Perpetua Resources in talks with Glencore, others for US antimony processing
Perpetua Resources said on Thursday it is in talks with Glencore, Trafigura and others about a partnership to refine antimony in the US, part of a push to boost Western supplies of a critical mineral whose exports China has blocked.
The company, which counts billionaire John Paulson as its largest shareholder, last week received permission from the US government to begin construction of its antimony and gold mine about 222 km north of Boise in Idaho.
The mine will be the largest US supplier of antimony, which is used to make bullets, solar panels and other goods. There are no current US sources of the metal.
Perpetua plans to extract the metal but not refine it, fueling a push to find partners for the necessary step.
The company said in a statement to Reuters that it is in talks with Glencore, Trafigura, Clarios and Sunshine Silver about a refining partnership and plans to seek proposals in the coming weeks with a decision expected by the end of the year.
"We are encouraged by emerging opportunities to expand domestic mineral processing capacity in America and intend to make well-informed, market-based decisions when selecting a partner," said Jon Cherry, Perpetua's CEO.
Glencore declined to comment. Sunshine Silver, Clarios and Trafigura did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Perpetua's mine site has estimated reserves of 148-million pounds of antimony and 6-million ounces of gold.
The project has faced legal opposition from Idaho's Nez Perce tribe, which is concerned the mine could affect the state's salmon population.
Separately, United States Antimony, which controls two North American antimony refineries, secured a contract earlier this week worth up to $245-million from the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency to supply antimony metal ingots.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Weir is a global leader in mining technology. We recognise that our planet’s future depends on the transition to renewable energy, and that...
VISIT SHOWROOM
REELIN is Currently the largest supplier of Bearings to Transnet. We have contracts to supply bearings, draft gears slackadjusters and other...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
