Ep. 2 - Antimony

This week on Them Their Hills, Kelsey and I dig into antimony: the silvery, slippery metalloid that’s been everything from ancient eyeshadow to modern flame retardant. Kelsey joins me to unravel Fairbanks’ mining past and present: tailings, clay cultures, energy costs, the “what’s in it for us?” question, and why our landscape looks the way it does. We talk about minerals left behind, minerals we ship out, and the strange loop where critical minerals need energy—and we need critical minerals for energy.

Links and things

• The intersection of clay and critical minerals

• Ancient Egyptian eye makeup

• The future of waste mining, or circular mining

• Antimony mining in Fairbanks & mining antimony on private land

antimony - full playlist

DJ SHUGGIE LEE · antimony