Perpetua Resources said it will explore antimony processing opportunities with Sunshine Silver Mining & Refining, amid a trade war between China and the US over critical minerals.
Both companies have signed an MOU to assess the technical potential for processing and refining antimony from Perpetua’s Stibnite antimony and gold project at the Sunshine Mine Complex in Idaho.
This collaboration aims to strengthen the domestic antimony supply chain in the US.
The MOU is non-binding and non-exclusive, initiating third-party engineering to evaluate a flowsheet suitable for different antimony ore types.
The agreement comes at a crucial time as China, which dominates global antimony production, announced an enhanced ban on exports to the US on 3 December 2024.
Perpetua Resources president and CEO Jon Cherry said: “Perpetua’s MOU with Sunshine Silver is a step in evaluating a fully integrated American antimony supply chain. The Stibnite Gold Project is the only identified domestic reserve of antimony, and with final federal decisions expected in a matter of weeks, Perpetua is ready to work with US companies to help secure domestic production of antimony.”
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By GlobalData
Currently, there is no domestically mined supply of antimony in the US.
Around 35% of projected US antimony demand is expected to be met from the Stibnite gold project in its first six years, according to the 2023 US Geological Survey antimony commodity summary. This, combined with Sunshine Silver’s expected 5% production, could fulfil up to 40% of US demand.
Sunshine Silver CEO Heather White said: “A fully American antimony supply chain is paramount for US national and economic security. We are confident that Sunshine can process and produce high-grade antimony here in Idaho as we have done in the past.
“Collectively, Sunshine and Perpetua plan to work under the MOU to identify a framework to develop a truly end-to-end American antimony solution.”
The Stibnite gold project holds 148 million pounds of antimony and is said to be the largest reserve not under Chinese influence.
The project, which received its Final Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Record of Decision in September 2024, aims to restore a historic mining district while producing gold and antimony.
The US Forest Service plans to deliver the Final Record of Decision by the end of 2024.
Perpetua Resources, through its subsidiaries, focuses on exploring, restoring and redeveloping gold-antimony-silver deposits in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine district of central Idaho as part of the Stibnite project.
Sunshine is the largest mineral rights holder in Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene mining district.
