As a result, antimony prices rose from an average of $2.67 per pound versus $6.65 per pound in October of last year.Ī growing fear is that China can use rare earths as a weapon against the USA by throttling back or even banning rare earth exports to the USA. Some of the reduction in China was due to COVID production problems and China’s focus on environmental issues. A recent report from the USGS shows that total global production of antimony fell to 110,000 tonnes in 2021, and Chinese production dropped to 60,000 tonnes, with Russia in second at 25,000 tonnes and Tajikistan at 13,000 tonnes. Antimony production in 2016 was 130,000 tonnes with China producing 100,000 tonnes. It is increasingly important as an essential element in high-capacity molten metal batteries. Antimony is used as a dopant in semiconductor devices. Antimony trioxide is a prominent additive for halogen-containing flame retardants. It improves the rigidity of lead-alloy plates in lead–acid batteries. The largest applications for metallic antimony are in alloys with lead and tin, which have improved properties for solders, bullets, and plain bearings. Typically, they have infrastructure and possibly tailings that were processed using old technology which can be economically recovered with today’s improved processes. I am a strong believer in looking at ex-producing mines or mine tailings as new sources of raw material. Samples from this project show antimony levels of 39.4% and 9.69 g/t of Au. It is planned to process material from the tailings from their Tienesgrund project. They have purchased a processing plant in July in Eastern Slovakia. Slovakia was the key source of antimony for the Soviet Union. You can also reduce exposure to antimony by avoiding the use of disposable plastic bottles, such as single use water bottles.Molten Metals’ second move was to incorporate a company in Slovakia, Slovak Antimony Corporation. To learn whether a product contains antimony trioxide, ask the manufacturer whether it contains added flame retardants and which ones have been used. To reduce exposure to antimony avoid products treated with flame retardants and seek alternatives. Companies using antimony in flame retardant applications should choose alternate materials or safer chemicals. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, passed by Congress in 2009, created a mandatory standard limiting migration of antimony from children’s products to 60 ppm. California restricts the amount of antimony that can be in the paints and coatings of certain consumer products.Īdditional restrictions are needed to minimize exposure to antimony from consumer products. What can government and industry do?Ĭurrently, there are few regulations for products with antimony and antimony compounds. In long-term studies, animals exposed to low levels of antimony had eye irritation, hair loss, lung damage, and heart problems.Īntimony may also impact fertility, with laboratory studies showing antimony exposure to cause fertility problems. Ingestion of large doses of antimony may cause stomach pains and vomiting. It has also been listed as a possible human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.īreathing air contaminated with antimony can cause eye and lung irritation, heart and lung damage, stomach pains, diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach ulcers.
Why should I be concerned?Īntimony trioxide is classified as a carcinogen in the state of California.
Since antimony is also used in consumer products, house dust is another likely exposure source. In urban areas, the primary sources of exposure are likely to be vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions. How am I exposed?Īntimony is released into air and water from coal-burning power plants, incinerators, mines, and industrial facilities. The most widely used antimony compound is antimony trioxide, used as a component in flame retardant applications. It is also used as a catalyst to produce polyester, and is found in plastics used for disposable beverage bottles. Antimony is a naturally occurring metal often used in combination with lead and zinc, found in metal alloys, paints, ceramics, and fireworks.
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