Ruqayyah Snyder
Antimony is a critical mineral that is vital for the well-being of the world's economies. It is used to harden lead in storage batteries and is also used in the semiconductor industry, flame-retardant paint, and technological components in wind turbines. While China and Russia are the top producers of antimony, Australia is also a significant producer, with the Costerfield Mine in Victoria being the only antimony producer in the country. Australia has over 20 deposits known to contain antimony, and the country is expected to play a key role in the global supply of this critical mineral.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Location | Costerfield, Victoria |
| Hillgrove, New South Wales | |
| Producer | Southern Cross Gold |
| Owner | Mandalay Resources (Canadian-based) |
| Mine type | Gold-antimony mine |
| Mine status | Active |
| Mine life | On-and-off since 1887 |
| Production | 50,000+ tonnes of antimony |
| 730,000+ ounces of gold | |
| Processing capacity | 250,000 tonnes per annum |
| Antimony use | Hardens lead in storage batteries |
| Fire-retardant paint | |
| Technological components in wind turbines | |
| Semiconductor industry |
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What You'll Learn
- Antimony is found in gold deposits in Costerfield, Victoria
- Hillgrove in New South Wales is Australia's largest antimony deposit
- Australia is the world's fourth-largest holder of antimony reserves
- Antimony is a critical mineral for many countries, including Australia
- Antimony is used in fire-retardant paint and wind turbine components
Antimony is found in gold deposits in Costerfield, Victoria
Antimony is a critical mineral that is essential to many modern technologies. While China and Russia are the largest producers, Australia also has significant antimony deposits, with the country being the world's fourth-largest in terms of reserves.
The antimony-gold deposits at Costerfield are characterised by 'dyke-like' lodes of stibnite or stibnite-gold within a brittle transpressional fault system. The host rocks show evidence of elastic or elastic-viscous deformation, with cyclic switching between brittle and dissolution-precipitation deformation processes. The lodes occur as fault-parallel layers or lenses, with widths ranging from 1 cm to 200 cm and lengths exceeding 1 km.
The Costerfield deposit is considered a significant antimony resource, and it is expected that antimony will continue to be recovered from the gold ore at this site as long as market demand is present. The gold-antimony flotation concentrate from Costerfield is exported to smelters in China via the Port of Melbourne.
In addition to Costerfield, Australia has over 20 deposits known to contain antimony, including the Hillgrove deposit in New South Wales, which was active until 2016 when it was closed due to declining antimony prices.
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Hillgrove in New South Wales is Australia's largest antimony deposit
Antimony is a critical mineral for many countries, including Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, and the European Union. It is a key component of technology that powers modern economies, and the world's fourth-largest antimony reserve holder, Australia, will play a key role in its supply.
In Australia, antimony is found in some zinc-lead-silver deposits but typically occurs in association with gold. The bulk of Australia's Economic Demonstrated Resources (EDR) of antimony occur at the Costerfield gold deposit in Victoria, which is Australia's only antimony producer, and at the Hillgrove deposit in New South Wales.
Hillgrove, located 23 kilometres east of Armidale in northern New South Wales, is Australia's largest antimony deposit and is ranked eighth globally. The deposit has been mined on and off for antimony and gold since 1857 or 1887. In 2016, declining antimony prices forced its closure, but it recommenced production of gold at the Baker's Creek Stockpile in late 2020, with plans to reopen the underground mine at the Metz Mining Centre.
Larvotto Resources, which acquired Hillgrove from the collapsed Red River Resources in 2023, has welcomed promising results from preliminary test work. Samples collected from four locations demonstrated high-grade gold and antimony, with values as high as 63 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 30 per cent antimony. The project contains 1.4 million ounces of mineral resources at 6.1g/t gold equivalent, and 90,000 tonnes of antimony.
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Australia is the world's fourth-largest holder of antimony reserves
The Hillgrove deposit in New South Wales is Australia's largest antimony deposit, and one of the top ten largest globally. The deposit has been mined on and off since 1887 and has produced over 50,000 tonnes of antimony. However, the mine was closed in January 2016 due to declining antimony prices. There are plans to reopen the underground mine, with the new owner, Larvotto Resources, aiming to first convert the current resource into reserves and then progress towards production.
Antimony is used to harden lead in storage batteries, and its use in the semiconductor industry is increasing. It is also used in fire-retardant paint and technological components in wind turbines. The bulk of secondary antimony is recovered from lead smelters from lead-acid batteries. The recycling rate for antimony is unclear, but it is thought to be between 1 and 28% in the European Union and to account for around 18% of the supply in the United States.
Australia's Economic Demonstrated Resources (EDR) of antimony are all considered accessible. More than 20 Australian deposits are known to contain antimony, mostly at subeconomic grades. It typically occurs in association with gold but is also found in some zinc-lead-silver deposits.
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Antimony is a critical mineral for many countries, including Australia
In Australia, antimony is found in the states of Victoria and New South Wales. The Costerfield mine in Victoria is the country's only antimony producer, as well as being the world's fifth-largest producer. The bulk of Australia's Economic Demonstrated Resources (EDR) of antimony occur at Costerfield, with the rest found at the Hillgrove deposit in New South Wales. Hillgrove has been mined on and off since 1887 and is Australia's largest antimony deposit, holding a known 90,000 tonnes of the mineral.
Antimony is currently produced at the Costerfield gold deposit, with the site also yielding important historical production from the Ringwood and Coimadai deposits. The Hillgrove mine was also a producer of antimony until January 2016 when declining prices forced its closure. However, the mine is set to be acquired by Larvotto Resources, with the company focusing on exploration and progressing towards production.
Australia's Ore Reserves of antimony have decreased in recent years, with reserves down 73% from 2018 levels. Despite this, Australia is the world's fourth-largest country in terms of antimony reserves, and it is expected that the country will play a key role in the global supply of the mineral going forward.
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Antimony is used in fire-retardant paint and wind turbine components
Antimony is a critical mineral that is vital to the well-being of the world's economies, yet its supply may be at risk of disruption. It is considered a key component of the technology that powers modern economies, and our current way of life depends on it. Antimony is used in fire-retardant paint and wind turbine components.
Antimony trioxide is used as a flame retardant in upholstery fabric and paint. While it is considered non-carcinogenic, a subcommittee has been tasked with identifying data gaps and recommending further research to determine the health risks of exposure to antimony trioxide.
Wind turbines convert wind energy to electrical energy for distribution. They consist of three main components: the rotor, which includes the blades for converting wind energy to low-speed rotational energy; the generator, which includes the electrical generator, control electronics, and gearbox; and the surrounding structure, which includes the tower and rotor yaw mechanism. Antimony is used in the production of wind turbine components, although it is unclear exactly which parts are made using the mineral.
Australia has a relatively small production of antimony, with around 2,000 tonnes produced in 2021 compared to China's 80,000 tonnes and Russia's 30,000 tonnes. The Costerfield Mine in Victoria owned by Mandalay Resources, is Australia's only antimony producer. The mine is also the fifth-largest producer of antimony in the world.
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Frequently asked questions
Antimony is found in Australia at the Costerfield gold deposit in Victoria, and, until January 2016, at the Hillgrove deposit in New South Wales.
The Costerfield mine is the only antimony producer in Australia and is the fifth-largest producer of antimony in the world.
The Hillgrove deposit is Australia's largest antimony deposit and is ranked in the top ten globally.
The main use of antimony is to harden lead in storage batteries. It is also used in the semiconductor industry and in fire-retardant paint.
Antimony has seen a surge in interest across Australian investment portfolios, driven by rising prices and the quality of local antimony exploration assets.
