Antimony is a silvery-white, brittle metalloid that rarely occurs in nature in pure form. Until not too long ago, it was one of the most overlooked metals. Today, it is increasingly becoming an indispensable key raw material. Most of us likely first encountered antimony in chemistry class. The chemical symbol Sb is derived from the Latin word stibium, the ore in which antimony is most commonly found in nature.
Although it is hardly known to the general public, antimony is among the most strategically important raw materials of the modern age. It is therefore a key raw material of the 21st century for both technological and security-related applications. Those who do not have antimony, or not in sufficient quantities, risk falling behind in the technological race and becoming defenseless in the military sphere. That is why no country in the world can afford to ignore antimony today.
No fire protection—and no ammunition—without antimony
The applications of antimony are extraordinarily diverse. One of the most important uses is the production of flame retardants. Antimony trioxide (Sb₂O₃) is added in large quantities to plastics, textiles, paints and electronic circuit boards to reduce their flammability. This makes antimony an indispensable component of the fire protection industry and enables compliance with the strictest international safety standards.
Antimony also plays an important role in battery technology—one that will likely grow in the future. Lead-acid batteries used for vehicles, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and industrial systems contain antimony as an alloying element to improve mechanical strength and increase conductivity. More recent research is also investigating antimony-based anodes for next-generation sodium-ion and lithium-ion batteries.
In the military and defense sector, antimony is a critical material, as it is needed for detonators, explosives, armor-piercing ammunition, as well as infrared sensors and night-vision devices. Semiconductor compounds such as indium antimonide (InSb) are core materials for modern thermal imaging cameras and play a strategic role in electronic warfare.
Other important areas of application include semiconductor technology, where antimony is required for the production of transistors and diodes. Another important field is glass manufacturing: antimony decolorizes glass and is used as a fining agent. Antimony is also used in the production of bearing metals and die-casting alloys, as well as in pharmaceuticals and veterinary medicine.
Unique properties underpin antimony’s strategic importance
Antimony’s strategic importance stems from the unique combination of its physical and chemical properties. Antimony increases the hardness and tensile strength of lead, improves the corrosion resistance of alloys, and is a highly effective synergist for halogen-containing flame retardants. These properties are difficult—and often impossible—to replicate with other materials.
In view of the energy transition, antimony is gaining additional relevance: without high-performance battery storage, integrating renewable energy is hardly possible. Antimony could play a key role in new storage technologies. At the same time, demand from the defense industry continues to rise, as modern conflicts are increasingly fought with high-precision, electronically controlled weapons systems.
The European Union has therefore included antimony on its list of critical raw materials. The United States also regards antimony as strategically irreplaceable and lists it among the Critical Minerals of the Geological Survey. Canada and Australia have also already responded and are paying antimony significantly more attention today than they did five or ten years ago.
China has the world’s largest antimony deposits
Geologically, antimony occurs mainly as the mineral stibnite (Sb₂S₃)—a shiny, lead-gray sulfide mineral found in hydrothermal veins. It typically forms in medium-temperature quartz veins associated with gold, silver, lead, zinc and arsenic. Antimony can also occur native, i.e., in elemental form, or in oxide minerals such as valentinite and senarmontite.
Global reserves are highly concentrated geographically. By far the largest antimony deposits in the world are in China. The province of Hunan alone is estimated to host 50–60% of global antimony reserves. Not without reason, the city of Lengshuijiang, where the Xikuangshan mine is located, is therefore considered the “antimony capital of the world.”
Russia has significant deposits on the Kola Peninsula and in Siberia. Bolivia and Tajikistan also have substantial deposits, but these have so far been developed only to a limited extent. Smaller, economically relevant deposits can be found in Australia, South Africa and Turkey. Myanmar (Burma) has gained importance as an antimony producer in recent years, but suffers from political instability.
Global onshore reserves are estimated at around 1.5 to 2.0 million tonnes, although the exact figures vary depending on the source. The concentration of deposits in geopolitically sensitive or unstable regions makes security of supply a central issue for Western industrialized nations.
This makes it clear that antimony now has enormous economic-policy and strategic significance that did not exist in this form in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is so great that we will address this question tomorrow in a second article.
