Source of information on antimony in Australia from Geoscience Australia.

The main use of antimony is to harden lead in storage batteries, and it is increasingly being used in the semiconductor industry.

Australian government's portal to all matters relating to the critical minerals sector

USGS summary of the antimony market for five years up to 2023

The Minerals Council of Australia released a guide to the minerals and metals that are essential to future applications for daily life. Antimony appears nine times in applications ranging from computer memory processing, anti-bacterial and anti-microbial materials, pacemakers and electric fire trucks!

A report on the importance of diversity of energy storage solutions to minimise mineral supply chain risks to produce batteries including the development of liquid metal batteries where antimony is the cathode.

Video discussion on alternative energy storage solutions and the role antimony plays in liquid metal batteries.

A historic report for the colonial Department of Mines on antimony deposits in Victoria

Infographic on geopolitical importance & supply risk of antimony

China ratcheted up trade tensions with the US with a ban on several materials with high-tech and military applications, in a tit-for-tat move after President Joe Biden ’s government escalated technology curbs on Beijing.

Antimony has surged in interest across Australian investment portfolios, simultaneously driven by rising prices and the quality of local antimony exploration assets.

Antimony prices have been on a rapid uptrend since Beijing announced the addition of antimony and some of its products to China’s export licensing scheme from 15 September.

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

Great power competition between the United States and China centres on technological supremacy. This extends beyond future-defining technologies such as high-end chip manufacturing, advanced AI, and quantum computing to include the supply chains underpinning these technologies, particularly critical minerals.

China’s latest export restrictions reveal yet another critical mineral vulnerability for the United States.