1. Total Metals Corp (TSXV:TT, FSE: O4N)
Total Metals Corp. is focused on advancing high-grade gold projects to production.
Amid the global restructuring of critical mineral supply chains, the United States is speeding up the construction of domestic antimony mines and smelting capacity, ending its decades-long hiatus in independent antimony mining.
China rolled out export controls on antimony in August 2024, and fully halted all antimony shipments to the U.S. that December. Tightening supply triggered a sharp rally in antimony prices. From August to December 2024, the price of antimony nearly doubled from $9.8 per pound to $18.10 per pound. In 2025, the average price stood at $25 per pound, after hitting a peak of $27.50 per pound in the middle of the year.
In a May 2026 interview with METALS 100, Michael Dehn, Executive Chairman of Total Metals Corp (TSXV: TT), shared further insights into the company’s latest progress and future development plans. Total Metals is advancing copper, zinc, gold, and silver projects in Northwestern Ontario’s prolific Red Lake and Pick Lake districts. In 2026, the company expanded its critical minerals portfolio through the acquisition of the high-grade Pick Lake Property and completed an 8,408-metre, 25-hole drill program at its wholly owned Electrolode Project.
The supply crunch has exposed the U.S.’s heavy reliance on imports. In 2025, the country’s apparent consumption of antimony reached 45,000 metric tons, with net import reliance climbing to 91%. Sixty-six percent of its antimony oxide imports came from China, creating prominent supply chain security risks.
To address the challenge, the U.S. domestic antimony industry has achieved notable breakthroughs. A mine in Montana officially launched production in 2025, breaking the long period without local antimony mining. Meanwhile, an antimony project in Idaho broke ground, securing $80 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Defense. The project holds 14 million tons of proven and probable ore reserves with an antimony cutoff grade of 0.42%. The smelting sector also made steady progress. Domestic primary antimony output hit 700 metric tons in 2025, while secondary antimony recycled from spent lead-acid batteries generated a market value of $190 million. Even so, recycled antimony only satisfies 12% of the nation’s total consumption.
Capital markets are also fueling industrial expansion. Sunshine Silver has kicked off its initial public offering, planning to issue 20 million shares and build a large-scale antimony processing plant. The facility is expected to initially cover 40% of U.S. annual antimony demand, with the proportion projected to rise to 80% by 2031. A host of local mining companies are also expanding their presence in silver and antimony businesses, making the mineral belts in Idaho a core hub for antimony development across North America.
Global antimony output and reserves are largely concentrated in Asia and parts of Eurasia, with key figures listed in the table below:
| Country | 2024 Mine Output (tons) | Estimated 2025 Mine Output (tons) | Reserves (tons) |
| China | 40,000 | 40,000 | 830,000 |
| Russia | 40,000 | 32,000 | 350,000 |
| Tajikistan | 22,000 | 22,000 | 60,000 |
| Bolivia | 5,300 | 5,000 | 310,000 |
| Myanmar | 4,500 | 4,500 | 140,000 |
| Turkey | 3,000 | 3,000 | 99,000 |
| Australia | 1,270 | 1,300 | 110,000 |
| United States | Undisclosed | Undisclosed | 60,000 |
| Global Total | 119,000 | 110,000 | Over 2,000,000 |
As an essential critical mineral, antimony is used for flame retardants, which account for 45% of global demand. It also plays a vital role in military ammunition, semiconductors and energy storage products. Major antimony resources in the U.S. are distributed across Alaska, Idaho and Montana, laying a solid foundation for future development. Though domestic production still falls far short of demand and the U.S. cannot fully shake off import reliance in the short term, policy support and capital inflows have made the growth of a local antimony industrial chain an irresistible trend. The global landscape of the antimony industry will continue to evolve in the years ahead.
