Nandan antimony ingot

Nandan antimony ingot

　　Nandan antimony ingots are the ingot form of the metal antimony, shaped as a truncated pyramid hexahedron. The standard weight of each ingot shall not exceed 25 kilograms. The surface is smooth, free of dross, and exhibits a star-like pattern. Antimony is one of the commonly used non-ferrous metals. Pure metallic antimony is rarely used alone but is mostly combined with other metals to form alloys, except in electroplating. It serves as a raw material for the indirect production of antimony white. China is the world’s largest producer of antimony, boasting exceptionally rich antimony ore resources.

　　Product Uses

　　Due to its inherent properties, aside from electroplating, antimony ingots—i.e., the metal antimony—are seldom used alone but are typically alloyed with other metals to create various types of alloys that enhance hardness and strength. Antimony ingots are mainly used as hardening agents in alloys for industries such as metallurgy, batteries, and military applications. They also serve as a raw material for producing antimony oxide. In addition, antimony ingots are used in letterpress printing, lead materials, cable sheathing, soldering, and plain bearings.

　　Properties

　　Common metallic antimony has a silver-white appearance, with a purplish-blue metallic luster on fractured surfaces. Unlike most metals, it is brittle and fragile, lacks ductility, and can be ground into powder. Antimony is a poor conductor of heat and electricity. It has a melting point of 630.5°C and a boiling point of 1635°C. Antimony is a relatively stable metal; tests have shown that it does not oxidize significantly even when heated between 100–250°C. It is insoluble in water and remains relatively stable in both dilute hydrochloric acid and concentrated hydrofluoric acid.

　　Production

　　The production methods for antimony ingots fall into two main categories: pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical, though pyrometallurgical methods remain predominant. Within pyrometallurgy, there are direct smelting methods and volatilization roasting (smelting) - reduction smelting and refining processes. Since various direct smelting methods have certain limitations, the volatilization roasting (smelting) - reduction smelting and refining process continues to hold a primary position in antimony metallurgy. Currently, China mainly employs vertical shaft furnace volatilization roasting and blast furnace volatilization smelting to first produce crude antimony (1), which is then reduced to crude antimony in a reverberatory furnace. Finally, refining is used to remove harmful impurities from the crude antimony, yielding refined antimony.