US launches 1 ton per day antimony pilot processing plant to aid weapons production

Idaho National Laboratory, Perpetua Resources, and the U.S. Army launched a modular pilot plant to strengthen defense supply chains.

The facility will process ore from the Stibnite Gold Project and test whether the U.S. can produce military-grade antimony trisulfide.

It is also meant to collect operating data, train workers, and assess whether the same platform can be used for other critical minerals.

The effort aims to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, especially China and Russia, and rebuild domestic critical-mineral processing capacity.