18
2017
In order for society to move gradually towards a more circular economy, waste must be considered as a resource and zero-
waste valorisation schemes have to become the norm, especially for rare elements such as antimony. So what opportunities
exist for recycling antimony and how do we possibly substitute this ‘new rare earth metal’?
A
ntimony is at risk of becoming the ‘new
rare earth’ as a surge in industrial de-
mand and China’s domination of pri-
mary production are causing increasing sup-
ply concerns. Antimony is not particularly
abundant in the Earth’s crust (0.2 parts per
million) and current reserves of around 1.8
million tonnes cover only 10 to 11
more years of production at cur-
rent rates. The industrial impor-
tance of antimony relates mainly
to its use as a flame retardant in
plastics, coatings and electronics,
as well as in lead-acid batteries
and as catalysts for the production
of PET polymers. The combina-
tion of high economic importance
and strong supply risk prompted
the European Commission to
highlight antimony in its 2014
critical raw materials report, and
rank it as the element with the
largest expected supply-demand
deficit over the period from 2015
to 2020. This has sparked efforts
to find alternative sources of anti-
mony or to develop new, antimo-
ny-free substitute technologies.
Antimony production
Antimony is currently produced from
stibnite ore (Sb2S3) which is processed
into antimony metal and antimony oxide
(Sb2O3). Antimony production is dominated
by China as a result of its large reserves, low-
cost production and high smelting capacity
(Figure 1). Currently, secondary production
accounts for 20% of total antimony produc-
tion and takes place mainly through the recy-
cling of lead-acid car batteries and, to a much
smaller extent, through the valorisation of
antimony-containing residues from copper,
Antimony has a long history dating
back to 3100 BC, when it was used
by the Egyptians as cosmetic in the
form of black Sb2S3.
Research: RARE EARTH METALS
Preventing antimony from
becoming the next rare earth
Figure 1: Distribution of antimony production in 2010 (196 484 tonnes), using data compiled by Roskill Consulting:
Study of the antimony market (2011).
