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2. Geochemistry and mineralogy
The average antimony content of the earth's crust (or clarke) is around 0.2 g/t. In geochemical terms, like As and Bi, Sb is a semi-mineralizing element, deposited in a host rock during low- or medium-temperature hydrothermal events.
In hydrothermal galena deposits, antimony replaces sulfur, as in the case of arsenic, and replaces lead, as in the case of bismuth.
Antimony combines easily with sulfur, the main antimony sulfide being stibine Sb 2 S 3 , incidentally the most widespread antimony mineral species. In weathering processes, the oxidation of stibine is almost complete, yielding oxides such as senarmontite, which can be associated with high limonitic concentrations.
Antimony, which is also a chalcophile element, is used...
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Geochemistry and mineralogy
Antimony deposits
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1. Antimony mining and recycling
China is by far the world's leading antimony producer (table 1 ), accounting for 90% of global production in 2014, compared with 87% in 2001 [19]. The severe flooding in 2004, which temporarily shut down the main Hunan mines and forced China to temporarily...
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