Antimony (Sb on the periodic table) is a strategic mineral with many applications. Shooters will recognize it, as it is frequently allied with lead to make a harder, more durable alloy for cast bullets. We should note that lead-antimony alloys have many other uses, from lead-acid batteries to sailboat keels. Antimony is used in other alloys as well, such as antifriction alloys, electric cable sheathing, and type metals for printing presses, which apparently are not completely extinct yet. It's also used in flame retardants, and - this is key - in semiconductors. It's also has applications in pharmaceuticals.
So, a key strategic mineral. Alaska has antimony. Now, in Alaska, a company called Nova Minerals, with a grant from the War Department, has a contract to build an antimony refinery at Port MacKenzie, west of Anchorage, to process ore from the Estelle gold mine in the West Susitna Mineral District.
With Pentagon backing and a goal to begin delivering Alaska-sourced antimony into U.S. supply chains by 2027, Nova Minerals Ltd. has secured a 42.8-acre site at Port MacKenzie west of Anchorage for a refinery that would process antimony concentrates from its Estelle project and other sources.
"This is a defining moment for Nova Minerals and for U.S. critical mineral independence," Nova Minerals CEO Christopher Gerteisen said upon securing land use permits for the industrial site about four miles from a deepwater port in Southcentral Alaska.
The refinery, to be developed by Nova subsidiary Alaska Range Resources (ARR), is part of a strategy to leverage the very high-grade antimony mineralization found on the company's Estelle project about 100 miles west of Port MacKenzie to establish a domestic supply of this metalloid critical to a wide range of military and commercial applications.
Antimony is also found in Idaho and Montana. But a majority of antimony production comes from countries that are not particularly friendly to the United States: China, Russia, and Tajikistan, which, between them, account for almost 80 percent of global supply.
The new Alaska refinery could be delivering refined antimony as soon as 2027.
With antimony landing high on the list of minerals of strategic concern, the U.S. Department of War (formerly the Department of Defense) recently awarded ARR a $43.4 million grant to help support the development of an antimony mine at Estelle and a refinery at Port MacKenzie.
Upon receiving the award, ARR signed a land use agreement with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough for the site that is less than two miles away from a deepwater port to build its Alaska antimony refinery.
Borough leaders say the development of a key link in a critical minerals hub at Port MacKenzie aligns with local economic and job creation goals.
"This initiative positions our region for critical mineral development and strengthens our role in supporting national security," said Matanuska-Susitna Borough Manager Mike Brown. "We look forward to working collaboratively with Alaska Range Resources as they evaluate the potential for a long-term antimony processing facility that could bring lasting economic and strategic benefits to Alaska and our nation."
At the moment, the only major antimony refinery in the United States is a United States Antimony smelter in Montana.
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Not only extracting but refining antimony in Alaska, indeed anywhere in the United States, is what someone once described as a "big freaking deal." Our economy and our national security are rife with examples like this: Key strategic minerals that most people have never heard of, but without which life would be very different. Now, in the case of one of these minerals, we are going to see a more secure supply thanks to Nova Minerals, the War Department, and our own Matanuska-Susitna Borough. This will not only secure a greater domestic supply of strategic minerals, but it will also bring a fair number of good-paying jobs to Alaska. That's a win-win by any measure.
Still not tired of winning. Not by a long shot.
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