Antimony has emerged as one of the most strategically important, and volatile, minerals of 2025. Used in everything from flame retardants to military-grade equipment and electric vehicle batteries, the metal now sits at the center of a global supply crisis that is driving prices to historic highs and raising alarms from the likes of the US Department of Defense and major battery manufacturers.
This year, prices for antimony have surged more than 800% compared to 2020 levels, largely attributed to a perfect storm of supply shocks, rising demand, and escalating geopolitical tensions. China, which dominates the global antimony supply chain with over 70% of worldwide production and most of the refining capacity, imposed tighter export controls in late 2024. In March 2025, it halted antimony exports altogether for a period, triggering immediate price spikes of 50% or more and introducing a two-tiered global pricing system. While domestic Chinese buyers continued to pay under $30,000 per ton, international buyers faced steep costs that are often double that amount. As a result, US battery makers, defense contractors, and auto suppliers have been forced to pay extreme premiums or turn to limited and unproven alternative sources.
Outside of China, supply has also faltered. Russia and parts of Southeast Asia have reported production disruptions. In June 2025, global antimony output dropped more than 21% from the previous month. The shortfall has left buyers in the US, Japan, Europe, and elsewhere competing for limited availability, often at inflated costs.
Project Blue, a critical minerals consultancy, estimates annual antimony demand at around 230,000 to 240,000 tonnes. While some of this demand can be met through recycling, especially for lead-acid battery alloys, the industry still needs about 10,000 tonnes of high-purity antimony each year for performance-grade applications. That refined supply is particularly difficult to source outside of China.
The antimony crisis mirrors earlier disruptions in rare earth elements and other critical materials where the West found itself overly reliant on Chinese supply. Governments and companies are racing to develop alternative sources. Clarios, one of the world’s largest battery producers, announced plans to build a $1 billion critical minerals processing plant in the US that will include antimony recovery. Meanwhile, Nyrstar, a Trafigura-owned metals processor in Australia, has indicated it could produce antimony if sufficient government support is provided.
New primary sources
With few viable substitutes for antimony and limited recycling capacity, new primary sources like Canagold Resources Ltd (TSX:CCM, OTCQB:CRCUF)'s New Polaris project are essential to restoring balance in the market.
New Polaris, in British Columbia, contains a large amount of antimony alongside high-grade gold, according to a recently released feasibility study on the project. The study confirms the project contains more than 5,000 tonnes of antimony in addition to its gold reserves. And while the current financial model does not yet assign revenue to the antimony component, CEO Catalin Kilofliski told Proactive that the company sees potentially $200 to $300 million in additional value.
The company is currently running metallurgical tests to assess producing a gold-antimony concentrate that could be sold to smelters or roasters, hoping to unlock that additional value as a potential revenue stream for the project.
Canagold is also evaluating options for processing antimony domestically, which could further strengthen North American supply chains.
“There’s been strong support from both the Canadian and US governments, particularly from a critical minerals perspective, to develop domestic sources of antimony and address the supply gap,” Kilofliski noted.
In response, Western policymakers are calling for accelerated investment in domestic recycling infrastructure, onshore processing capabilities, and new exploration projects. Some steps have already been taken, but experts warn that meaningful results may take years to materialize.
Until then, supply volatility and price pressure are likely to persist. For critical industries dependent on antimony—especially battery manufacturing and defense—this year’s crisis has exposed just how fragile the global supply chain really is.
Whether projects like New Polaris can help close the antimony gap remains to be seen. But with prices still surging and demand unlikely to ease, governments and industry leaders may have little choice but to invest in a more resilient supply chain.