![]() ![]() In the company's own words, unlike other antimony-producing companies in the U.S.: "USAC is not dependent on Chinese feed." During the year, however, the OTC-traded United State Antimony Corporation (USAC) ( Bloomberg Ticker - UAMY:US) produced both antimony metal and oxides at its manufacturing facility in Thompson Falls, Montana, using both old tailings and feedstock from mines in Mexico and Central America. ![]() In 2008, according to the USGS, there was a sole mine in Nevada, operated by Stockpile Reserves Inc., that produced antimony concentrate. Since antimony is often to be found as a trace element in gold, copper, lead and silver ores, the metal is also extracted from these. While found in over 100 different mineral forms, stibnite (SbS 3), an antimony-bearing ore, is the only source for metallic antimony to be commercially mined. In its February 2008 newsletter, Metal Pages reported that this company alone had the capacity to produce some 1,000 tonnes per month of antimony metal. In China, one of the largest, if not the largest, antimony mining company is the charmingly named Hsikwangshan Twinkling Star Company in Hunan Province, which owns two major antimony mines. One of those places was Bolivia, which remains a major antimony producer.) (It is interesting to note, though, that the run-up in the price of the metal those 90 or so years ago stimulated production elsewhere around the globe. (Antimony has, in the past, also been used in the solid propellants that power rockets, for example, as a stabilizer for burning-rate modifiers in the fuel itself.)įinally, because of its metalloid nature, research continues into further uses of antimony in semiconductors: It is already used as a dopant.Īs with other of the so-called minor metals, most of the world's antimony comes from China it has for nearly a hundred years. In addition to being used as a catalyst in the polyester industry, in chemical form antimony is used in fireworks (antimony trisulfide produces glittering white stars) and can be found, once again, in ammunition, used as a primer - it promotes ignition. ![]() (It can also be used to provide yellow coloring.) While, in the glass industry, antimony is used to remove the bubbles from, refine and de-color various different types of glass, in ceramic and porcelain glazes it is actually used as an opacifier. (It is also mixed with zinc to make other alloys.) These alloys are to be found in such diverse uses as pipe and sheet metal, solder, cable coverings, pewter, castings and bearings (in particular as Babbitt metal), tank linings and, of course, ammunition. The remainder was accounted for thusly: transportation, including batteries, 22% chemicals, 14% ceramics and glass, 11%: and, others, 13%.Īpart from its use in lead-acid batteries, when mixed with lead, the resulting alloy is considerably stronger than either of the two original metals. When impregnated with compounds formed from antimony trioxide (Sb 2O 3), plastics, rubber and textiles all become, to a degree, fireproof.Īccording to the USGS, in 2008, some 40% of the antimony consumed in the U.S. (More recently it has been used in the treatment of bilharzia (schistosomiasis), a particularly nasty disease caused by parasitic worms that can spread throughout most of your body.) Antimony and its compounds can, however, be particularly toxic.įrom the Middle Ages on, antimony has also featured strongly in alchemy and, indeed, the metal has a number of symbols of its own. Back then it was used, amongst other things, in eye shadow (kohl) and for medicinal purposes. Indeed, yellow antimony, which only occurs at temperatures below -80☌, is extremely explosive.Īntimony has been known of, and used, from at least the third millennium BCE. (A metalloid displays the characteristics of both a metal and a nonmetal.) In addition, it has four allotropes (see Gallium: A Slippery Metal), of which two (yellow antimony and black antimony) are neither stable nor metallic. Pure antimony metal is silver gray/white and brittle.Īlthough actually a metal, like germanium and tellurium (of which more in forthcoming articles), antimony is also termed a metalloid. Estimated World Mine Production of Antimony in 2008 ![]()
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