Stibnite Gold project pit. Image from Perpetua Resources.
Perpetua Resources (NASDAQ: PPTA) (TSX: PPTA) has submitted a formal application to the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) for up to $2 billion in debt financing to fund construction of its Stibnite gold-antimony project in Idaho.
The request is an increase from the $1.8 billion outlined in EXIM’s 2024 non-binding letter of interest.
Perpetua attributed the higher figure to a revised estimate of job-years stemming from recent financial and engineering updates.
Earlier this week, the Boise, Idaho-based miner announced it had obtained final approval for Stibnite, a critical minerals project being fast-tracked by the Trump administration.
The Stibnite project, with its recently secured record of decision from the US Forest Service, is uniquely positioned to supply antimony, which is essential to national security and energy technology, the company said.
Antimony, classified as a critical mineral for its importance to technology, defense and energy applications, is imported into the US as there is currently no domestic production. China accounted for 60% of globally mined antimony in 2024, according to data from the US Geological Survey.
Last September, China banned exports of the metal to the US.
The Stibnite project holds the only identified antimony reserve in the US at an estimated 148 million lb. —making it one of the largest outside of Chinese control. Once in production, it could meet about 35% of US antimony demand during its initial six years of production, according to the 2023 USGS commodity summary.
Perpetua said Stibnite is also expected to host one of the highest-grade open-pit gold mines in the country, with reserves of approximately 4.8 million oz. Over the first four years of production, it is expected to produce 450,000 oz. of gold annually.
