Stibnite’s significant presence in Australia highlights the country’s potential as a global antimony producer, a report from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) said.
“Derived from the Latin word stibium, meaning antimony, (stibnite) is the primary ore for (antimony).”
Listed as a critical mineral in Australia, European Union, Japan and the United States, antimony has recently been gaining attention due to its role in the growing defence industry.
The metal has also been a subject of discussion during the meeting between Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump, wherein the countries’ individual and shared moves towards critical minerals were tackled.
Albanese and Trump also signed a rare earths deal during the meeting, under which Australia and the US agreed to each make more than US$1 billion in investments over the next six months for initial projects (including antimony mines) to address the critical minerals global demand.
US-Australia alliance
A report by Small Caps highlighted antimony as an “overlooked mineral” in the US-Australia alliance.
It particularly mentioned how Australia’s Ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, invited leading companies to provide a briefer on relevant antimony projects prior to the US-Australia meeting.
They were asked to include key minerals identified, planned expansion activities and corporate engagements with US government agencies for projects that may serve as key assets in the alliance.
Included are Nova Minerals (ASX:NVA,NASDAQ:NVA), who was asked to speak on its flagship Estelle gold-antimony project, and Resolution Minerals (ASX:RML,OTCQB:RLMLF) for its Idaho-based Horse Heaven gold-antimony-tungsten project.
Estelle currently holds a global JORC-compliant measured, indicated and inferred resource of 9.9 million ounces of gold.
On October 28, Nova announced that Estelle received funding of US43.4 million from the U.S. Department of War to fast-track onshore antimony production from 2026 to 2027. The project has also secured equipment that will be delivered to the site in January 2026.
Horse-Heaven, on the other hand, reported maiden drill hole results last October 28. Returns included 12.9 meters at 2.32 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 94.4 meters and 70.8 meters at 2.24 g/t gold from 128.8 meters.
The project sits near Perpetua Resources’ (TSX:PPTA,NASDAQ:PPTA) Stibnite mine, which hosts a 4.8 million ounce gold reserve and a historic record of 90 percent US antimony output during World War II.
Australian assets
CSIRO Mineral Processing Specialist Paul Bruer said that antimony’s recognition as a critical mineral across countries ignites “interest in Australia’s stibnite reserves and the processing of these to antimony metal or antimony oxide onshore.”
New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia were cited as key areas for stibnite reserves.
Alkane Resources (ASX:ALK,OTCQB:ALKEF) Costerfield project in Victoria was highlighted in the report as the sole stibnite-gold concentrate-producing mine that is currently exporting overseas.
Costerfield had a production record of 1,282 tonnes of antimony in 2024.
Also included is the Hillgrove antimony-gold project in New South Wales, which is expected to become Australia’s largest antimony producer.
Hillgrove is currently owned Larvotto Resources (ASX:LRV), which received an acquisition proposal from United States Antimony (NYSEAMERICAN:UAMY)) in mid-October.
It is projected to produce about 7 percent of global antimony supply and is scheduled to recommence in 2026.
Recently, the Sunday Creek gold-antimony project by Southern Cross Gold (ASX:SXG) has also been gaining momentum following new “record-setting intercepts” recorded in May.
Sunday Creek is targeting a maiden resource in 2027.
“Antimony in stibnite is mainly found in association with gold, but is also found associated with some base metal ores,” Breuer added. “It can also be produced as a secondary product from smelters treating base metal ores.”
CSIRO recommendations
Beyond capitalising on ore expertise and knowledge in sustainable processing, CSIRO said that it is possible for Australia to develop an economic and environmentally friendly process of its own.
The organization underlined that there are currently no processing routes for antimony production and gold recovery in Australia, adding that there is considerable interest from Australian mining companies to process stibnite-gold concentrates onshore.
“As the world pivots toward clean energy and more digital infrastructure, antimony’s role will only grow,” the report ended.
“As global supply chains tighten, Australia, backed by stable government, advanced mining and processing expertise and rich stibnite reserves, is poised to become a global leader in antimony production.”
A commentary by FN Media group said that the antimony market size is projected to grow US$1.78 billion by 2032. The company also stated in a separate report that global demand for antimony is projected to grow from US$2.5 billion in 2024 to US$3.5 billion by 2030.
Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.