ReElement entered into a tolling agreement to process stibnite ores at its Indiana facility to produce antimony trioxide and antimony trisulfide.

ReElement is a provider of refining capacity for rare earth and battery elements. The company demonstrated its ability to produce 99.7% purity antimony trisulfide from stibnite feedstock in a pilot refining program and with a feed capacity of around 500tpm could produce around 3-4kty of antimony trioxide equivalent.

Antimony is one of the critical materials at the centre of US-China tensions. Earlier this year, China banned the export of gallium, germanium and antimony to the USA, citing national security issues and amidst a further tightening US-led clampdowns on semiconductor technology use in China.

While the USA imports around 5ktpy of antimony metal, China has not been a key source since 2016, and imports from China have been lower than 1ktpy since 2023.

However, the USA is still reliant on China for 10-15ktpy of antimony trioxide imports, with limited spare capacity options available outside of China to replace this volume. With this in mind, 3-4ktpy of additional material from ReElement would be a step in the right direction, although more will be needed for the USA to satisfy its domestic needs.

The question arises as to where feed for ReElement’s plant would come from. Existing supply and projects will be looking to capture high premiums already moving over 100% for US and EU markets. However, Chinese smelters themselves are facing a structural shortage of feedstock for its own market and as a result the concentrate pricing market will continue to be underpinned by Chinese market price dynamics.