1. Article
www.miningturkeymag.com
Minor, Critical and Strategic:
Antimony principally in flame retardant formula- mony trioxide and antimony metal con-
INTRODUCTION
Antimony is a silvery, white, brittle, crys- tions for textiles, plastics and rubber, and sumptions. When we are reading below
talline solid that exhibits poor conduc- in catalysts for production of polyethyl- table we have to consider that these are
tivity of electricity and heat. It has an ene terephthalate (PET). the consumptions of antimony products
atomic number of 51, an atomic weight with minimum 99% Sb content and over.
of 122 and a density of 6,697 kg/m3 at The principal use of antimony metal is as When we carefully analyze the table, it
26 oC. Antimony metal, also known as an ingredient in alloys where it imparts shows us that antimony consumption
‘regulus’, melts at 630oC and boils at 1380 hardness, strength, anticorrosion and increased average 3.1% in last decades,
oC. Antimony is technically classified as a other properties. Antimonial lead is used and within this period we experienced a
metalloid, or semi-metal, meaning that it chiefly for automotive and stand-by bat- world finance crises that affected all the
possesses both some properties of met- teries. Other uses are in solders, ammuni- markets.
als and some of non-metals. Antimony tion, corrosion resistant pipes and cable
has four allotropes; a stable metallic sheathing . PRODUCTION AND PRICES
form, and three meta-stable forms which According to the U.S. Geological Survey
Glass 9 %
are: explosive, black and yellow. Yellow China is by far the biggest antimony pro-
antimony, which only occurs at tempera- ducer in the world and is likely to domi-
tures below -80°C, is extremely explosive. Batteries
nate the market for more than 100 years.
Antimony has an abundance of 0.2 to 0.5 19 % Flame In 2011 China produced 150,000 metric
Retardands tons Sb equivalent antimony ore, by ac-
ppm in the Earth’s crust. It is sometimes ( for Plastics)
found free in nature but its main source 72 % counting for almost 90% of world total
from the many minerals of antimony is production.
black stibnite (Sb2S3). The element also
occurs as white valentinite (Sb2O3), as The important question here is how Chi-
well as antimonides and sulpho-anti- nese dominance is affecting the market?
monides of metals like lead, copper and It is obvious that changes in Chinese
silver. Primary antimony minerals can be CONSUMPTION government policy are the most impor-
separated into three categories - sulfides, Antimony consumptions by end uses tant factor affecting the market espe-
oxides, and mixed sulfides-oxides as fol- and main marked drivers are given in cially prices. The Chinese government is
lows ; the below table. This table shows us anti- also trying to improve the environmen-
Sulfides Chemical Formula %Sb
Compound Annual
Stibnite Sb2S3 71.7 2000 2010 Main Market Driver
Growth Rate (%)
Tetrahedrite 3 Cu2S. Sb2S3 29.8
Non metalllurgical
Jamesonite 2 PbS. Sb2S3 29.8
Flame Retardants 70,000.0 103,500.0 4.0 Polymer Demand
Oxides Chemical Formula %Sb
Plastic Catalyst 6,000.0 11,400.0 6.6 PET Demand
Senarmontite Sb2O3 83.5
Heat Stabilizer 1,400.0 2,600.0 6.4 PVC Demand
Valentinite Sb2O3 83.5
Glass 16,000.0 1,700.0 -20.1 CRT and Solar Glass
Cervantite Sb2O3. Sb2O5 79.2
Ceramics 1,700.0 2,500.0 3.9 Construction
Stibiconite H2 Sb2O5 74.8
Others 1,500.0 1,840.0 2.1 General Economic Growth
Mixed Oxides-Sulfides Chemical Formula %Sb
Sub Total 96,600.0 123,540.0 2.5
Kermasite 2 Sb2S3. Sb2O3 83.5
Metallurgical
Lead-Acid Batteries 40,000.0 53,000.0 2.9 Automotive Production, replacement
Lead Alloys 11,000.0 23,000.0 7.7 Construction
More than 70% of antimony mine pro-
Sub Total 51,000.0 76,000.0 4.1
duction is converted to antimony tri-
Total 147,600.0 199,540.0 3.1
oxide (some used as feed for metal and
Source : Roskill
other product output), which is used
48 01 March 2013

2. World Mine Production (Sb Equivalent) tons World Mind Production 2011 was one of the top three critically high
2010 2011 Tajikistan 1%
Other Countries 3% risk elements.
South Africa 2% Bolivia 3%
Bolivia 5,000.0 5,000.0
Risk List 2012
Russia
China 150,000.0 150,000.0
(Recoverable) Relative
Leading
Russia (Recoverable) 3,000.0 3,000.0 2% Element Symbol Supply
Producer
Risk index
South Africa 3,000.0 3,000.0
Rare Earth elements REE 9.5 China
Tajikistan 2,000.0 2,000.0 China 89 % Tungsten W 9.5 China
Other Countries 4,000.0 6,000.0
Antimony Sb 9.0 China
World Total (Rounded) 167,000.0 169,000.0
Bismuth Bi 9.0 China
Molybdenum Mo 8.6 China
METAL PRICES BULLETIN AVERAGE ANNUAL METAL PRICE PER METRIC TON CIF USA Source: British Geological Survey
Year Price per ton
2000 $1,429.00
2001 $1,286.00 Besides this most important concern on
$20,000.00
2002 $1,950.00
antimony is exhaustion of reserves. Ac-
2003 $2,405.00
cording to the U.S. Geological Survey,
$15,000.00
2004 $2,907.00
the Chinese Government continues to
shut down antimony mines and smelt-
2005 $3,808.00 $10,000.00
ers in an effort to control environmental
2006 $5,727.00
issues and resolve safety problems. The
2007 $5,985.00 $5,000.00
Local Government in Lengshuijan, Hu-
2008 $6,346.00
nan Province, which accounts for about
2009 $5,459.00 $0.00
60% of the world antimony supply, shut-
2010 $9,495.00 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012
tered almost all of its mines and smelt-
2011 $15,360.00
ers. But the most important news is of-
2012 $12,963.00
ficials in Lengshuiang announced that
Source: United States Antimony Corporation after more than 110 years of continuous
mining, the area now had only 5 years of
mining life left. It seems, this is the real
problem that the market could be facing
very soon.
tal impact of the industry, when we add CONCERNS ON ANTIMONY
the concerns over diminishing reserves Chinese dominance in the market and NEW DEVELOPMENTS
in China; this leads them to suspensions dependency on raw materials has been One of the biggest problem in today’s
and closures at mines and smelters. In creating serious concerns globally. Se- world is energy, but because of the in-
2010 China closed some of the mines curing raw materials which are impor- creasing concerns on nuclear energy
and smelters, this caused a supply prob- tant for the countries is one of the main and fossil fuels, we are forced to find al-
lem and peak in the prices as shown in issues. Countries like USA, Britain and ternatives, for that reason the world tries
above graph. the European Union work on defining to develop renewable energies like so-
the importance of raw materials, and de- lar, wind etc. But the biggest issue with
The Chinese government not only closes veloping supply strategies. In a recent EU energy, especially for electricity is that
the mines and smelters but also puts prepared Critical Raw Materials report, demand should be in constant balance
some export restrictions and quotas. It is antimony was one of the 14 Critical raw with electricity supply. Any shortages of
unlikely that this will change in the near materials for the EU. Besides the British supply would normally have to be made
future, and no substantial new produc- Geological Survey is preparing a Risk list up from other sources immediately. We
tion will be added to global supply. for critical raw materials, and antimony need electricity even when the wind
01 March 2013 49

3. Antimony Ore Production By Years According to Migem data, Turkey in-
YEARS QUANTITY (TONNES) creased its antimony ore production up
2003 650.00
to 50,000 tons in 2008; it was the high-
2004 8,711.00
est production level of antimony. I think
2005 28,377.00
the best part related to antimony is that,
we are not just only producing ore or
2006 25,316.00
concentrate, we also have capability and
2007 28,211.00
capacity to produce end products like
2008 50,357.00
antimony trioxide and antimony metals.
2009 24,917.00
2010 25,974.00
is not blowing, sun is not shining, and Known antimony miners and producers
weather is not raining enough. On the Source: http://www.migem.gov.tr/links/ in Turkey are as follow;
istatistikler/2003_2009_URETIM_%20
other hand when you have more than BILGILERI.mht
enough of these sources, you currently Migem = Turkish Republic Ministry of •• Cengiz Holding: (www.cengiz.com.tr/
Energy and Natural Resources - General
cannot store the electricity of oversup- maden.asp) They are operating Öde-
Directorate of Mining Affairs
ply. The missing thing here is a storage miş - İzmir antimony mine and they
device Professor Donald Sadoway from had a flotation facility. It was formerly
MIT thought on this problem, but in Eti Mining property but was privati-
solving this problem the most important zed. They have very low quantities of
criteria for him when he was doing this, production.
is to build this device using simple man- These data and reserve table are taken
ufacturing techniques and factories that from 8th Quinquennialy report, and one •• Özdemir Antimony: (www.antimuan.
are not so capital intensive. At the end of the most important sentences in this com/en/) Oldest antimony producer.
the Professor and his team developed 8th Quinquennialy report is, “11% per- They are operating antimony mine
new battery technology called “liquid cent of our antimony reserves is in visible in Turhal - Tokat. They have flotation
metal batteries” that has the capacity for resource category”. Actually this means plant, smelter and trioxide producti-
grid level storage. The technology was that we don’t know the real potential of on facility. It is a subsidiary of one of
very simple, he put low density liquid Turkey with regard to antimony resourc- the Turkey’s biggest gold producer
metal at the top, put a high density liq- es, even known mineralization’s with lim- Koza Gold.
uid metal at the bottom and molten salt ited exploration on them, resulted with
in between. Magnesium and antimony 330,000 tons metal equivalent, which is •• Tri-Star Resources: (www.tri-
are two perfect elements for them be- one of the most important resources in starresources.com) They are explo-
cause the current passing between elec- the world. ring the antimony mine in Göynük -
trodes generates enough heat to keep it Gediz - Kütahya. They also had a pilot
at temperature for liquidity of metals, so With having this world scale resource, it plant for ore enrichment.
that they could store the electricity with doesn’t seem that we have same scale of
grid level. But these batteries are giant, production of antimony. •• Suda Maden (SudaMin): (www.suda-
a giant battery that fits in a 40 foot ship-
ping container, has a nameplate capacity
of two megawatt hours. You can make it Antimony Reserves in Turkey
as big as you want and it has grid level Reserves (Metric Tonnes)
storage, silent, emission free, no moving Location Grade (%Sb) Measured Indicated Inferred Total
parts, remotely controlled, designed to Balıkesir Susurluk - Demirparı 1.16 - - 11,250 11,250
the market price point without subsidy. Balıkesir İvrindi - Korucu - Taşdibi 6 47,850 235,600 283,450
Balıkesir İvrindi - Korucu - B.Yenice 6.2 1,370 17,850 26,000 45,175
TURKEY Balıkesir - İvrindi - Kayapa - K.Yenice 6.0 5,120 8,000 91,350 104,470
Turkey has roughly 200 known anti- Bilecik - Söğüt - Dudaş 2.0 - - 10,000 10,000
mony mineralization’s. The majority of Bursa - İnegöl - Sulukluköy 6.5 - 15,000 - 15,000
these are in Western Anatolia; in Kütah- İzmir - Ödemiş - Emirli 4.8 575,331 1,015,291 - 1,596,622
ya, Balıkesir, İzmir, Manisa, Aydın, Uşak, Kütahya - Gediz - Dereköy 2.0 - - 364,000 364,000
Bilecik. Turkey’s antimony potential is Kütahya - Gediz - Göynük 1.2 - - 924,000 924,000
roughly around 6,672,000 tonnes with Kütahya - Simav - Dağardı 6.4 - - 2,584,440 2,584,440
changing grades between 1% to 38% Niğde - Gümüşler - Canyarığı 38 - 2,530 - 2,530
Sb content. Sb Metal equivalent of ore
Niğde - Gümüşler - Örendere 4.5 - - 100,000 100,000
reserve is 330,000 tons .
Tokat - Turhal - Çamlıca 4 200,000 - - 200,000
Tokat - Turhal - Özdemir 4 43,000 111,000 150,000 304,000
50 01 March 2013

4. biggest producer of the antimony. But
producing this type of “Critical Raw Ma-
terial” is not just for trade advantages, it
will also enable us “Strategic” advantages
especially in Energy Industry. Because
with the antimony, we could have a giant
battery, that could supply enough elec-
tricity for Istanbul, from the solar panels
when the sun is not shining. This is the
most important advantages for Turkey,
especially nowadays, when we are look-
ing to stop our energy dependency.
REFERENCES
1- Anderson, Gorby G, “The metallurgy of
antimony”, Chemie der Erde - Geochem-
istry, V. 72, Issue 4, P.3, July 2012
2- Bell Terrence, Metal Profile: Antimony,
min.com/company.htm) A subsidiary them. But when we consider all of these www.about.com
of AMG group. They have the biggest we are still not benefiting enough from 3- www.myanmar-sb.com/aboutanti-
antimony mine in Turkey, Mine co- Turkey’s potential. mony.html
vering more than 65 km², formerly 4- “Antimony: A Metal?”, www.HardAsset-
known as Metsan Antimony Mine. CONCLUSION sInvestor.com
They also have a smelter and trioxide Antimony classified as “Minor Metal”, and 5- Antimony, Metal Bulletin Montly, May
production facility in Gediz-Cebrail. with current supply problems, and ex- Issue, p.44, 2007
pected exhaustion of Chinese mines will 6- www.usantimony.com/
•• ADK Mining: They have a mine in- increase the minority of the antimony 7-Ancoa Ltd Study of the antimony
Zorkun - Hatay. They only have ore together with the prices. market, Roskill Consulting Group Ltd.,
production. But this mine is a new 17.10.2011
discovery and wasn’t known before. New developments on grid level energy 8- Annex V to the Report of the Ad-hoc
Company has 3 licenses covering ro- storage, currently shows that antimony Working Group on defining critical
ughly 60 km². doesn’t have a substitute in this appli- raw materials, European Commission,
cation. We are talking about the giant 30.07.2010
•• Zirve Mining: (www.zirvemaden. batteries and giant batteries need huge 9- Mineral Commodity Summaries 2012,
com.tr) they started to operate mine amount of antimony. U.S. Geological Survey, January 2012
as manganese mine but they dis- 10- www.miningfeeds.com
cover antimony pockets inside the Even just by considering 3% annual in- 11- www.ted.com
manganese ore and discover new crease in consumption without adding 12- TBMM (Turkish Parliement) Minute
antimony veins in different part of new driven demands by new applica- Bulletin, Period:20, Volume:46, Year:3,
the mine. They are producing some tions, world need 4 - 5,000 mt of addi- Page:52, 03.03.1998
small quantities of antimony ore. tional Sb equivalent material per year. 13- Turkey State Planning Institute, 8th
Market may currently have oversupply Quinquennially Development Plan ,Min-
•• BS Investment Holding: (www.bsyati- and price decreases but it doesn’t seem ing Experts Commission Report, Metalic
rim.com.tr/) They are producing anti- possible that even the new projects that Mines SubGroup, Other Metals, Antimo-
mony ore from their Niğde - Çamardı are known in the market, start produc- ny, Tungsten, Nickel, Vanadium, Molyb-
antimony mine. It was historically tion, supply gap will be closed, especially denum, Tin, Manganese WorkingGroup
known old mine. when the Chinese producers stop pro- Report, 2001, DPT:2629-ÖİK:640
duction because of exhaustion of their
•• Tempo Teknik: (tempoteknik.com/ resource.
antimont.html) They have mining
operation, beneficiation, smelter and Turkey with its known but undiscovered
trioxide production facilities in Kütah- resources of antimony, could even have CONTACTS
ya - Tavşanlı. the potential to substitute the China in
the future. We may have an “elephant” Sait Uysal
Mining Professional
There is also some other producers and but we have to discover it. Even we didn’t
E-mail: saituysal@gmail.com
small miners that we couldn’t list here as find out an “elephant”, with different Website: www.saituysal.com.tr
we don’t know too much details about small mining operations we could be the
01 March 2013 51