For centuries, the term antimony was also used to refer to stibnite or antimonite, the most common mineral containing this element, from which it was typically extracted.

It is unclear where native antimony was first discovered, although the Sala silver mine in Västmanland, Sweden, is considered the type locality.

[1] The fundamental component is antimony itself, and it is usually very pure, although it may contain traces of other elements, especially arsenic, bismuth, iron, or silver.

[1] It has the same physical and chemical properties as the artificial product, but the natural mineral, when coarsely crystalline, is characterized by its perfect cleavage.

In the Matilde mine in La Viñuela, Málaga (Spain), coarsely crystalline masses with large cleavage planes are also found, forming an important part of the exploited ore, which is exceptional.