Greece issued a call for a public, international, and open invitation to a tender for the exploration and exploitation of antimony deposits in a northern section of the island of Chios.
According to the Ministry of Environment and Energy, the tender will be part of the government’s efforts to highlight and develop Greece’s mineral resources.
Antimony is on the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials List. The development of Greece’s mineral resources will strengthen its efforts and those of the EU in diversifying the sources of raw materials and boosting the safety of supplies, the ministry statement added.
It is a versatile metalloid with various industrial and commercial applications. Its uses span multiple fields due to its unique properties, such as flame retardancy, alloying capabilities, and chemical stability.
It is a mineral with various uses including, among others, in the defense industry and in technologies of green transition.
The most common applications for metallic antimony are in alloys with lead and tin, which have improved properties for solders, bullets, and plain bearings. It improves the rigidity of lead-alloy plates in lead–acid batteries. Antimony trioxide is a prominent additive for halogen-containing flame retardants. Antimony is used as a dopant in semiconductor devices.
China is the largest producer of antimony and its compounds, with most production coming from the Xikuangshan Mine in Hunan. The industrial methods for refining antimony from stibnite are roasting followed by reduction with carbon, or direct reduction of stibnite with iron. Greece and Italy are the only two European countries with such deposits.
Antimony compounds have been known since ancient times and were powdered for use as medicine and cosmetics, often known by the Arabic name kohl.
Greece’s tender for exploration and exploitation of Antimony
According to the ministry statement, the tender will be carried out in two phases:
a. A call for expressions of interest (non-binding offers) until March 10, 2025, where those fulfilling the conditions will be selected to continue to the next phase, and
b. A call for binding offers within the second quarter of 2025, for the concession of exploration and development of minerals in a section of the island’s public mineral area totaling 9.02 square meters.
The second phase will be followed by the signing of the concession between the Greek state and the concessionaire. The agreement will include 5 years for exploration and up to 30 years for development, if and when significant deposits are identified for exploitation.
The ministry says it will ensure the concessionaire provides the most stringent guarantees for environmental protection, creation of jobs for local residents, the provision to the Municipality of Chios of a percentage of fixed and pro rata rents, and an overall contracted Corporate Social Responsibility Program.
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