May 28 (Reuters) - Mining company Perpetua Resources ( PPTA )

on Wednesday said it has been awarded up to $6.9

million in additional funding from the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers for its Idaho antimony and gold Stibnite project.

The Pentagon-backed mine, which would be the country's first

antimony project, has an estimated reserve of 148 million pounds

of the metal used in bullets and tanks, as well as in alloys for

electric-vehicle batteries.

China, responsible for nearly 60% of globally mined antimony

in 2024, banned exports of the metal to the United States in

December last year, prompting efforts to increase production

within the U.S.

This supplemental award will allow Perpetua to expand the

research and support the U.S. Army's objective of establishing a

fully domestic "ground-to-round" antimony trisulfide supply

chain.

"Advancing America's capabilities to process minerals

critical to national defense is essential for our long-term

mineral independence and resilience," said CEO Jon Cherry.

The company said that with the receipt of this additional

funding, its total awards from the Department of Defense exceed

$80 million, including the $15.5 million received under an

Ordnance Technology Initiative Agreement in August 2023.

Last week, the company received the final federal permit,

the Clean Water Act Section 404, from the U.S. Army Corps for

the project.