en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Antimony Canyon project in Utah, USA, has produced its first batch of antimony ingots, with the mining claims held by American Tungsten & Antimony (ATAA). XPS, a subsidiary of Glencore (LON: GLEN), provided technical support for the smelting and described the batch as a "metallurgical milestone."

Antimony, once treated as a contaminant, has now been classified as a secondary critical mineral, with applications in renewable energy, weapons manufacturing, and microelectronics. As the dominant force in the global antimony supply chain, China contributed 48% of global mine production in 2023. ATAA is leveraging the Antimony Canyon project to gradually transform into a critical minerals company focused on building a Western supply chain.

"At a time when the company's operations are extremely busy, the successful production of antimony ingots provides tangible proof that we are on the right track," said Andre Booyzen, Managing Director and CEO of ATAA.

XPS received approximately 100 kilograms of hand-sorted stibnite from the Antimony Canyon project and subsequently smelted it into metal ingots and button-shaped samples. According to XPS, ATAA has used these samples to demonstrate the project's full "mine-to-metal" potential.

Wiehann Kleynhans, ATAA's Vice President of Downstream Operations, added: "We were deeply impressed by the technical expertise and strict adherence to tight deadlines demonstrated by the XPS team in project execution." Headquartered in Falconbridge, Ontario, XPS is a testing and technology company under Glencore, primarily providing metallurgical consulting and pilot plant services.