Alloys[edit] Antimony forms a highly useful alloy with lead, increasing its hardness and mechanical strength. For most applications involving lead, varying amounts of antimony are used as alloying metal. In lead–acid batteries, this addition improves plate strength and charging characteristics.[49][59] For sailboats, lead keels are used as counterweights, ranging from 600 lbs to over 8000 lbs; to improve hardness and tensile strength of the lead keel, antimony is mixed with lead between 2% and 5% by volume. Antimony is used in antifriction alloys (such as Babbitt metal),[60] in bullets and lead shot, electrical cable sheathing, type metal (for example, for linotype printing machines[61]), solder (some "lead-free" solders contain 5% Sb),[62] in pewter,[63] and in hardening alloys with low tin content in the manufacturing of organ pipes. Other applications[edit] Three other applications consume nearly all the rest of the world's supply.[48] One application is as a stabilizer and catalyst for the production of polyethylene terephthalate.[48] Another is as a fining agent to remove microscopic bubbles in glass, mostly for TV screens;[64] antimony ions interact with oxygen, suppressing the tendency of the latter to form bubbles.[65] The third application is pigments.[48] Antimony is increasingly being used in semiconductors as a dopant in n-type silicon wafers[66] for diodes, infrared detectors, and Hall-effect devices. In the 1950s, the emitters and collectors of n-p-n alloy junction transistors were doped with tiny beads of a lead-antimony alloy.[67] Indium antimonide is used as a material for mid-infrared detectors.[68][69][70]

Most of the antimony mined each year comes from China, which supplies over three-quarters of the world’s total. The remainder is from Russia, South Africa, Tajikistan, Bolivia, and a few other countries, including the United States. Some antimony is produced as a by-product of smelting ores of other metals, mainly gold, copper and silver, in countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Antimony is rarely found in its native (as an element) state. Instead, it usually occurs as a compound. The most common minerals of antimony are stibnite, tetrahedrite, bournonite, boulangerite, and jamesonite.

Antimony is a moderately active element. It does not combine with oxygen in the air at room temperature. It also does not react with cold water or with most cold acids. It does dissolve in some hot acids, however, and in aqua regia. Aqua regia is a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids. It often reacts with materials that do not react with either acid separately.

Antimony is a silvery-white, shiny element that looks like a metal. It has a scaly surface and is hard and brittle like a non-metal. It can also be prepared as a black powder with a shiny brilliance to it. The melting point of antimony is 630°C (1,170°F) and its boiling point is 1,635°C (2,980°F). It is a relatively soft material that can be scratched by glass. Its density is 6.68 grams per cubic centimeter.

Occupational exposure may cause respiratory irritation, pneumoconiosis, antimony spots on the skin and gastrointestinal symptoms. In addition antimony trioxide is possibly carcinogenic to humans.

Antimony is used in the electronics industry to make some semiconductor devices, such as infrared detectors and diodes. It is alloyed with lead or other metals to improve their hardness and strength. A lead-antimony alloy is used in batteries. Other uses of antimony alloys include type metal (in printing presses), bullets and cable sheathing. Antimony compounds are used to make flame-retardant materials, paints, enamels, glass and pottery.

large amount of waste rock, tailings, and smelting slags are produced during the Sb mining, processing, and smelting. These are partly used for filling the underground voids and piled up in the waste slack yard. The tailings produced in mineral processing are piped to the tailings dam located in the southwest of the mining area, which is located in the natural depression between two mountain bodies in the southwest of the mining area. Downstream is a large area of farmland, at risk from contamination from tailings release.