CEO Gary Evans on China's Antimony Dominance and US Supply Chain Security

China's Antimony Market Control

• 🇨🇳 China's decision to ban antimony exports in September significantly impacted global supply, causing prices to skyrocket from under $5 to $28 per pound.
• 🎯 Previously, the U.S. Department of Defense sourced most of its antimony from China, highlighting a critical dependency.
• 📈 China currently controls 60% of worldwide antimony supply and 85% of the downstream processing, a strategy employed for various critical minerals.

US Antimony Corporation's Strategic Response

• 🇺🇸 United States Antimony Corporation (USAC) is expanding procurement deals globally and ramping up domestic production in Alaska and Montana.
• 🏭 USAC operates the only two antimony smelters in North America, producing critical materials for defense, tech, and energy sectors.
• 🗺️ New procurement contracts have been established with countries including Australia, Canada, Mexico, Bolivia, and Chad to meet overwhelming customer demand.

Domestic Mining and Production Efforts

• ⛏️ USAC is initiating mining operations on nearly 30,000 acres leased in Alaska, aiming to ship its own antimony to Montana within 45 days.
• ⛰️ The company is focusing on areas where antimony has already been discovered, often as a byproduct of gold mining, acquiring leases from as early as the 1920s.
• ⏳ Unlike the oil and gas industry where wells can be drilled in 6-12 months, hard rock mining is typically a 25-year process, but USAC's approach of utilizing existing discoveries accelerates this.

Critical Minerals and National Security

• 🔋 Antimony is a crucial component in numerous products, including batteries (every car battery), solar panels, night vision equipment, missiles, and computers.
• 🛡️ The U.S. government, particularly under President Trump's initiatives, recognizes the necessity of establishing domestic supply chains for critical minerals to counter foreign dominance.
• 🚧 Decades of EPA and governmental regulations have historically hindered domestic mining development in the U.S.