Welcome to the New World of Tariffs, Trade Wars, and Critical Mineral Embargoes
We woke up on Monday to see a new world
One where former free-trade partners get taxed for doing business. These are the first shots in what could be a massive trade war. Regardless of how long it lasts, we see opportunities that should provide us with good returns.
We attended several mining conferences in Vancouver, B.C. in January. There were a lot of ideas thrown around. Interestingly, the antimony story hasn’t become mainstream yet. That’s great news for us, because it means we still have time to build out a portfolio.
We use antimony in a variety of ways:
- 35% Flame Retardants
- 29% Car Batteries (EV & ICE)
- 16% Chemicals
- 12% Ceramics and Glass
- 8% Other (Including Military)
In 2018, the U.S. Department of the Interior listed antimony as one of the thirty-five most critical minerals to U.S. economic and national security reasons.
The U.S. gets about 18% of its antimony from recycling…it imports the rest.
As we discussed last month and in a recent Grove essay, antimony is one of several critical minerals that China will not export to the U.S. The problem for the U.S. is that it doesn’t currently mine antimony.
And the world’s largest producers aren’t exactly friendly:
Stibnite (antimony sulfide) is the only commercially mined ore for antimony.
Current U.S. production comes from recycling lead-acid batteries. However, there are few public companies in that industry.
There is an exchange traded fund (ETF) called the Mast Global Battery Recycling & Production ETF (NYSE: EV). It’s not good. It owns a weird basket of giant miners like Glencore and Vale mixed with giant car makers like Tesla and BYD.
Not really what we’re looking for.
But again, that leads to opportunities for us. And while kicking around Vancouver, we discovered a gem hiding in plain sight. It’s nominally a gold explorer but has a great antimony project…in Nevada.
Liberty Gold (TSX: LGD) has a Secret Stash of Antimony in Nevada
Liberty Gold (TSX: LGD) is a C$124.8 million market cap gold exploration company working in Nevada.
I know, I know…what does gold have to do with New Energy? The answer is not in the gold, but in the secondary metals, particularly antimony.
Most investors in Liberty Gold are here for the Black Pine project. A 3.1 million ounce gold project in southeastern Idaho. The project is relatively simple to build. And at current gold price production pays back the capital cost in less than two years. That’s an attractive gold mine.
As you can see from the chart, Liberty Gold is firmly in the orphan stage. The sexy discovery is behind them. Now they are doing the boring research to get the loans to build the mine. The share price responded like this:
The company will publish a feasibility study in 2026. That’s the report used to develop project financing with lenders and engineers. Investors were not impressed…until recently.
And that bump came from its other project – Antimony Ridge.
That’s what we are interested in too. Antimony Ridge in Southwestern Idaho is part of the old Goldstrike property. Goldstrike was mined and reclaimed.
Surface sampling to the southeast of Goldstrike encountered up to 2% antimony in samples. In September 2024, Liberty Gold staked 3.2 square kilometers of prospective ground.
The sample survey turned up a large 450 m long antimony deposit. The mineralized contact extends over 2 km. The ground includes the Lejaiv Unite Mine, a historic small scale producer from the 1970’s. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the ore ran up to 10% antimony (as stibnite).
In 2024, the fall work program encountered high-grade up to 5.7% antimony and 3.9 grams per ton (g/t) gold.
This is an interesting project that will get more attention as the need for antimony grows.
As mainstream news begins to focus on China’s ban, projects with antimony in the states will be more valuable. And this project should get attention.
Action to Take: Buy Liberty Gold (TSX: LGD) and use a 30% trailing stop.
This company’s stock will move with the gold price and the catalysts from its Black Pine project in the short term. However, as antimony comes to the foreground in critical metals, Liberty Gold will respond.
This isn’t a short-term, big gain sort of speculation. We are building a portfolio of antimony projects in the U.S. to take advantage of a localized spike in price.
Our risk is that the U.S. capitulates on its Chinese tariffs to relieve the pressure on these metals. However, the risk premium on antimony will go up, which should lead to higher prices for longer.
That’s good for antimony owners. And that’s why we’re building a small basket of antimony projects.
For the Good,
The Mangrove Investor Team
