Antimony is cla metalloid element having common oxidation states of 5+ and 3+. It is a lustrous silvery-white solid, which is quite brittle and exhibits a flaky texture. Antimony is classified as a critical/strategic metal. Stibnite, jamesonite, and antimony-gold ores are the most common sources of antimonyssified as a critical/strategic metal. Its primary production is predominated by China via pyrometallurgical routes such as volatilization roasting—reduction smelting or direct reduction smelting.
Properties/Characteristics | Value | Unit |
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As | ||
Atomic number | 51 | N/A |
Atomic weight | 121.76 | u |
Melting point | 630.5 | °C |
Boiling point (at 101.3 kPa) | 1325 |
Physical Form | Powder | ||
Particle size (µm) | 0.2–44 | ||
Constituents | Low PbO | Medium PbO | High PbO |
Sb2O3 (wt%) | >98 | >97.1 and ≤99.6 | >97 and ≤99.6 |
PbO (wt%) | <0.25 | >0.25 and <0.3 | ≥0.3 and <2.5 |
2O3 (wt%) | <0.1 | <0.1 | <0.1 |
Other impurities (wt%) | <1.75 | ≤2.6 | ≤0.4 |
Mineral | Chemical Formula | Sb (wt%) |
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Element/ Compound |
Sb | Sb2S3 | Sb2O3 | Sb2S5 | Sb2O5 | Sb2O4 |
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Country | Mine Product. (t) [21] |
Reserves (×1000 t) [21] | Main Producers [4] | Product [4] | Total Production Capacity (×1000 t/y Sb) [4] | |||
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Sulfides | Stibnite | Sb2S
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USA | NA | 60 | Amspec Chemical Corporation Laurel Industries Inc. Great Lakes Chemical (Anzon) United States Antimony Corporation Sunshine Mining and Refining |
Trioxide Trioxide Trioxide Metal, Trioxide, Na-antimonate Metal, Na-antimonate |
15 12.5 6 1.5 1.5 | |||
Tetrahedrite | Cu6Sb2S6 | 29.8 | ||||||
Jamesonite | Pb | |||||||
Senarmontite (cubic) | ||||||||
Sb | 2 | O3 | 83.5 | |||||
Valentinite (rhombohedral) | Sb2O3 | 83.5 | ||||||
Cervantite (orthorhombic) | ||||||||
Name(s) |
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Melting point | 630 °C | 546–548 °C | 656 °C | 120–170 °C (decomposes to Sb2S3 and S) | 380 °C (decomposes) | 930 °C (decomposes to ATO and oxygen) |
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4 | FeSb6S | |||||||
Boiling point | 14 | 1635 °C | 35.4 | 1000–1150 °C | 1425 °C (sublimes) | °C | ||
N/A | N/A | N/A | Zinckenite | PbSb2S4 | 42.1 | Density (at 20 °C) | 6.688 | g/cm3 |
Australia | 3400 | 100 | ||||||||
Bolivia | 2700 | 310 | Enal | Trioxide | 9.3 | |||||
Burma | 2000 | 140 | ||||||||
Oxides | ||||||||||
Canada | 2 | 78 | Tensile strength | 10.8 | N/mm2 | |||||
China | 60,000 | 480 | Hsikwangshan Mining Administration Dachang Mining Administration Guzhou Dushan Dongfeng Hubei Chongyang Hunan Chenzhou Mining Co, Ltd., Guangxi China Tin Group Limited Yunnan Muli antimony industry Co., Ltd. Xikuangshan Flash-Antimony Industry Limited |
Metal, Oxides, Na-antimonate Metal Metal, Trioxide Metal, Trioxide N/A N/A N/A Metal [25] |
30 N/A 10 4 4 N/A N/A N/A 40 |
Mohs hardness | 3.0-3.5 | N/A | ||
Sb | 2O4/Sb2O3⋅Sb2O5 | 79.2 | ||||||||
Guatemala | 80 | NA | Modulus of elasticity | 566 | ||||||
Stibiconite (antimony hydroxides) | Sb2O | N/mm2 | ||||||||
4⋅H2O | 74.8 | |||||||||
Iran | 400 | NA | Surface tension of solid (at 432 °C) | 317.2 | mN/m | |||||
Mixed | Kermesite | 2Sb2S3 | ||||||||
Kazakhstan | ⋅Sb | 2 | 100O | NA | Surface tension of liquid (at 1200 °C) | 255 | mN/m | |||
Kyrgyzstan | NA | 260 | Kadamjaisk Antimony Combine | Metal, Trioxide | 20 | Crystal structure | Rhombohedral | N/A | ||
Lattice constant | ||||||||||
Mexico | 700 | 18 | a = 0.437, c = 1.1273 | |||||||
Pakistan | nm | |||||||||
20 | 26 | Latent heat of fusion | 10.49 | kJ/mol | ||||||
Russia (Recoverable) | 25,000 | 350 | Latent heat of evaporation | 195.10 | kJ/mol | |||||
Tajikistan | 13,000 | 50 | Coefficient of linear expansion (at 20 °C) | 8-11 | µm/m-°C | |||||
Turkey | 1300 | 100 | Electrical resistivity (at 0 °C) | 37 | µΩ.cm | |||||
Vietnam | 400 | NA | Molar heat capacity of solid (at 630.5 °C) | 30.446 | J/mol-K | |||||
France | NA | Société Industrielle et Chimique de L’Aisne Mines de la Lucette AMG antimony [26] |
Metal, Trioxide Metal Trioxide |
12 9.5 10 |
Molar heat capacity of liquid (at 630.5 °C) | 31.401 | J/mol-K | |||
Thermal conductivity (at 0 °C) | 25.9 | W/m-K |
3 |
83.5 |
Belgium | |||||
NA | |||||
Campine | |||||
Union Minière/Umicore | |||||
[ | |||||
5 | |||||
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Trioxide | |||||
Na-antimonate | |||||
10 | 6 | ||||
Oman | Strategic and Precious Metals Processing (SPMP) | Metal, Trioxide | 20 [27] | ||
World Total (Rounded) | 110,000 | >2000 |