Antimony (Sb)

Antimony metal ingot - one troy ounce - .9999 bullion      Antimony has been used since ancient times. One of the earliest uses of its sulfide was as an eye cosmetic in Egypt as early as 3100 BC with the advent of the cosmetic palette.  The procedure to obtain its pure metallic form was first described in the posthumously released book "De la Pirotechnia" in 1540 by Italian metallurgist Vannoccio Biringuccio. The first naturally occurring pure antimony metal was discovered in 1783 by Anto von Swab in the Sala Silver Mine in Sweden.  The ore called stibnite is the predominant ore from which antimony is produced and where it chemical symbol Sb originated. It has been estimated that about 80 or 90% of worldwide antimony production comes from China and that established global reserves of this metal may be depleted in as few as 13 years. It is predominantly used in flame retardant compounds, in lead batteries, and in other alloys either with lead or with other metals to produce lead free p