Idaho’s Yellow Pine Pit mine provided most of the antimony used by the US military in World War II.
Photographer: Natalie Behring for Bloomberg BusinessweekThe Big Take
John Paulson Gets a Gold Mine in America’s Critical Minerals Scramble
The Pentagon is pushing to develop a domestic supply of antimony, often found alongside the precious metal. That could be a bonanza for the billionaire hedge fund manager and Trump supporter.
Yellow Pine Pit, gashed out of the serrated peaks of Idaho’s Salmon River Mountains, wears its history in its colors. Bands of rust and gunmetal, ash and buttercream are a testament to the mine’s crucial role in World War II. Along the shores of a lake that now fills its depths protrude boulders of stibnite, the rock that contains the critical mineral antimony.