BY COMFORT OGBONNA
The U.S. military is moving forward with an ambitious plan to develop a network of small, portable refineries designed to produce critical minerals essential for manufacturing bullets, protective armor, and other military hardware. The initiative marks a strategic push to secure domestic supplies of niche materials that have long been dominated by Chinese producers.
The program is being developed through a partnership involving the U.S. Army, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), and Perpetua Resources (PPTA.O), with antimony designated as the first mineral to be refined. Antimony plays a crucial role in producing trisulfide, a key ingredient in munitions.
Although the Army does not intend to generate large commercial quantities, these compact refineries are designed to ensure a reliable supply of hard-to-source minerals without depending on commercial processors, which tend to focus on higher-volume materials like iron ore or copper. By creating a steady and controlled domestic pipeline, the military aims to reduce its vulnerability to geopolitical disruptions.
Washington also plans to expand the concept to include other critical minerals such as tungsten, rare earth elements, and boron. These materials are considered strategic by the U.S. government due to their importance in producing advanced weapon systems, aerospace components, and high-tech electronics.
Mark Mezger, a munitions procurement adviser for the U.S. Army, emphasized the importance of building domestic capacity, stating that the United States needs a reliable way to produce and monitor critical minerals within its own borders.
The Army has already invested $30 million into developing the antimony refinery program over several years. Westpro Machinery engineered a transportable refinery compact enough to fit into four standard shipping containers. While its annual output of 7 to 10 metric tons of antimony trisulfide is far smaller than a typical commercial refinery, it is sufficient to support U.S. military needs in peacetime. If conflict arises, additional modular refineries can be deployed to rapidly increase production, likely using ore from Perpetua’s Idaho mine.
The Army is also in discussions with other domestic antimony projects to broaden its supply network. Future refineries for other minerals may be situated on military bases or other federal sites as part of the broader initiative to rebuild America’s mineral independence.
The portable refinery will function much like larger industrial facilities—crushing rock and using different chemical processes depending on the mineral being refined. The INL will play a central role in ensuring the facility incorporates cleaner, more efficient methods rather than simply replicating traditional refinery designs.
This program gained urgency after the Army discovered in 2021 that China had halted shipments of antimony trisulfide, triggering a rapid depletion of the military’s one-year supply and forcing a scramble for alternatives from India and other countries. According to Mezger, that moment underscored the necessity of establishing domestic production capabilities.
Perpetua Resources CEO Jon Cherry said the project represents a major step toward strengthening America’s mineral independence and long-term resilience, marking what officials hope will be the beginning of a broader shift toward secure, U.S.-controlled mineral supply chains.
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