A smelting facility in Montana is looking to help secure U.S. national security supply chains through the production of antimony, a silvery-white metal element that is considered critical to industrial and military applications.

Last week, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte joined Gary Evans, chairman and CEO of the U.S. Antimony Corporation, to celebrate an expansion of the company’s smelting facility outside of Thompson Falls. It is the only operating antimony smelter in the United States.

“You may not realize it, but there’s not a bullet fired in the world without antimony,” Evans said during a groundbreaking ceremony on Sept. 25.

Antimony is used to harden and strengthen alloys, including lead used in bullets, and is used in primers, which initiate combustion. It’s also a key ingredient in

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