domestic reserve of antimony in the US, with the project receiving final federal approvals in 2025 before advancing into early works construction.
Perpetua CEO Jon Cherry says the opening of the pilot plant demonstrates what’s possible “when industry, government, and scientific innovation work together on practical domestic solutions.”
“This pilot plant extends that momentum downstream by helping establish the capabilities needed to produce military-grade antimony materials here in [the US],” Cherry says.
“Together, these investments are laying the foundation for a secure, end-to-end domestic supply chain that strengthens national security while creating long-term economic opportunity.”
INL Laboratory Director John Wagner adds that the pilot plant is “an investment in the nation’s critical mineral future”.
“The data and operational experience generated here will help advance domestic antimony production while demonstrating how national laboratories, industry, and government can work together to strengthen America’s supply chains and national security,” Wagner says.
Since 2022, Perpetua has been awarded over US$87 million ($124 million) from the US Department of War and US Army to advance the project, including over US$59 million in Defence Production Act Title III funding.
In June 2026, the company received up to an additional US$4.7 million under the Defence Ordnance Technology Consortium program, bringing total funding from the US Army to US$27 million under its ordnance technology agreement.
Perpetua is currently continuing early works activities at Stibnite, including infrastructure improvements to support full-scale development of the open pit gold and antimony deposit.
Perpetua Resources is focused on the exploration, site restoration, and redevelopment of gold-antimony-silver deposits in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine district of central Idaho.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
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