Perpetua Resources announced on Thursday that it is in advanced talks with major commodity firms like Glencore, Trafigura, Clarios, and Sunshine Silver to form partnerships aimed at refining antimony in the United States.
This move comes in response to China’s recent export restrictions on antimony — a key mineral used in bullets, solar panels, flame retardants, and other strategic goods.
Though Perpetua already holds approval from the U.S. government to build an antimony and gold mine in Idaho, its plan is only to mine the metal — not process it. That leaves a gap in domestic refining capacity that the company now aims to fill through collaboration.
The Idaho project is projected to become the largest U.S. source of antimony, with estimated reserves of 148 million pounds of the metal as well as 6 million ounces of gold.
Perpetua’s CEO, Jon Cherry, said the company intends to solicit and evaluate proposals in the coming weeks and hopes to select a refining partner by year-end.
However, the project is not without controversy. The Nez Perce tribe has expressed concern about environmental risks, particularly to Idaho’s salmon populations, and has opposed parts of the project.
Meanwhile, U.S. Antimony — one of the few domestic processors — also made news: it recently secured a contract from the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency worth up to $245 million to supply antimony metal ingots.
With global supply chains in flux and China tightening control over antimony exports, Perpetua’s strategy to bring refining onshore underscores intensified efforts by Western nations and companies to reduce dependency on Chinese raw materials in strategic sectors.