Antimony has shifted from an obscure industrial metal into a Western national security priority as governments race to build supply chains outside China. However, billions of dollars in government support cannot easily solve the industry’s largest constraint: the time required to permit and build new mines.
A report released Tuesday outlined how Western antimony developers are approaching that problem as governments seek alternatives to Chinese supply. The report examined projects ranging from permitted U.S. operations to emerging gold-antimony deposits, showing how permitting and construction timelines could determine which producers reach the market first.
Future Market Insights values the global antimony market at roughly USD$2.5 billion in 2026. It expects the market to reach approximately USD$4.5 billion by 2036, representing annual growth of about 6.2 per cent. Meanwhile, Emergen Research forecasts growth from USD$1.31 billion in 2025 to roughly USD$2.5 billion by 2035.
The forecasts differ because researchers define antimony revenues differently, but both point toward rising demand. Additionally, governments and lenders have committed billions of dollars toward developing Western sources. The United States and Canada both classify antimony as a critical mineral.
China accelerated that push in August 2024 when it introduced export licensing for six antimony product categories. These included antimony ore, metal and oxide, along with gold-antimony smelting and separation technology. Subsequently, Beijing banned antimony exports to the United States in December 2024.
Antimony metal prices roughly doubled following those restrictions. China produces approximately half of global output, while the United States imports more than 85 per cent of its consumption. The metal serves several military applications, including ammunition primers, armour-piercing rounds, night vision equipment and hardened alloys.
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Exploration companies seek permits while developing gold resources
Washington has responded by supporting domestic production and planning strategic stockpiles. However, the United States has no operating primary antimony mine. Developers can secure capital relatively quickly, but permitting and constructing a new mine can take years.
That gap has pushed Western antimony companies toward several different development strategies. Some developers are advancing large new mines with government financing. Others are recovering antimony from existing operations. Meanwhile, exploration companies are trying to move deposits through permitting while developing gold resources that can support project economics.
RUA GOLD Inc. (OTCMKTS: NZAUF) (TSE: RUA) reported its highest-grade drill result to date from the Auld Creek gold-antimony project in New Zealand on Sept. 8. Hole ACDDH119 returned 0.6 metres grading 82.9 grams per tonne gold and 24.80 per cent antimony.
Other holes produced broader mineralized intervals. ACDDH112 returned 2.85 metres at 9.29 grams per tonne gold and 13.71 per cent antimony. Additionally, ACDDH104 returned 32 metres grading 2.11 grams per tonne gold, while ACDDH108 cut 11.3 metres at 6.11 grams per tonne gold.
RUA describes Auld Creek as extending more than 1,000 metres along strike and more than 500 metres deep. The deposit also remains open in every direction. Furthermore, drilling has identified areas where gold and antimony grades increase with depth and other areas where mineralized widths expand.
The company has completed approximately 19,600 metres of drilling to support its planned pre-feasibility study. That work also provides geotechnical, hydrological and metallurgical information required for permitting. New Zealand accepted Auld Creek as a listed project under its Fast-Track Approvals regime in July 2026.
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Government financing cannot eliminate development timeline
RUA plans to submit its substantive Fast-Track application in October and publish the pre-feasibility study in December. Meanwhile, four drill rigs will continue testing the deposit through the fourth quarter. The company controls more than 120,000 hectares of permits across the historically productive Reefton Goldfield.
Perpetua Resources Corp. (NASDAQ: PPTA) (TSE: PPTA) represents a larger-scale approach through its Stibnite Gold Project in Idaho. The gold project contains antimony credits and could host the only domestic antimony reserve in the United States.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank unanimously approved a USD$2.9 billion senior secured loan for Stibnite in May. The 13-year facility falls under the bank’s Make More in America Initiative. Additionally, a March technical report estimated an after-tax net present value of USD$3.5 billion using a USD$3,250-per-ounce gold price.
That valuation rises to USD$6.1 billion using USD$4,500-per-ounce gold. However, government financing cannot eliminate the development timeline. Stibnite must still complete financing and construction before it can deliver antimony to customers.
NevGold Corp. (CVE: NAU) (OTCMKTS: NAUFF) (Frankfurt: 5E50) is pursuing another route at its Limousine Butte gold-antimony project in Nevada. The brownfield project hosts a former open-pit gold operation and previously mined material that NevGold is evaluating as a potential source of near-term antimony production.
The company announced a maiden mineral resource estimate in July containing 29,600 tonnes of measured and indicated antimony grading 0.26 per cent. Additionally, NevGold reported 48,100 tonnes of inferred antimony grading 0.18 per cent. The project also contains 181,400 ounces of measured and indicated oxide gold and approximately 1.2 million inferred ounces.
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Limousine Butte differs from many new antimony projects
Meanwhile, NevGold is conducting a 20,000-metre drilling program aimed at expanding and upgrading the resource. Initial 2026 drilling extended antimony-gold mineralization more than 100 metres beyond the existing resource model. The company is also advancing metallurgical testing, engineering work and a preliminary economic assessment.
Limousine Butte also differs from many new antimony projects because exploration permitting is already in place. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved NevGold’s Plan of Operations in November 2024, allowing up to 200 acres of disturbance across the project for 10 years. Furthermore, NevGold is evaluating previously mined material at surface as part of its effort to develop a shorter path toward domestic antimony production.
United States Antimony Corporation (NYSE: UAMY) attacks the supply problem from another direction. The company operates mining, milling, smelting and sales businesses across the United States, Mexico and Canada. It also operates a zeolite business and moved from NYSE American to the New York Stock Exchange in March.
United States Antimony reported second-quarter revenue of USD$7.9 million, compared with USD$10.5 million one year earlier. Antimony volumes rose 26 per cent excluding Defense Logistics Agency sales. Meanwhile, zeolite revenue increased 110 per cent year over year and working capital reached USD$70 million.
Falling antimony prices nevertheless forced management to cut its 2026 revenue forecast to between USD$60 million and USD$75 million. The previous forecast called for USD$125 million. Antimony prices had fallen from approximately USD$28 to USD$14 per pound, while management expects prices near USD$10 through 2026.
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Americas Gold and Silver and United States Antimony have formed a JV
Consequently, strategic demand for antimony does not guarantee continuously rising prices. Supply security and commodity pricing can move independently, particularly as producers and customers respond to disrupted trade flows.
Americas Gold and Silver Corporation (NYSE American: USAS) offers a faster route because its Galena Complex already operates in Idaho. Galena currently produces antimony as a by-product of silver mining rather than as output from a dedicated antimony mine.
The antimony occurs in tetrahedrite ore alongside silver and copper. Therefore, Americas Gold and Silver can increase antimony production through an existing permitted mining operation. The company reported 447,466 pounds of antimony production during the first three quarters of 2025, alongside 615,817 pounds of copper.
Additionally, Americas Gold and Silver formed a 51/49 joint venture with United States Antimony in February. The partners plan to develop an antimony processing hub at Galena. The arrangement aims to establish a domestic mine-to-finished-product chain using already permitted infrastructure.
The company also discovered seven new high-grade silver-copper-antimony veins at Galena in March. Furthermore, it launched the largest drilling campaign in its history, covering approximately 64,000 metres across Galena and its Cosalá operations in Mexico.
Existing operations can respond to shortages much faster than new mines. A permitted mine producing antimony as a by-product can potentially increase supply within quarters. Conversely, a newly discovered deposit may require years before reaching commercial production regardless of its grade.
Nova Minerals Corp. (ASX: NVA) (NYSE: American: NVA) is pursuing another route at its Estelle Gold and Critical Minerals Project in Alaska. The 514-square-kilometre property contains two defined multi-million-ounce gold resources and more than 20 prospects along a 35-kilometre trend.
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Nova is preparing for its winter program
Nova’s antimony prospects include Stibium and Styx. Additionally, the company secured a USD$43.4 million U.S. Department of War award to support its antimony strategy. Nova has produced antimony metal and military-grade antimony trisulfide at laboratory scale from Estelle stibnite ore.
The company also moved approximately 1.5 million pounds of equipment to the site during its winter freight program. Meanwhile, Nova is procuring processing equipment for a downstream antimony refinery at Port MacKenzie and has operated three diamond drills through the Alaskan summer.
Nova has also collected more than 50 tonnes of stibnite-rich material for bulk sampling. The company targets initial pilot-scale antimony production between late 2026 and early 2027. However, it must still bridge the gap between laboratory production, pilot operations and a commercial Western supply chain.
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