Here’s why investors are eager for antimony stocks like Trigg Mining (ASX:TMG) and Zeus Resources (ASX:ZEU)

18 months ago, few investors would have paid attention to antimony stocks – but now it is a question of who isn’t paying attention rather than who is. Stocks with exposure to antimony such as Trigg Minerals (ASX:TMG) have significantly re-rated – in Trigg’s case it has more than doubled. And this is in conjunction with antimony prices that went up four-fold in 2024. But will the bull run last, and will the stocks rallying actually benefit in a practical sense?

What is antimony?

Antimony is a metal that is silvery-gray and a metalloid element. It has atomic number 51. Unlike copper, it is actually a bad conductor of heat and electricity. But it is good as an alloy (i.e. a hardener and strengthener of other metals) as well as a flame retardant. And so flame retardants are its largest end use, but it is also used in semiconductors, military and defence applications, bullets and certain batteries (i.e. lead-acid which are used in industrial applications, particularly backup power systems).

It is considered a critical mineral by countries like the U.S. and Australia due to its economic importance (as outlined above) and supply vulnerability. Over 80% of global production and refining comes from China.

Any export restrictions (like those China imposed on gallium and germanium in 2023) could disrupt supply, making non-Chinese sources more valuable. No, China has not specifically imposed restrictions on antimony, but what happened with gallium and germanium restrictions paint the sobering picture that China could cut off the entire world’s supply with no notice – a prospect not ideal.

This is before you even consider the lack of global supply outside of China. There have been some historic mines outside China but many have closed due to low historical prices and environmental constraints. And so Australia, Canada, and the U.S. are pushing to develop secure supply chains for antimony.

Prices have seen positive momentum in the last 18 months. Prices are not traded publicly and are negotiated in contracts, but prices went up significantly across 2024 from US$12,000 a tonne to over US$50,000 a tonne.

Investors are looking at antimony stocks

This involves finding new deposits and potentially ASX explorers and developers could benefit. And so ASX and TSX junior explorers involved in this commodity offer high leverage to price moves. Even though some may be years away from production, mere exploration and development success offers a high degree of hope.

One such company is Trigg Mining (ASX:TMG) which boasts the Antimony Canyon project in Utah which is one of the largest and highest-grade antimony projects in the country. It also has the Achillies Project in NSW which has nearly 30,000 tonnes of antimony. It also boasts a handful of gold projects in Australia and South Africa.

Another is Zeus Resources (ASX:ZEU). It boasts a handful of projects in Australia prospective for uranium, lithium and rare earths. But investors are most excited about its Casablanca project in Morocco prospective for antimony which is only acquired recently. It is only at an exploration stage, but earlier exploration has shown spectacular grades ranging from 7.8% to 46.5%.

Still in the small cap space, Dart Mining (ASX:DTM) formed an earn-in deal to earn up to a 51% stake in the Coonambula project in Queensland from Great Divide Mining (ASX:GDM). As with Casablanca, drilling results from the past are positive with results of up to 44.9%.

The irony is that the only producing mine in Australia (the Costerfield Mine in Victoria) isn’t owned by an ASX-company, but by the TSX-listed Mandalay Resources.

Conclusion

There’s a saying that beggars can’t be choosers. And that is so with any non-Chinese deposit of Antimony. There’s a race to bring more online and investors are excited about any company involved in it – no matter how early or late in the game they are.

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