Future Trends - Recycling - Metals - Part II

FUTURE TRENDS – RECYCLING – METALS – PART II

An even bigger future problem for the U.S. than oil and gas is the reliance on imports for critical to U.S. manufacturing metals and compounds. The following is a list of all metals in common manufacturing use at present.

Common Metals (See Figure 1, “Periodic Table of Known Elements”)

Red means 100% net import reliance or extremely important to U.S, industry.Orange means greater than 30% net import relianceDepartment of Defense (DOD) Stockpiled

Element or Page % Net Import Most Important Top ImporterCritical Compound No. Reliance Uses (2011-2014 Unless

Noted)

Alumina 3 100 Aluminum Australia (33% in 2013)Aluminum 3 40 Building Material, Electrical Canada (65%)Antimony 6 84 Non-metal products Metal – China (68%)

Ore – Italy (64%)Arsenic 8 100 Press. treated wood, GaAs China (89%)

semiconductorsBauxite 3 100 Aluminum Jamaica (45% in 2013)Barium (Barite) 10 79 Additive to oil well drilling fluid, China (80%)

Internal X-RaysBeryllium 12 11 Aerospace metals, X-Ray Equip Kazakhstan (56%)Bismuth 15 95 Chemical additives China (64%)Boron 18 0 Fiberglass Turkey (80%)Cadmium 20 0 Rechargeable batteries Canada (40%)Calcium 23 0 Many Canada (94%)Chromium 23 66 Stainless Steel South Africa (37%)Cobalt 27 75 Gas Turbine Engines, Lithium-Ion China (19%) from Congo

Batteries oreCopper 32 36 Copper Wiring Chile (51% for ore)Gallium 35 100 Widespread Electronics Uses Germany (35%)Germanium 37 85 Electronics, Semiconductors, Fiber China (68%)

OpticsGold 40 0 Electrical and Electronics Mexico (41%)Graphite 42 100 Defense-related materials and China (38%)

numerous industrial applicationsIndium 45 100 Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) Canada (21%)Iridium 47 100 Defense-related materials Since associated with

Platinum, probably South Africa

Iron 48 0 “You name it” Canada (45%)Lead 49 31 Lead-Acid Batteries Canada (57%)Lithium 52 >60 Lithium-Ion Batteries Chile (58%)Magnesium 56 43 Military pyrotechnics, auto body parts China (54%)Manganese 59 100 Steel production Ore – Gabon (67%)

Ferromanganese –South Africa (61%)

Mercury 63 0 Instruments Chile (32%)Molybdenum 66 0 High-strength Steel Ferromolybdenum –

Chile (83%)Ores – Mexico (31%)

SEE PART III FOR CONTINUATION

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A List of All Rare Earth Elements in Manufacturing Use (See Part III)

Atomic No. Element Symbol Use

21 Scandium Sc Aerospace framework, high-intensity street lamps, high performance equipment

39 Yttrium Y TV sets, cancer treatment drugs, enhances strength of alloys57 Lanthanum La Camera lenses, battery-electrodes, hydrogen storage58 Cerium Ce Catalytic converters, colored glasses, steel production59 Praseodymium Pr Super strong magnets, welding goggles, lasers60 Neodymium Nd Extremely strong permanent magnets, microphones, electric

motors of hybrid automobiles, lasers62 Samarium Sm Cancer treatment, nuclear reactor control rods, X-ray lasers63 Europium Eu Color TV screens, fluorescent glass, genetic screening tests64 Gadolinium Gd Shielding in nuclear reactors, nuclear marine propulsion,

increases in durability of alloys65 Terbium Tb TV sets, fuel cells, sonar systems66 Dysprosium Dy Commercial lighting, hard disk devices, transducers67 Holmium Ho Lasers, glass coloring, high-strength magnets68 Erbium Er Glass coloring, signal amplification of fiber optic cables,

metallurgical uses69 Thulium Tm High efficiency lasers, portable X-ray machines, high

temperature superconductors70 Ytterbium Yb Improves stainless steel, lasers, ground monitoring devices71 Lutetium Lu Refining petroleum, LED light bulbs, integrated circuits

DOD Stockpiling Materials as of 2016

Go to “Future Trends – Recycling – Metals – Part I”.

Figure No. Page No. Title

1 70 Periodic Table of Known Elements2 71 Aluminum Production in the United States3 72 Copper Production/Consumption and Net Trade4 73 Top U.S. Copper Mines5 74 Top U.S. Gold Mines6 75 Overall Steel Recycling Rate7 76 Ferrous Scrap Melting Facility Recycling Map8 78 Iron Ore Production/Consumption and Net Trade9 79 Tope U.S. Molybdenum Mines

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Aluminum Production

From USGS report on Bauxite and Alumina:

Domestic Production and Use: Nearly all bauxite consumed in the United States was imported; of the total consumed, more than 95% was converted to alumina. Of the total alumina used, more than 90% went to primary aluminum smelters and the remainder went to non-metallurgical uses. Annual alumina production capacity was 5.64 million tons, with four Bayer refineries operating throughout the year. Domestic bauxite was used in the production of non-metallurgical products, such as abrasives, chemicals, proppants, and refractories.

Thousand Metric Tons (Production and Consumption):

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Production, bauxite, mine NA NA NA NA NAImports of bauxite forConsumption 7,770 9,310 10,200 11,000 10,400Imports of alumina 1,860 1,720 2,160 1,790 2,170 Exports of bauxite 45 54 76 42 19

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Exports of alumina 946 1,520 1,660 1,680 1,450 Consumption, apparent, bauxite and alumina (inaluminum equivalents) 2,480 2,580 2,250 2,890 2,720Price, bauxite, averagevalue U.S. imports (f.a.s.)dollars per ton 28 27 30 28 28

Recycling: None.

Import Sources (2009–12):

Bauxite: Jamaica, 45%; Guinea, 24%; Brazil, 21%; Guyana, 4%; and other, 6%.

Alumina: Australia, 33%; Suriname, 31%; Brazil, 14%; Jamaica, 10%; and other, 12%.

Total: Jamaica, 30%; Brazil, 18%; Guinea, 18%; Australia, 11%; and other, 23%.

Obviously, bauxite and alumina is a critical resource for the United States because all of the bauxite and alumina has to be imported. However, sources are relatively nearby in Jamaica and South America.

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From USGS report on Aluminum production:

Domestic Production and Use: In 2015, three companies operated eight primary aluminum smelters in six States, primarily east of the Mississippi River. One additional smelter remained on standby throughout the year, and two other non-operating smelters were permanently shut down during 2015. Based on published market prices, the value of primary aluminum production was $3.11 billion. Aluminum consumption was centered in the East Central United States. Transportation accounted for an estimated 39% of domestic consumption; in descending order of consumption, the remainder was used in packaging, 20%; building, 14%; electrical, 9%; consumer durables, 8%; machinery, 7%; and other, 3%.


2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production: Primary 1,986 2,070 1,946 1,710 1,600 Secondary (from oldscrap) 1,470 1,440 1,630 1,700 1,640 Imports for consumption(crude and semimanufactures) 3,710 3,760 4,160 4,290 4,700 Exports, total 3,420 3,480 3,390 3,230 3,020 Consumption, apparent 3,570 3,950 4,530 5,080 5,390 Price, ingot, average U.S.

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

market (spot), cents per pound 116.1 101.0 94.2 104.5 88.0Net import reliance asa percentage of apparent consumption 3 11 21 33 40

Recycling: In 2015, aluminum recovered from purchased scrap in the United States was about 3.61 million tons, of which about 54% came from new (manufacturing) scrap and 46% from old scrap (discarded aluminum products). Aluminum recovered from old scrap was equivalent to about 30% of apparent consumption.

Import Sources (2011–14): Canada, 65%; Russia and United Arab Emirates, 6% each; and other, 23%.

World Resources: Global resources of bauxite are estimated to be between 55 to 75 billion tons and are sufficient to meet world demand for metal well into the future.

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Aluminum Recycling

From the Seattle Times, “Global glut of aluminum sinks once strong U.S. industry”, November 6, 2015:

For more than a decade, output has been moving to where it’s cheaper to produce: Russia, the Middle East and China. A global glut has driven prices down by 27 percent in the past year, rendering U.S. operations unprofitable and accelerating the pace of the industry’s demise…

That’s exactly what Jay Armstrong, the president of Trialco in Chicago Heights, Ill., is doing. The company, which turns aluminum into finished manufactured products, now buys about 80 percent of the supplies it turns into car wheels from overseas. That’s up from 40 percent five years ago, he said.

“It’s not the kind of business where we’re going to pay more and buy all American,” Armstrong said. “It’s too competitive a business to do that.”

Alcoa announced last Monday it will idle smelters in Ferndale and Wenatchee in Washington state with 800 workers and in Massena, N.Y., with 486 workers and partially curtail refining capacity at its Point Comfort, Texas, facility by about 1.2 million tons and laying off 135 employees…

Century Aluminum has also shuttered U.S. production capacity as prices have dropped. The Chicago-based company said it intends to curtail one of three potlines at its Sebree, Ky., smelter by the end of the year because of a glut of the metal being exported from China. It has curtailed 60 percent of its facility in Hawesville, Ky., and will stop operations at its Mount Holly plant in South Carolina by year-end if it can’t secure power to run the smelter…

While output has been moving abroad for some time, the game changer in the past year has been the domination of China, where ballooning output has compounded a global surplus and driven prices so low that Bank of America estimates more than 50 percent of producers globally lose money. Smelters in the Asian country are still profitable, helped by higher physical premiums in the region.

China probably will account for 55 percent of global aluminum production this year, up from 24 percent in 2005, according to Harbor research. The U.S. has gone in the opposite direction: from 2.5 million tons in 2005 to 1.6 million in 2015, it said.

Here is a case where China is dumping its product on the whole world so the aluminum U.S. plants that used to export large amounts are no longer profitable. However, the U.S. could become self-sufficient in aluminum if necessary with the existing plants and increased recycling. Figure 2, “Aluminum Production in the United States”, shows the percentage contribution from new scrap, old scrap, and primary ore since 1940.

From Recycling Today, “Light Metal, Heavy Changes”, by Brian Taylor, June 2015:

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Whether industry challenges or investment opportunities have been the cause, ownership changes among producers of secondary aluminum alloys, castings, remelt and deox products have been widespread in the previous decade and a half.

Among the 20th century company names no longer found on our list of recycled content aluminum producers found on pages 100 and 101 are Wabash Alloys Alcan, Ormet Corp. and Nichols Aluminum. Many of the facilities once operated by these and other vanished companies remain productive under different names, while in some cases facilities have been shuttered and dismantled.

In testimony of the overall demand for aluminum, Recycling Today has been able to identify 126 facilities where sizable amounts of aluminum scrap are melted to create alloyed ingots, extrusions or other types of aluminum.

Here is another example where the U.S. has to decide between lower prices for aluminum or jobs, which applies to many things Americans buy. The aluminum products producers in the U.S. will keep buying less expensive foreign supplies unless they are stopped by tariffs on aluminum imports. Raising the price of aluminum in the United States would increase recycling efforts for certain.

Antimony Production

From Wikipedia:

Antimony is a chemical element with symbol Sb (from Latin: stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3)…

The largest applications for metallic antimony is an alloy with lead and tin and the lead antimony plates in lead–acid batteries. Alloys of lead and tin with antimony have improved properties for solders, bullets and plain bearings. Antimony compounds are prominent additives for chlorine and bromine-containing fire retardants found in many commercial and domestic products. An emerging application is the use of antimony in microelectronics.

From USGS report on Antimony:

Domestic Production and Use: In 2015, no marketable antimony was mined in the United States. A mine in Nevada, which had the potential to produce antimony and had extracted about 1 metric ton of stibnite ore from 2013 to 2014, was on care-and-maintenance status in 2015 and had no reported production. Primary antimony metal and oxide were produced by one company in Montana using imported feedstock. Secondary antimony production was derived mostly from antimonial lead recovered from spent lead-acid batteries. The estimated value of secondary antimony produced in 2015, based on the average New York dealer price, was about $30 million. Recycling supplied about 17% of estimated domestic consumption, and the remainder came from imports. The value of antimony consumption in 2015, based on the average New

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York dealer price, was about $185 million. The estimated domestic distribution of primary antimony consumption was as follows: nonmetal products, including ceramics and glass and rubber products, 36%; flame retardants, 34%; and metal products, including antimonial lead and ammunition, 30%.

Metric Tons (Production and Consumption):

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production: Mine (recoverableantimony) — — — — —Smelter: Primary ? ? ? ? ? Secondary 2,860 3,050 4,400 4,230 4,000 Imports for consumption, ores and concentrates, oxide, and metal 23,500 22,600 24,700 24,200 23,600 Exports of metal, alloys,oxide, and waste and scrap 4,170 4,710 3,980 3,240 3,100 Consumption, apparent 22,300 21,000 25,100 25,200 24,500 Price, metal, average,cents per pound 650 565 463 425 344 Employment, plant,number (yearend) 24 24 24 27 27 Net import reliance as a percentage of apparent consumption 87 85 82 83 84

Recycling: The bulk of secondary antimony is recovered at secondary lead smelters as antimonial lead, most of which was generated by, and then consumed by, the lead-acid battery industry.


Metal: China, 68%; India, 14%; Mexico, 4%; and other, 14%.

Ore and concentrate: Italy, 64%; China, 20%; India, 12%; and other, 4%.

Oxide: China, 63%; Bolivia, 9%; Belgium, 8%; Thailand, 8%; Mexico, 6%; and other, 6%.

Total: China, 63%; Bolivia, 8%; Belgium, 7%; Thailand, 6%; and other, 16%.

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Antimony Recycling

The bulk of secondary antimony is recovered at secondary lead smelters as antimonial lead, most of which was generated by, and then consumed by, the lead-acid battery industry.

United States Antimony Corp. is the only antimony compound smelter in the U.S., in Thompson Falls, Montana. The company has other operations in Mexico. They produce antimony, silver, gold, and zeolite products, and reportedly can recover lead, arsenic, mercury, bismuth, and selenium. Antimony tri-sulfide and antimony oxide are the two main products produced. Most of the ore is imported. A large quantity of antimony oxide is imported from China for use in various applications.

The only U.S. mine for the predominant ore, stibnite, is near Reno, Nevada. From firstlibertypower.com:

First Liberty Power holds a 50% net interest in an Antimony (Stibnite) mining development & refining project, located approximately 1 hour north-east of Reno, Nevada named “Fencemaker”.

This mine was previously worked in the 1940’s and again in the 1980’s, on a manual basis, with consistently high grades (10 to 25% Sb) along the exposed vein.

On October 14, 2013 the first Fencemaker mine blast was detonated. Since then, through to February 2014, the Mining Team extracted over 750 tons of stibnite ore for processing.The mined ore was staged just outside the mine adit and trucked 40 miles to a property in Lovelock, NV pending further processing. Our plan is to seek out additional permits for the concentration of the ore, following by refining at an external facility.

Antimony metal is extracted primarily from stibnite ore and is used as a hardening alloy for lead, especially storage batteries and cable sheaths, and also used in bearing metal, type metal, solder, collapsible tubes and foil, sheet and pipes, and semiconductor technology.

Stibnite is used for metal antifriction alloys, metal type, shot, batteries, and in the manufacture of fireworks. Antimony salts are used in the rubber and textile industries, in medicine, and glassmaking.

In June 2014, First Liberty secured a 50% interest in five additional prospective antimony properties (direct ownership of unpatented claims) in Pershing County, Nevada.

Looks like this company wants to increase the U.S. mining capacity of stibnite.

Arsenic Production

From Wikipedia:

Arsenic is a chemical element with symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure

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elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but only the gray form is important to industry.

The primary use of metallic arsenic is in alloys of lead (for example, in car batteries and ammunition). Arsenic is a common n-type dopant in semiconductor electronic devices, and the optoelectronic compound gallium arsenide is the second most commonly used semiconductor after doped silicon. Arsenic and its compounds, especially the trioxide, are used in the production of pesticides, treated wood products, herbicides, and insecticides. These applications are declining, however.

From USGS report on Arsenic:

Domestic Production and Use: Arsenic trioxide and primary arsenic metal have not been produced in the United States since 1985. However, limited quantities of arsenic metal have been recovered from gallium-arsenide (GaAs) semiconductor scrap. The principal use for arsenic trioxide was for the production of arsenic acid used in the formulation of chromated copper arsenide (CCA) preservatives for the pressure treating of lumber used primarily in nonresidential applications. Three companies produced CCA preservatives in the United States in 2015. Ammunition used by the U.S. military was hardened by the addition of less than 1% arsenic metal, and the grids in lead-acid storage batteries were strengthened by the addition of arsenic metal. Arsenic metal was also used as an antifriction additive for bearings, to harden lead shot, and in clip-on wheel weights. Arsenic compounds were used in herbicides and insecticides. High-purity arsenic (99.9999%) was used by the electronics industry for GaAs semiconductors that are used for solar cells, space research, and telecommunications. Arsenic also was used for germanium-arsenide-selenide specialty optical materials. Indium-gallium-arsenide was used for short-wave infrared technology. The value of arsenic compounds and metal imported domestically in 2015 was estimated to be about $5.6 million.


2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Imports for consumption: Arsenic 628 883 514 688 600 Compounds 4,990 5,740 6,290 5,260 6,200 Exports, arsenic 1 705 439 1,630 2,950 1,900 Consumption, estimated 5,620 6,620 6,810 5,940 6,800 Value, cents per pound, average Arsenic (China) 74 75 72 75 80 Trioxide (Morocco) 22 24 27 30 29 Net import reliance asa percentage of estimated consumption 100 100 100 100 100

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Recycling: Arsenic metal was recycled from GaAs semiconductor manufacturing. Arsenic contained in the process water at wood treatment plants where CCA was used was also recycled. Although electronic circuit boards, relays, and switches may contain arsenic, no arsenic was recovered from them during recycling to recover other contained metals. No arsenic was recovered domestically from arsenic-containing residues and dusts generated at nonferrous smelters in the United States.


Arsenic: China, 89%; Japan, 9%; and other, 2%.

Arsenic trioxide: Morocco, 58%; China (including Hong Kong), 32%; Belgium, 10%; and other, less than 1%.

World Resources: Arsenic may be obtained from copper, gold, and lead smelter flue dust as well as from roasting arsenopyrite, the most abundant ore mineral of arsenic. Arsenic has been recovered from realgar and orpiment in China, Peru, and the Philippines; has been recovered from copper-gold ores in Chile; and was associated with gold occurrences in Canada. Orpiment and realgar from gold mines in Sichuan Province, China, were stockpiled for later recovery of arsenic. Arsenic also may be recovered from enargite, a copper mineral. Global resources of copper and lead contain approximately 11 million tons of arsenic.

Arsenic Recycle

The semiconductor industry is the only main user of arsenic compounds that can’t be replaced. I doubt if anyone else will attempt at recycling arsenic.

Barium Production

From Wikipedia:

Barium is a chemical element with symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in Group 2, a soft silvery metallic alkaline earth metal. Because of its high chemical reactivity, barium is never found in nature as a free element. Its hydroxide, known in pre-modern history as baryta, does not occur as a mineral, but can be prepared by heating barium carbonate.

The most common naturally occurring minerals of barium are barite (barium sulfate, BaSO4) and witherite (barium carbonate, BaCO3), both insoluble in water. The barium name originates from the alchemical derivative "baryta", from Greek βαρύς (barys), meaning "heavy." Baric is the adjective form of barium. Barium was identified as a new element in 1774, but not reduced to a metal until 1808 with the advent of electrolysis.

From USGS report on Barium (Barite):

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Domestic Production and Use: In 2014, about 720,000 tons of crude barite was sold or used for grinding. The value of the ground barite was estimated to be $90 million. Most of the production came from four mines in Nevada; a significantly smaller sales volume came from a single mine in Georgia. An estimated 3.42 million tons of barite (from domestic production and imports) was sold by crushers and grinders operating in eight States. Nearly 95% of the barite sold in the United States was used as a weighting agent in fluids used in the drilling of oil and natural gas wells. The majority of Nevada crude barite was ground in Nevada and then sold primarily to exploration companies drilling in Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. Crude barite was shipped to a Canadian grinding mill in Lethbridge, Alberta, which supplied the western Canada drilling mud market. The barite imported to Louisiana and Texas mostly went to offshore drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico and to onshore drilling operations in Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. Barite also is used as a filler, extender, or weighting agent in products such as paints, plastics, and rubber. Some specific applications include use in automobile brake and clutch pads, automobile paint primer for metal protection and gloss, and to add weight to rubber mudflaps on trucks and to the cement jacket around underwater petroleum pipelines. In the metal-casting industry, barite is part of the mold-release compounds. Because barite significantly blocks x-ray and gamma-ray emissions, it is used as aggregate in high-density concrete for radiation shielding around x-ray units in hospitals, nuclear powerplants, and university nuclear research facilities. Ultrapure barite consumed as liquid is used as a contrast medium in medical x-ray examinations.


2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Sold or used, mine 662 710 666 700 720 Imports for consumption 2,110 2,320 2,920 2,240 2,900 Exports 109 98 151 200 200 Consumption, apparent(crude and ground) 2,660 2,930 3,430 2,740 3,420Consumption (ground and crushed) 2,570 2,910 3,310 2,700 3,400Estimated price, average value, dollars per ton, f.o.b. mine 83 94 107 116 125 Employment, mine andmill, number 379 461 554 624 625Net import reliance as a percentage of apparentconsumption 75 76 81 74 79

Recycling: None.

Import Sources (2010–13): China, 80%; India, 11%; Morocco, 4%; Mexico, 3%; and other, 2%

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World Resources: In the United States, identified resources of barite are estimated to be 150 million tons, and undiscovered resources include an additional 150 million tons. The world’s barite resources in all categories are about 2 billion tons, but only about 740 million tons is identified resources.

Barium Recycling

From atsr.cdc.gov:

In 2005, the major producer of barite in the United States was from mines in Nevada. Significantly smaller amounts were produced from a single mine in Georgia. Total U.S. production for 2004 was 532,000 metric tons, a figure that represented 7.3% of world production. This production figure is 14% higher than for 2003. In 2004, 24 grinding plants within the United States produced 2,440,000 metric tons of ground or crushed (processed) barite ore. Fourteen facilities, 6 in Louisiana and 8 in Texas, produced American Petroleum Institute (API)-grade barite in 2004. These stand-alone grinding plants received barite from China and India for grinding to API specifications for the oil and gas drilling markets. Of the total production of ground and crushed barite ore in 2004, 94% (2,300,000 metric tons) was used in well drilling operations. Louisiana and Texas were the major U.S. consumers of processed barite ore (1,803,000 metric tons); much of this consumption was driven by exploration for natural gas… The remaining 6% (142,000 metric tons) was used as filler and extenders and in the manufacture of glass and barium chemicals, such as barium sulfide (USGS 2004, 2006).

I doubt any economical barium recycling can ever be done so it reliance on Chinese supplies unless substitutes can be found in the oil drilling and x-ray uses.

Beryllium Production

From Wikipedia:

Beryllium is a chemical element with symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a relatively rare element in the universe, usually occurring as a product of the spallation of larger atomic nuclei that have collided with cosmic rays. Within the cores of stars beryllium is depleted as it is fused and creates larger elements. It is a divalent element which occurs naturally only in combination with other elements in minerals. Notable gemstones which contain beryllium include beryl (aquamarine, emerald) and chrysoberyl. As a free element it is a steel-gray, strong, lightweight and brittle alkaline earth metal.

Beryllium improves many physical properties when added as an alloying element to aluminium, copper (notably the alloy beryllium copper), iron and nickel. Beryllium does not form oxides until it reaches very high temperatures. Tools made of beryllium copper alloys are strong and hard and do not create sparks when they strike a steel surface. In structural applications, the combination of high flexural rigidity, thermal stability, thermal conductivity and low density (1.85 times that of water) make beryllium metal a desirable aerospace material for

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aircraft components, missiles, spacecraft, and satellites. Because of its low density and atomic mass, beryllium is relatively transparent to X-rays and other forms of ionizing radiation; therefore, it is the most common window material for X-ray equipment and components of particle detectors. The high thermal conductivities of beryllium and beryllium oxide have led to their use in thermal management applications.

From USGS report on Beryllium:

Domestic Production and Use: One company in Utah mined bertrandite ore and converted it, along with imported beryl, into beryllium hydroxide. Some of the beryllium hydroxide was shipped to the company’s plant in Ohio, where it was converted into metal, oxide, and downstream beryllium-copper master alloy—some of which was sold. Estimated beryllium consumption of 310 tons was valued at about $158 million, based on the estimated unit value for beryllium in imported beryllium-copper master alloy. Based on value-added sales revenues, approximately 20% of beryllium products were used in industrial components, 18% in consumer electronics, 16% in automotive electronics, 8% each in energy applications and telecommunications infrastructure, 6% in defense applications, 2% in medical applications, and 22% in other applications. Beryllium alloy strip and bulk products, the most common forms of processed beryllium, were used in all application areas. The majority of beryllium metal and beryllium composite products were used in defense and scientific applications.


2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Production, mine shipments 235 225 235 270 275 Imports for consumption 92 100 57 68 73 Exports 21 55 35 26 33 Government stockpile releases 22 >0.5 10 1 >0.5 Consumption: Reported, ore 250 220 250 280 285 Apparent 333 265 262 318 310 Unit value, annualaverage, beryllium-copper master alloy, dollars perpound containedberyllium 203 204 208 215 231 Net import reliance as apercentage of apparent consumption 29 15 10 15 11

Recycling: Beryllium was recovered from new scrap generated during the manufacture of beryllium products and from old scrap. Detailed data on the quantities of beryllium recycled are not available but may account for as much as 20% to 25% of total beryllium consumption. The

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leading U.S. beryllium producer established a comprehensive recycling program for all of its beryllium products, recovering approximately 40% of its new and old beryllium alloy scrap. Beryllium manufactured from recycled sources requires only 20% of the energy as that of beryllium manufactured from primary sources.

Import Sources (2011–14): Kazakhstan, 56%; China, 8%; Nigeria, 6%; United Kingdom, 6%; and other, 24%.

World Resources: World identified resources of beryllium have been estimated to be more than 80,000 tons. About 65% of these resources are in nonpegmatite deposits in the United States; the Gold Hill and Spor Mountain areas in Utah and the Seward Peninsula in Alaska account for most of the total.

Beryllium Recycling

From Investor Intel, “Where the USA Dominates”, Christopher Ecclestone, July 2, 2014:

The US is forecast to remain the dominant market player in both consumption and production. The United States is the world’s leading source of beryllium. The Spor Mountain mine in Utah produced more than 85% of the 230 tpa of beryllium mined worldwide…

Three countries (China, Kazakhstan, and the United States) process beryllium ore. In 2005, the U.S. Department of Defense began a partnership with Materion to build a new processing facility in Ohio to produce high-purity beryllium metal. The processing facility was completed in 2011, and up to two-thirds of its output was to be allocated for defense and other government-related end uses.

The names to conjure with in the mining and processing of Beryllium are Materion (Ohio/Utah), IBC Advanced Alloys Corp. (Canada but plants in US), Belmont Metals (New York), Applied Materials, NGK Metals Corporation (Tennessee), American Beryllia (New Jersey), Esmeralda de Conquista Ltda (in Brazil), Ningxia Orient Tantalum Industry Co (China), Fuyun Hengsheng Beryllium Industry Co (China), and Grizzly Mining Limited (a Zambian gem miner). Some of these are not much more though than aggregators of artisanal mining output from their region.

Materion (MTRN)

The 800-lb gorilla in the Beryllium space (not to mention being the “anointed” of the Pentagon) is Materion, the specialty metals processor which also owns the aforementioned Spor Mountain Mine. As such it is the world’s only integrated “mine-to-mill” supplier of beryllium-based products. The company used to be known more prosaically as Brush-Wellman (before that the Brush Beryllium Company).

The strategic importance of Beryllium is evidenced by some of the high tech output of Materion as evidenced by sophisticated thin film coatings for hard disk drives, specialty inorganic chemicals for solar energy panels, bio-compatible materials for implantable medical devices,

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specialty alloys for miniature consumer electronics components, optical filters for thermal imaging, critical components for infrared sensing technology and special materials for LEDs. It’s worth noting that Materion is a supplier to the Defense Logistic Agency (DLA) stockpile.

Texas Rare Earths – Beryllium Plug & Play

Texas Rare Earths (OTCQX: TRER) is the owner of the Round Top Mine in Texas which is a wunder-mine that is all things to all investors. It has Rare Earths, Flourite, Lithium and Uranium. However it was originally developed as a Beryllium deposit. Most of the work on this score was done in the past by Cabot Corp and Cyprus Minerals.

The dominance of the US in Beryllium is a good thing. This could be further accentuated by development of a second mine, Round Top, owned by TRER. Maybe life could be breathed back into the Bommer Mine. The US is clearly the axe in this metal but still remains dependent upon imports for too much of its industrial conversion.

The U.S. could easily become self-sufficient in this metal mining and production.

Bismuth Production

From Wikipedia:

Bismuth is a chemical element with the symbol Bi and the atomic number 83. Bismuth, a pentavalent post-transition metal and one of the pnictogens, chemically resembles its lighter homologs arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth may occur naturally, although its sulfide and oxide form important commercial ores. The free element is 86% as dense as lead. It is a brittle metal with a silvery white color when freshly produced but is often seen in air with a pink tinge owing to surface oxidation. Bismuth is the most naturally diamagnetic element, and has one of the lowest values of thermal conductivity among metals…

Bismuth compounds account for about half the production of bismuth. They are used in cosmetics, pigments, and a few pharmaceuticals, notably bismuth subsalicylate, used to treat diarrhea. Bismuth's unusual propensity to expand upon freezing is responsible for some of its uses, such as in casting of printing type. Bismuth has unusually low toxicity for a heavy metal. As the toxicity of lead has become more apparent in recent years, there is an increasing use of bismuth alloys (presently about a third of bismuth production) as a replacement for lead.

From USGS report on Bismuth:

Domestic Production and Use: The United States ceased production of primary refined bismuth in 1997 and is highly import dependent for its supply. Some domestic firms recycle small quantities of bismuth. Bismuth is contained in some lead ores mined domestically, but the last domestic primary lead smelter closed at yearend 2013, and all lead concentrates now are exported for smelting. In 2014, the value of reported consumption of bismuth was approximately $23 million. About two-thirds of domestic bismuth consumption was for chemicals used in

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cosmetic, industrial, laboratory, and pharmaceutical applications. Bismuth use in pharmaceuticals included bismuth salicylate (the active ingredient in over-the-counter stomach remedies) and other compounds used to treat burns, intestinal disorders, and stomach ulcers. Bismuth also is used in the manufacture of ceramic glazes, crystal ware, and pearlescent pigments. Bismuth has a wide variety of metallurgical applications, including use as a nontoxic replacement for lead in brass, free machining steels, and solders, and as an additive to enhance metallurgical quality in the foundry industry. The Safe Drinking Water Act Amendment of 1996, which required that all new and repaired fixtures and pipes for potable water supply be lead free after August 1998, opened a wider market for bismuth as a metallurgical additive to lead-free pipe fittings, fixtures, and water meters. Bismuth is used as a triggering mechanism for fire sprinklers and in holding devices for grinding optical lenses, and bismuth-tellurium oxide alloy film paste is used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices.


2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production: Refinery — — — — ––Secondary (old scrap) 80 80 80 80 80Imports for consumption, metal 1,750 1,700 1,710 2,270 2,200 Exports, metal, alloys, and scrap 628 764 816 567 600Consumption: Reported 696 647 774 727 900 Apparent 1,120 940 978 1,504 1,610 Price, average, domestic dealer, dollars per pound 11.47 10.10 8.71 11.14 7.50 Net import reliance as a percentage of apparent consumption 93 93 92 95 95

Recycling: Bismuth-containing new and old alloy scrap was recycled and thought to compose less than 10% of U.S. bismuth consumption, or about 80 tons.

Import Sources (2011–14): China, 64%; Belgium, 26%; Peru, 3%; United Kingdom, 2%; and other, 5%.

World Resources: Bismuth, at an estimated 8 parts per billion by weight, ranks 69th in elemental abundance in the Earth’s crust and is about twice as abundant as gold. World reserves of bismuth are usually based on bismuth content of lead resources because bismuth production is most often a byproduct of processing lead ores. In China and Vietnam, bismuth production is a byproduct or coproduct of tungsten and other metal ore processing. Bismuth minerals rarely occur in sufficient quantities to be mined as principal products; the Tasna Mine in Bolivia and a mine in China are the only mines that produced bismuth from bismuth ore.

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Bismuth Recycling:

From Terra Glitch website:

Whereas bismuth is most available today as a byproduct, its sustainability is more dependent on recycling. Bismuth is mostly a byproduct of lead smelting, along with silver, zinc, antimony, and other metals, and also of tungsten production, along with molybdenum and tin, and also of copper production. Recycling bismuth is difficult in many of its end uses, primarily because of scattering.

Probably the easiest to recycle would be bismuth-containing fusible alloys in the form of larger objects, then larger soldered objects. Half of the world’s solder consumption is in electronics (i.e., circuit boards). As the soldered objects get smaller or contain little solder or little bismuth, the recovery gets progressively more difficult and less economic, although solder with a higher silver content will be more worthwhile recovering. Next in recycling feasibility would be sizeable catalysts with a fair bismuth content, perhaps as bismuth phosphomolybdate, and then bismuth used in galvanizing and as a free-machining metallurgical additive.

Improvement in Bismuth recycling is necessary, but will it ever be cost effective? I doubt it. However, depending on China’s mining activity, the world recoverable supply could be quickly exhausted. From “Bismuth Depletion Including Recycling”, L. David Roper, July 2, 2016:

The crossover point at year ~2014 when the amount extracted is equal to the amount left to be extracted is shown here:

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Boron Production

From Wikipedia:

Boron is a chemical element with symbol B and atomic number 5. Produced entirely by cosmic ray spallation and supernovae and not by stellar nucleosynthesis, it is a low-abundance element in the Solar system and in the Earth's crust. Boron is concentrated on Earth by the water-solubility of its more common naturally occurring compounds, the borate minerals. These are mined industrially as evaporites, such as borax and kernite. The largest known boron deposits are in Turkey, the largest producer of boron minerals.

Elemental boron is a metalloid that is found in small amounts in meteoroids but chemically uncombined boron is not otherwise found naturally on Earth. Industrially, very pure boron is produced with difficulty because of refractory contamination by carbon or other elements. Several allotropes of boron exist: amorphous boron is a brown powder; crystalline boron is silvery to black, extremely hard (about 9.5 on the Mohs scale), and a poor electrical conductor at room temperature. The primary use of elemental boron is as boron filaments with applications similar to carbon fibers in some high-strength materials.

Boron is primarily used in chemical compounds. About half of all consumption globally, boron is used as an additive in glass fibers of boron-containing fiberglass for insulation and structural materials. The next leading use is in polymers and ceramics in high-strength, lightweight structural and refractory materials. Borosilicate glass is desired for its greater strength and thermal shock resistance than ordinary soda lime glass. Boron compounds are used as fertilizers in agriculture and in sodium perborate bleaches. A small amount of boron is used as a dopant in semiconductors, and reagent intermediates in the synthesis of organic fine chemicals. A few boron-containing organic pharmaceuticals are used or are in study. Natural boron is composed of two stable isotopes, one of which (boron-10) has a number of uses as a neutron-capturing agent.

From USGS report on Boron:

Domestic Production and Use: Two companies in southern California produced borates in 2015, and most of the boron products consumed in the United States were manufactured domestically. U.S. boron production and consumption data were withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data. The leading boron producer mined borate ores containing kernite, tincal, and ulexite by open pit methods and operated associated compound plants. The kernite was used for boric acid production, tincal was used as a feedstock for sodium borate production, and ulexite was used as a primary ingredient in the manufacture of a variety of specialty glasses and ceramics. A second company produced borates from brines extracted through solution mining techniques. Boron minerals and chemicals were principally consumed in the North Central and the Eastern United States. In 2015, the glass and ceramics industries remained the leading domestic users of boron products, accounting for an estimated 80% of total borates

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consumption. Boron also was used as a component in abrasives, cleaning products, insecticides, insulation, and in the production of semiconductors.


2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production ? ? ? ? ?Imports for consumption: Refined borax 69 86 127 152 164 Boric acid 56 55 53 57 60Colemanite — 24 38 45 42 Ulexite — 1 — 34 74

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Exports: Boric acid 235 190 232 225 161 Refined borax 492 457 489 584 532 Consumption, apparent ? ? ? ? ? Price, average value of mineral imports at portof exportation, dollarsper ton 553 510 433 372 400 Employment, number 1,180 1,180 1,180 1,180 1,180 Net import reliance as a percentage of apparentconsumption 0 0 0 0 0

Recycling: Insignificant.

Import Sources (2011–14): Borates: Turkey, 80%; Bolivia, 8%; China, 3%; Argentina, 3%; and other, 6%.

World Resources: Deposits of borates are associated with volcanic activity and arid climates, with the largest economically viable deposits located in the Mojave Desert of the United States, the Alpide belt in southern Asia, and the Andean belt of South America. U.S. deposits consist primarily of tincal, kernite, and borates contained in brines, and to a lesser extent ulexite and colemanite. About 70% of all deposits in Turkey are colemanite. Small deposits are being mined in South America. At current levels of consumption, world resources are adequate for the foreseeable future.

The U.S. is a significant net exporter of refined borax and boric acid, and China and other Asian countries are the largest consumers. I don’t know the reason for the unknown production and consumption numbers in USGS 2016 report. It could have something to do with U.S. Borax and Chemical Corp. is the only U.S. company (owned by the British mining company Rio Tinto) which mines borates, and they are in competition with American Borate Co. in Virginia, who

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represents Turkey in North America. Probably not. Turkey is the other country with major sources of borates.

Boron Recycling:

I doubt if boron will ever be recycled in any significant quantity.

Cadmium Production

From Wikipedia:

Cadmium is a chemical element with symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, bluish-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of its compounds, and like mercury, it has a lower melting point than other transition metals. Cadmium and its congeners are not always considered transition metals, in that they do not have partly filled d or f electron shells in the elemental or common oxidation states. The average concentration of cadmium in Earth's crust is between 0.1 and 0.5 parts per million (ppm). It was discovered in 1817 simultaneously by Stromeyer and Hermann, both in Germany, as an impurity in zinc carbonate.

Cadmium occurs as a minor component in most zinc ores and is a byproduct of zinc production. Cadmium was used for a long time as a corrosion-resistant plating on steel, and cadmium compounds are used as red, orange and yellow pigments, to color glass, and to stabilize plastic. Cadmium use is generally decreasing because it is toxic (it is specifically listed in the European Restriction of Hazardous Substances) and nickel-cadmium batteries have been replaced with nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries. One of its few new uses is cadmium telluride solar panels.

From USGS report on Cadmium:

Domestic Production and Use: Two companies in the United States produced refined cadmium in 2015. One company, operating in Tennessee, recovered primary refined cadmium as a byproduct of zinc leaching from roasted sulfide concentrates. The other company, operating in Ohio, recovered secondary cadmium metal from spent nickel cadmium (NiCd) batteries and other cadmium-bearing scrap. Domestic production and consumption of cadmium from 2011 to 2015 were withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data. Cadmium metal and compounds are mainly consumed for alloys, coatings, NiCd batteries, pigments, and plastic stabilizers.

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2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production, refined ? ? ? ? ?Imports for consumption:Unwrought cadmium and powders 201 170 284 133 270 Wrought cadmium and other articles (gross weight) 9 21 104 6 20 Cadmium waste and

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

scrap (gross weight) >0.5 1 >0.5 — 80 Exports: Unwrought cadmium and powders 63 253 131 198 290 Wrought cadmium andother articles (gross weight) 204 378 266 72 120Cadmium waste and scrap (gross weight) 5 — 20 — —Consumption of metal, apparent ? ? ? ? ?Price, metal, annual average, dollars perkilogram 2.76 2.03 1.92 1.94 1.05 Net import reliance as

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

a percentage of <25% 0 <25% 0 0apparent consumption

Recycling: Secondary cadmium is mainly recovered from spent consumer and industrial NiCd batteries. Other waste and scrap from which cadmium can be recovered includes copper-cadmium alloy scrap, some complex nonferrous alloy scrap, and cadmium-containing dust from electric arc furnaces (EAF). The amount of cadmium recovered from secondary sources in 2015 was withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data

Import Sources (2011–14): Canada, 40%; Australia, 17%; China, 11%; Mexico, 10%; and other, 22%.

The U.S. has been a net exporter of cadmium in three out of the five years from 2011 to 2015.

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Cadmium Recycling

From Nyrstar website:

The Clarksville zinc refinery is located four kilometers southwest of Clarksville, Tennessee, beside the Cumberland River. The primary zinc producer in the U.S and also produces cadmium metal, suphuric acid, copper sulphate, and intermediate copper cementate, synthetic gypsum and germanium concentrate.

The Clarksville smelter was specifically designed to recover zinc from the high zinc content, low impurity Tennessee Valley zinc concentrates produced by the Tennessee mines.

So that is the Tennessee company the USGS report refers to. It is owned by a Belgium company, Nyrstar.

From Retriev Technologies website:

Anaheim, California – TOXCO Inc., is pleased to announce that it has been awarded 9.5 million dollars from the Department of Energy to expand their current battery recycling operations in Lancaster, Ohio. Toxco plans to build and operate an advanced lithium battery recycling facility at their existing Lancaster, Ohio site. The new plant will be built to support the battery recycling infrastructure that will be needed with the growth of hybrid and electric vehicles in the United States all of which use large format rechargeable batteries. “Toxco is excited to have been chosen by the Department of Energy” says Todd Coy, Executive Vice President of Kinsbursky Brothers, Inc., Toxco’s parent company. “As the U.S. hybrid vehicle market continues to grow, Toxco will provide end of life management and recycling of these advanced batteries in a safe and environmentally sound manner.”

“This new plant will bring in more employment for the Lancaster area, as well as allow us to continue to recover renewable resources, such as Nickel and Cobalt, for use in the manufacturing of new batteries for the U.S. market.” says Ed Green, VP of Ohio operations for Toxco. Green continued, “The new plant represents growth for our group of companies” and noted “Toxco’s Trail, BC facility will continue to provide lithium battery recycling services to their existing customers; this plant will focus on the emerging battery market.”

Toxco is currently the only facility in North America with the capability to recycle both primary and secondary lithium batteries. Toxco’s existing lithium battery recycling operation is located in Trail, British Columbia. Additionally, Toxco manages two battery recycling operations in Ohio. The Lancaster, Ohio facility currently processes large format lead acid batteries, as well as nickel metal hydride batteries used in the current population of hybrid and electric vehicles. This facility is also only one of two technologies in North America that can recycle nickel cadmium batteries, which is a common consumer type of rechargeable battery. The recovery process used in Lancaster for the nickel cadmium batteries is deemed to be a “Best Demonstrated Available Technology” per US EPA.

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The company changed its name to Retriev Technologies with headquarters in Anaheim, California. They have another recycling facility in Trail, British Colombia, because that is where Teck, Canada’s largest diversified resource company, has its zinc smelter.

A zinc recycling operation is owned by Horsehead Corp. based in Pittsburg, Pa. They are an American owned company with an operation in North Carolina, after emerging from Chapter 11, producing refined zinc. They also recycle nickel, chromium, iron, molybdenum, and cadmium.

So cadmium recycling seems to be in good shape.

Calcium Production

Calcium is considered to be a metal, but it is abundant all over the world so I won’t waste any space on this.

Chromium Production

From Geology.com, September, 2010:

Chromium, a steely-gray, lustrous, hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point, is a silvery white, hard, and bright metal plating on steel and other material. Commonly known as chrome, it is one of the most important and indispensable industrial metals because of its hardness and resistance to corrosion. But it is used for more than the production of stainless steel and nonferrous alloys; it is also used to create pigments and chemicals used to process leather… Chromite, the only ore of chromium, was first discovered in the United States sometime about 1808 on the farm of Isaac Tyson, Jr., just north of Baltimore, Md. Scattered deposits of chromium minerals in an area of northeastern Maryland and southeastern Pennsylvania were the source of nearly all of the chromium products in the world between 1828 and 1850. Currently, the only domestic commercial chromium supply source is from recycling, although the United States does have small chromite resources, primarily in Oregon. The Stillwater complex of Montana also hosts chromite resources associated with platinum and nickel resources.

How Do We Use Chromium?

Chromium is critical in the manufacturing of stainless steel. Most stainless steel contains about 18 percent chromium; it is what hardens and toughens steel and increases its resistance to corrosion, especially at high temperatures. Because stainless steel does not rust and is easily sterilized, it is a part of many items we use in our daily lives. Some of the most recognizable of these items include kitchen appliances, food processing equipment, and medical and dental tools.

Many of the decorations on automobiles, such as ornaments, trim, and hubcaps, are chromium plated. Chromium in super alloys (high-performance alloys) permits jet engines to operate in a

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high-temperature, high-stress, chemically oxidizing environment. On U.S. roadways, chromium pigments are used to make the yellow lines that indicate traffic lanes. Chromium-containing pigments find their way into a variety of beauty products. Chromite is used in high-temperature applications, such as blast furnaces and molds for firing bricks, because it retains strength at high temperature.

Where Does Chromium Come From?

Chromite, an oxide of iron, magnesium, aluminum, and chromium, is the only ore mineral of chromium. In nature, chromite deposits are generally of two major types: stratiform (layered) and podiform (pod shaped). Both types are associated with ultramafic igneous rocks. The world's largest stratiform chromite deposits are found in South Africa, in what is known as the Bushveld complex. This is a layered igneous intrusion containing more than 11 billion metric tons of chromite resources. Podiform deposits are found in layered igneous sequences that developed in oceanic crust below the sea floor. We can now access these resources where parts of the ocean floor have been pushed over continental rocks by tectonic forces. In the United States, podiform deposits are scattered along the Pacific Coast from the Kenai Peninsula in southern Alaska to southern California and along the Appalachian Mountains from northern Vermont to Georgia.

Chromium: Worldwide Supply and Demand

The world's production (supply) and consumption (demand) of chromium have been influenced by the global market, as demand for mineral commodities, including chromium, has increased. Chromium is traded on the world market in the form of ferrochromium, an iron-chromium alloy.

The price of ferrochromium reached historically high levels in 2008 and then declined in 2009 with a weakening world economy. During the same time period, China's role as a chromium consumer has grown with its expanding stainless steel industry.

Ferrochromium production is an electrical energy-intensive process. Much of the electrical power currently produced is coal based, a carbon dioxide gas-producing process that is under consideration for regulation because of its impact on climate. These factors suggest that the electrical energy cost of ferrochromium production will rise in the future

Ensure Future Chromium Supplies

World chromium reserves, mining capacity, and ferrochromium production capacity are largely concentrated in the Eastern Hemisphere. Because there is no viable substitute for chromium in the production of stainless steel and because the United States has small chromium resources, there has been concern about domestic supply during every national military emergency since World War I. In recognition of the vulnerability of lengthy supply routes during military emergencies, chromium (in various forms, including chromite ore, chromium Ferro alloys, and

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chromium metal) has been held in the National Defense Stockpile since before World War II. Since 1991, however, changes in national security considerations have resulted in reduced stockpile goals, and inventories are being sold. At the current rate, it is estimated that these stockpiles will be exhausted by 2015. In 2009, recycled chromium from stainless steel scrap accounted for 61 percent of U.S. chromium apparent consumption, making recycled material the only domestic commercial chromium supply source.

From USGS report on chromium production:

Domestic Production and Use: In 2015, the United States was expected to consume about 5% of world chromite ore production in various forms of imported materials, such as chromite ore, chromium chemicals, chromium ferroalloys, chromium metal, and stainless steel. One U.S. company mined chromite ore in Oregon from which it produced foundry sand. Imported chromite ore was consumed by one chemical firm to produce chromium chemicals. One company produced chromium metal. Stainless-steel and heat-resisting-steel producers were the leading consumers of ferrochromium. Stainless steels and super alloys require chromium. The value of chromium material consumption in 2014 was $971 million as measured by the value of net imports, excluding stainless steel, and was expected to be about $1 billion in 2015.


2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Production: Mine — NA NA NA NA Recycling 147 146 150 157 162 Imports for consumption 531 554 475 637 676 Exports 232 234 235 250 381 Government stockpile releases 4 4 10 15 15 Consumption: Reported (includes recycling) 400 401 402 418 418 Apparent (includes recycling) 450 471 400 558 471 Unit value, average annual import (dollars per ton): Chromite ore (gross quantity) 355 392 310 243 214 Ferrochromium(chromium content) 2,603 2,362 2,156 2,209 1,035 Chromium metal (grossquantity) 14,090 13,333 11,147 11,006 10,866 Net import reliance as apercentage of apparent consumption 67 69 63 72 66

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Recycling: In 2015, recycled chromium (contained in reported stainless steel scrap receipts) accounted for 34% of apparent consumption.


Chromite (mineral): South Africa, 98%; and other, 2%.

Chromium-containing scrap: Canada, 50%; Mexico, 42%; and other, 8%.

Chromium (primary metal): South Africa, 33%; Kazakhstan, 18%; Russia, 10%; and other, 39%.

Total imports: South Africa, 37%; Kazakhstan, 16%; Russia, 8%; and other, 39%.

World Resources: World resources are greater than 12 billion tons of shipping-grade chromite, sufficient to meet conceivable demand for centuries. About 95% of the world’s chromium resources are geographically concentrated in Kazakhstan and southern Africa; U.S. chromium resources are mostly in the Stillwater Complex in Montana.

Chromium Recycling

From “Chromium Depletion and Recycling”, L. David Roper, July 2, 2016:

It appears that the recent rapid rise in extraction rate is unsustainable for more than a few decades or so from now.

Most of the chromium is recycled with the stainless steel. One exception is chromium in tannery operations. From The International Journal of Advanced Management and Science, “Operational Management Of Chromium Recycling From Tannery Wastewater”, M.Badar et al:

Operational management is an important step in production process of a chemical reaction for getting good quality of yield with economical way as taken in recycling of chromium from tannery waste. It is most widely used the Chromium (III) salts as a chemical in the process of tanning. Only 60%-70% of chromium salt is used to reacts with the skins and hides but 30%-40% of remaining chromium chemicals are wasted in form of the solid and liquid (as tanning solutions). Consequently, the recovery and recycling of the chromium metal content of existed

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wastewaters is essential for economic reasons and environmental protection. Recycling and recovery of chromium metal is supported by using chemical precipitation methods. For achieving this special aim, calcium hydroxide plus alum and magnesium oxide are used as two precipitating agents. This is a confirmatory Study on the effects of stirring time, pH, sludge and settling rate volume in batch experiments. These Results are showed that the optimum pH for efficient recovery was done at 8.5, good sludge with high settling rate and lower volume during recovery process was achieved. Based on these findings an economical recovery plant was designed. The recovery achieved about 99(%) at pH 8 with stirring at 90 rpm.

Cobalt Production

From Wikipedia:

Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. Like nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal.

Cobalt-based blue pigments (cobalt blue) have been used since ancient times for jewelry and paints, and to impart a distinctive blue tint to glass, but the color was later thought by alchemists to be due to the known metal bismuth. Miners had long used the name kobold ore (German for goblin ore) for some of the blue-pigment producing minerals; they were so named because they were poor in known metals, and gave poisonous arsenic-containing fumes upon smelting. In 1735, such ores were found to be reducible to a new metal (the first discovered since ancient times), and this was ultimately named for the kobold.

Today, some cobalt is produced specifically from various metallic-lustered ores, for example cobaltite (CoAsS), but the main source of the element is as a by-product of copper and nickel mining. The copper belt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic and Zambia yields most of the cobalt mined worldwide.

Cobalt is primarily used in the preparation of magnetic, wear-resistant and high-strength alloys. The compounds, cobalt silicate and cobalt(II) aluminate (CoAl2O4, cobalt blue) give a distinctive deep blue color to glass, ceramics, inks, paints and varnishes. Cobalt occurs naturally as only one stable isotope, cobalt-59. Cobalt-60 is a commercially important radioisotope, used as a radioactive tracer and for the production of high energy gamma rays.

Wikipedia left out two things important – aircraft gas turbine engines and lithium ion batteries.

From Industrial minerals website, “The Role of Cobalt in Battery Supply, by Cameron Perks, September 16, 2016:

The importance of cobalt to many lithium battery chemistries is sometimes forgotten, with industry news tending to focus solely on lithium itself. Delegates at the Battery Metals Conference in Beijing last week took a closer look at the battery supply chain.

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While elements such as nickel, lithium and manganese have important roles to play in various popular battery chemistries, cobalt is the critical mineral concerning many industry experts.

The reason for this is the nature of its source, with over 50% of the world’s supply mined in conflict-stricken Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

With rechargeable battery electrodes being the primary use for cobalt, recent instability in the DRC has been unnerving.

Last week there were several reports of violent outbreaks and on Friday the border crossing between DRC and Zambia was closed for 24 hours by the Zambians to prevent trouble spilling over into the country.

To add to the already concerning story, Mo Ke, chief analyst at RealLi Research, said at the 2016 Argus Battery Metals Conference last week in Beijing that there would "probably be a shortage next year", thanks to a combination of increasing demand and restricted supply. Some commentators, such as Ian Pringle, managing director of Bayrock Materials and Pacific Basin Bluestone, thinks that this is an understatement.

From USGS report on Cobalt production:

Domestic Production and Use: In 2015, a nickel-copper mine in Michigan ramped up production of cobalt-bearing nickel concentrate. A Pennsylvania producer of extra-fine cobalt metal powder ceased producing the powder in 2015. Most U.S. cobalt supply comprised imports and secondary (scrap) materials. Six companies were known to produce cobalt chemicals. About 46% of the cobalt consumed in the United States was used in super alloys, mainly in aircraft gas turbine engines; 9% in cemented carbides for cutting and wear-resistant applications; 18% in various other metallic applications; and 27% in a variety of chemical applications. The total estimated value of cobalt consumed in 2015 was $280 million.

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2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production: Mine — — — 120 700 Secondary 2,210 2,160 2,160 2,200 2,500 Imports for consumption 10,600 11,100 10,500 11,400 11,500 Exports 3,390 3,760 3,850 4,500 3,900 Shipments from Government stockpile Excesses — — — — — Consumption: Reported (includes secondary) 9,180 8,660 8,090 8,560 9,000 Apparent (includes secondary) 9,230 9,510 8,670 8,920 10,000 Price, average, dollars per pound: U.S. spot, cathode 17.99 14.07 12.89 14.48 13.50 London Metal Exchange (LME), cash 16.01 13.06 12.26 14.00 13.10 Net import reliance4 asa percentage of apparent consumption 76 77 75 75 75

Recycling: In 2015, cobalt contained in purchased scrap represented an estimated 28% of cobalt reported consumption.

Import Sources (2011–14): Cobalt contained in metal, oxide, and salts: China, 19%; Norway, 13%; Finland and Russia, 9% each; and other, 50%.

World Resources: Identified cobalt resources of the United States are estimated to be about 1 million tons. Most of these resources are in Minnesota, but other important occurrences are in Alaska, California, Idaho, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. With the exception of resources in Idaho and Missouri, any future cobalt production from these deposits would be as a byproduct of another metal. Identified world terrestrial cobalt resources are about 25 million tons. The vast majority of these resources are in sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposits in Congo (Kinshasa) and Zambia; nickel-bearing laterite deposits in Australia and nearby island countries and Cuba; and magmatic nickel-copper sulfide deposits hosted in mafic and ultramafic rocks in Australia, Canada, Russia, and the United States. More than 120 million tons of cobalt resources have been identified in manganese nodules and crusts on the floor of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.

So Cobalt is a strategic metal and could become scarce very fast. That would be a problem for the expansion of the electric automobile industry.

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Cobalt Recycling

From ecobalt.com:

The battery industry currently uses 42 percent of global cobalt production, a critical metal for Lithium-ion cells. The remaining 58 percent is used in diverse industrial and military applications (super alloys, catalysts, magnets, pigments…) that rely exclusively on the material…

The Tenke Fungurume mine is one of the world’s largest known cobalt resources. The concessions are located in the Katanga province in the southeast region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) holds a 56 percent interest, Lundin Mining (OTCPK:LUNMF) holds an indirect 24 percent equity interest and Gécamines, the Congolese state mining company, holds a 20 percent carried interest.

In May, 2016, China Molybdenum acquired Freeport’s 56 percent controlling interest in the mine for US$2.65 billion, the largest investment ever in the country. Lundin Mining was left with three options: allow the China Moly deal to proceed, supplant the offer by exercising a right to first offer or sell its own stake to China Moly (or a third party, for that matter).

In November, and after several extensions, Lundin Mining finally announced it was selling its 24 percent stake to an affiliate of Chinese private-equity firm BHR Partners for US$1.14 billion. Freeport’s sale to China Moly was expected to be completed before year’s end, whilst Lundin plans to close its sale in early 2017.

China Moly also acquired this year from Freeport a 100 percent interest in the Kisanfu exploration project located in the DRC and a 56 percent controlling interest in the Kokkola refinery in Finland (about 10 percent of the world’s refined cobalt last year). Needless to say that all that cobalt from the refinery is expected to be shipped to China, South Korea and Japan from now on.

The implications are clear. China is now leveling its game in upstream cobalt and is already a major owner of downstream assets in the DRC, embodied by Huayou Cobalt and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt. It will keep on securing cobalt mines and downstream assets for its own needs.

In November, Albert Yuma Mulimbi, head of the state-controlled Gécamines, passed on to the Financial Times his discontent of partnerships with western companies and, in particular, on the Freeport-McMoRan deal. Left with minority investments in most joint ventures (JV), Mr. Yuma believes that existing deals failed to deliver on dividends. The partnership with China Nonferrous Metal Mining. where Gécamines has a 49 percent stake, is the model he wants to generalize. One more headache for western operators…

New primary cobalt mines may come online should cobalt prices soar; however, exploration, licensing and development take time and require billions of dollars of investments. In addition,

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60 percent of the world’s cobalt reserves and resources originate in the DRC, which is riddled with child labor and exploitation.

On the demand front, and according to the Cobalt Development Institute (CDI), 58 percent of global cobalt production is already used in many diverse industrial and military applications (super alloys, catalysts, magnets, pigments…) that rely exclusively on the material. Cobalt represents a negligible part of the costs for these companies and thus they can afford to pay regardless of the price. But that is a dangerous game for battery makers. Material costs account for about 60 percent of LIB total cost and battery makers cannot take away cobalt from companies for whom the metal is an absolute requirement. Think GE and its jet engines.

A complete shift away from high-energy batteries looks hypothetical at this stage: NMC, NCA and LCO batteries provide the highest energy density as reported by Battery University, and all require cobalt. However, there has been recently efforts to produce other types of battery chemistries that do not require cobalt as stated by the CRU. Tesla has also been trying to remove cobalt from the equation and add nickel instead, according to its CTO JB Straubel.

We may well see a quick turnaround from cobalt-intensive batteries toward a validated and optimized new high-energy battery technology should it go online. And the high costs triggered by a shift away from traditional batteries might prove beneficial when opposed with the prospects a cobalt cliff. So far attempts for substituting cobalt resulted in a loss in product performance. But nothing is set in stone.

Recycling. Cobalt (as opposed to oil, for instance) is fully recyclable. Roughly 15 percent of U.S. cobalt consumption is from recycled scrap today. For many applications, the metal is used but not consumed and so can be recycled. Needless to say that recycling can help reduce the need to hunt for new sources of cobalt. In no circumstances is this a magic solution whereby 100 percent can be recycled indefinitely. Existing processes are energy-consuming and can definitely be improved. But that is also an idea to weigh in the balance.

Cobalt recycling, anyone? So much for Elon Musk and Tesla. This is not a good sign for replacing gas guzzlers. Big talkers and few resources don’t mix!

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Copper Production

From USGS report on copper production:

Domestic Production and Use: U.S. mine production of copper in 2015 decreased by 8% to about 1.25 million tons, and was valued at about $7.6 billion. Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Montana, and Michigan—in descending order of production—accounted for more than 99% of domestic mine production; copper also was recovered in Idaho and Missouri. Twenty-six mines recovered copper, 18 of which accounted for about 99% of production. Three primary smelters, 3 electrolytic and 4 fire refineries, and 15 electro winning facilities operated during 2015. Refined copper and scrap were used at about 30 brass mills, 14 rod mills, and 500 foundries and miscellaneous consumers. Copper and copper alloys products were used in building construction, 43%; electric and electronic products, 19%; transportation equipment, 19%; consumer and general products, 12%; and industrial machinery and equipment, 7%.

Copper prices collapsed along with crude oil starting in 2014. However, consumption held steady.


2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production: Mine, recoverable 1,110 1,170 1,250 1,360 1,250 Refinery: Primary 992 962 993 1,050 1,000 Secondary 37 39 47 46 50 Copper from old scrap 153 164 166 171 160 Imports for consumption: Ores and concentrates 15 6 3 >0.5 >0.5Refined 670 630 734 620 770 General imports, refined 649 628 730 614 700 Exports: Ores and concentrates 252 301 348 410 380 Refined 40 169 111 127 120 Consumption: Reported, refined 1,760 1,760 1,830 1,750 1,800 Apparent, unmanufactured 1,730 1,760 1,760 1,780 1,780 Price, average, cents per pound: Domestic producer, cathode 405.9 367.3 339.9 318.1 277.0 London Metal Exchange, high-grade 399.8 360.6 332.3 311.1 270.0 Employment, mine and mill, thousands 10.6 11.5 12.1 12.1 11.4 Net import reliance as a

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2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

percentage of apparent consumption (refined copper) 34 36 34 31 36

Recycling: Old scrap, converted to refined metal and alloys, provided 160,000 tons of copper, equivalent to 9% of apparent consumption. Purchased new scrap, derived from fabricating operations, yielded 670,000 tons of contained copper. Of the total copper recovered from scrap (including aluminum- and nickel-base scrap), brass mills recovered 79%; copper smelters, refiners, and ingot makers, 15%; and miscellaneous manufacturers, foundries, and chemical plants, 6%. Copper in all scrap contributed about 32% of the U.S. copper supply.


Unmanufactured (ore and concentrates, blister and anodes, refined, and so forth): Chile, 51%; Canada, 26%; Mexico, 16%; and other, 7%.

Refined copper accounted for 87% of unmanufactured copper imports.

World Resources: A 1998 USGS assessment estimated that 550 million tons of copper was contained in identified and undiscovered resources in the United States. A 2014 USGS global assessment of copper deposits indicated that identified resources contain about 2.1 billion tons of copper (porphyry deposits accounted for 1.8 billion tons of those resources), and undiscovered resources contained an estimated 3.5 billion tons.

Copper Recycling

From the balance web site, “The Importance of Copper Recycling Copper Recycling Provides Key Environmental and Economic Benefits”, By Rick LeBlanc, Updated August 01, 2015:

The Environmental Importance of Copper Recycling

As with other metals, there are significant environmental benefits to the recycling of copper. These include solid waste diversion, reduced energy requirements for processing, and natural resource conservation.

For example, the energy requirements of recycled copper are as much as 85 to 90 percent less than the processing of new copper from virgin ore. In terms of conservation, copper is a non-renewable resource, although only 12 percent of known reserves have been consumed. Known U.S. reserves of copper are thought to total 1.6 billion metric tons, with production concentrated in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada and Montana. About 99 percent of domestic production is generated from 20 mines.

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An emerging environmental challenge for copper is its use in the ever-increasing production of electrical products that still experience low recycling rates. This trend is changing for the better, however, through electronics recycling initiatives.

The Economic Importance of Copper Recycling

Ranking immediately behind Chile in copper production, the United States is largely self-sufficient in copper supply. The U.S. produces roughly 8 percent of the world’s copper supply. Almost half of U.S. production comes from recycled material, however.

In 2010, U.S. recyclers processed 1.8 million metric tons of copper for domestic use and export, second only to aluminum among nonferrous metals, which saw 4.6 million metric tons recycled.

Slightly over one-half or recycled copper scrap is new scrap recovery including chips and machine turnings, with the rest being old post-consumer scrap such as electrical cable, old radiators and plumbing tube.

There is still a good deal of improvement that can be made in copper recycling since copper imports significantly exceed production as shown in Figure 3, “Copper Production/Consumption and Net Trade”. From SNL Metals & Mining, “U.S. Mines to Market”, September, 2014:

There are currently 20 mines producing copper in the United States, with two mines — Bingham Canyon in Utah and Morenci in Arizona — accounting for 38 percent of the country’s output. These are relatively high cost producers.

The average cost of mining copper in the United States in the past five years has increased by 30 percent, from $1.48/lb to $1.93/lb, which compares favorably against the rest of the global industry, where costs increased by 39 percent. Nevertheless, the United States has remained a high cost producer of copper…

Costs have generally increased due to mining lower grade ore, an increase in stripping ratios (waste relative to ore) along with higher input costs. Continued investment in modern mining equipment, adoption of innovative mining and extraction techniques, and recruitment and retention of experienced personnel will be essential if the copper mining industry is to continue operating profitably.

See Figure 4, “Top U.S. Copper Mines”. Obviously, something has to be done for U.S. copper mining to compete with two of the three leading importers, Chile and Mexico. This is the same situation as aluminum. This is another example where the U.S. has to decide between lower prices for copper or jobs. The copper products producers in the U.S. will keep buying less expensive foreign supplies unless they are stopped by tariffs on copper imports.

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Gallium Production

From Wikipedia:

Gallium is a chemical element with symbol Ga and atomic number 31. It is in group 13 of the periodic table, and thus has similarities to the other metals of the group, aluminium, indium, and thallium. Gallium does not occur as a free element in nature, but as gallium(III) compounds in trace amounts in zinc ores and in bauxite. Elemental gallium is a soft, silvery blue metal at standard temperature and pressure, a brittle solid at low temperatures, and a liquid at temperatures greater than 29.76 °C (85.57 °F) (slightly above room temperature). The melting point of gallium is used as a temperature reference point. The alloy galinstan (68.5% gallium, 21.5% indium, and 10% tin) has an even lower melting point of −19 °C (−2 °F), well below the freezing point of water.

Since its discovery in 1875, gallium has been used to make alloys with low melting points. It is also used in semiconductors as a dopant in semiconductor substrates.

Gallium is predominantly used in electronics. Gallium arsenide, the primary chemical compound of gallium in electronics, is used in microwave circuits, high-speed switching circuits, and infrared circuits. Semiconductive gallium nitride and indium gallium nitride produce blue and violet light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and diode lasers. Gallium is also used in the production of artificial gadolinium gallium garnet for jewelry.

From USGS report on Gallium production:

Domestic Production and Use: No domestic primary (low-grade, unrefined) gallium has been recovered since 1987. Globally, primary gallium is recovered as a byproduct of processing bauxite and zinc ores. One company in Utah recovered and refined high-purity gallium from imported low-grade primary gallium metal and new scrap. Imports of gallium were valued at about $9 million. Gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium nitride (GaN) wafers used in integrated circuits (ICs) and optoelectronic devices accounted for approximately 75% of domestic gallium consumption. Production of trimethyl gallium and triethyl gallium, metalorganic sources of gallium used in the epitaxial layering process for the production of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), accounted for most of the remainder. About 57% of the gallium consumed was used in ICs. Optoelectronic devices, which include laser diodes, LEDs, photodetectors, and solar cells, accounted for nearly all of the remaining gallium consumption. Optoelectronic devices were used in aerospace applications, consumer goods, industrial equipment, medical equipment, and telecommunications equipment. Uses of ICs included defense applications, high-performance computers, and telecommunications equipment.

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2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production, primary — — — — —Imports for consumption 85,700 58,200 35,400 53,900 32,000Exports NA NA NA NA NAConsumption, reported 35,300 34,400 37,800 35,800 36,000 Price, yearend, dollarsper kilogram 688 529 502 363 295 Net import reliance as a percentage of reported consumption 100 100 100 100 100

Recycling: Old scrap, none. Substantial quantities of new scrap generated in the manufacture of GaAs-based devices were reprocessed to recover high-purity gallium at one facility in Utah.

Import Sources (2011–14): Germany, 35%; China, 26%; United Kingdom, 22%; Ukraine, 9%; and other, 8%.

World Resources: The average gallium content of bauxite is 50 parts per million (ppm). U.S. bauxite deposits consist mainly of sub economic that are not generally suitable for alumina production owing to their high silica content. Recovery of gallium from these deposits is therefore unlikely. Some domestic zinc ores contain as much as 50 ppm gallium and could be a significant resource, although no gallium is currently recovered from domestic ore. Gallium contained in world resources of bauxite is estimated to exceed 1 million metric tons, and a considerable quantity could be contained in world zinc resources. However, only a small percentage of the gallium in bauxite and zinc resources is potentially recoverable.

Gallium Recycling

Two companies, Eagle Metal group and Umicore, advertise for rare metals and Gallium is one of them. End-of-life recycling of Gallium is difficult due to the dissipative use of gallium. Most of the recovered gallium comes from the production residues of gallium used in the epitaxy process for making semiconductors.

Electronics recycling is going to have to increase significantly in the U.S. to recover rare metals like Gallium. From Germany’s Information Center of Ministry of Land and Resources, “Supply and Demand of Lithium and Gallium”:

Gallium is recovered both as primary production, and secondary from recycled gallium-bearing scrap, mainly compounds. Primary gallium is typically recovered at 99.9 to 99.99 % (3N, 4N), and then refined to higher purities depending on the further use. 4N gallium is used for metallurgical, chemical and solar applications. For electronic and compound semiconductor

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applications 6N (99.9999 %) to 7N (99.99999 %) purity is required. Very high purity gallium (8N) is used for molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) applications.

About 90 % of current primary gallium production is extracted from bauxite during the refining of alumina. The most commonly used process for the production of alumina from bauxite, and thus gallium is the Bayer process, named after the Austrian chemist Karl Joseph Bayer, who developed a method for supplying alumina to the textile industry in 1888 (SEECHARRAN 2010). During the process the aluminium bearing minerals in bauxite – gibbsite, boehmite and diaspore – are selectively extracted from the insoluble components Supply and Demand of Lithium and Gallium 31 by dissolving them in a solution of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) at high temperatures and high pressure. The solution contains sodium aluminate and non-dissolved bauxite residue containing iron, silicon, titanium, aluminium, and other elements in small quantities, including gallium.

Recycling of gallium is another significant source for the market. At present, no gallium is recovered from post-consumers scrap, so the wastes from the production of GaAs and GaN wafers are the most important source for secondary gallium. The fabrication of these semiconductor wafers generates about 60 % new scrap, with a gallium content ranging from 1 to 99.99 %.

No primary gallium has been recovered in the USA since 1987. There is only one company which recovers and refines gallium from imported primary gallium metal and new scrap: Molycorp Inc. is an American mining corporation headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA. It is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of rare earth and rare metal products with 25 locations across ten countries. Molycorp produces high purity gallium in 4N, 6N, 7N and MBE (8N) grades from high purity gallium arsenide scrap as well as by upgrading primary gallium from various global producers. Molycorp Blanding: Refining of gallium, both from scrap and from primary gallium takes place at its Blanding plant in Utah. In 2013 and 2014, Molycorp produced 46 t and 57 t respectively of refined gallium from primary metal, and further 13 t annually from scrap feedstock (the last includes production at its Peterborough, Canada plant; …).

Germanium Production

From Wikipedia:

Germanium is a chemical element with symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is a lustrous, hard, grayish-white metalloid in the carbon group, chemically similar to its group neighbors tin and silicon. Pure germanium is a semiconductor with an appearance similar to elemental silicon. Like silicon, germanium naturally reacts and forms complexes with oxygen in nature. Unlike silicon, it is too reactive to be found naturally on Earth in the free (elemental) state.

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Because it seldom appears in high concentration, germanium was discovered comparatively late in the history of chemistry. Germanium ranks near fiftieth in relative abundance of the elements in the Earth's crust. In 1869, Dmitri Mendeleev predicted its existence and some of its properties from its position on his periodic table, and called the element ekasilicon. Nearly two decades later, in 1886, Clemens Winkler found the new element along with silver and sulfur, in a rare mineral called argyrodite. Although the new element somewhat resembled arsenic and antimony in appearance, the combining ratios in compounds agreed with Mendeleev's predictions for a relative of silicon. Winkler named the element after his country, Germany. Today, germanium is mined primarily from sphalerite (the primary ore of zinc), though germanium is also recovered commercially from silver, lead, and copper ores.

Germanium "metal" (isolated germanium) is used as a semiconductor in transistors and various other electronic devices. Historically, the first decade of semiconductor electronics was based entirely on germanium. Today, the amount of germanium produced for semiconductor electronics is one fiftieth the amount of ultra-high purity silicon produced for the same. Presently, the major end uses are fibre-optic systems, infrared optics, solar cell applications, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Germanium compounds are also used for polymerization catalysts and have most recently found use in the production of nanowires. This element forms a large number of organometallic compounds, such as tetraethylgermane, useful in organometallic chemistry.

From USGS report on Germanium production:

Domestic Production and Use: Germanium production in the United States comes from either the processing of imported germanium compounds or the recycling of domestic industry-generated scrap. Germanium for domestic consumption also was obtained from imported germanium chemicals that were directly consumed or consumed in the production of other germanium compounds. Germanium was recovered from zinc concentrates produced at mines in Alaska and Washington and exported to Canada for processing. A zinc smelter in Clarksville, TN, produced and exported germanium leach concentrates recovered from processing zinc concentrates from its mines in Tennessee. A germanium processor in Utica, NY, produced germanium tetrachloride for optical-fiber production. A refinery in Quapaw, OK, processed scrap and imported chemicals into refined germanium and compounds for the production of fiber optics, infrared optical devices, and substrates for electronic devices. The domestic end-use distribution was estimated to be: fiber optics, 40%; infrared optics, 30%; electronics and solar applications, 20%; and other uses, 10%. Germanium was not used in polymerization catalysts in the United States. The worldwide end-use pattern for germanium was estimated to be: fiber optics, 30%; infrared optics, 20%; polymerization catalysts, 20%; electronics and solar applications, 15%; and other uses (such as phosphors, metallurgy, and chemotherapy), 15%. In 2015, estimated domestic consumption of germanium declined from that in 2014 by about 6%. Consumption for fiber optics and substrates for space-based applications increased from that in 2014, but use in infrared optics declined. Germanium-containing infrared optics are primarily for

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military use, and defense-related spending has declined during the past few years. Growth in the commercial and personal markets for thermal-imaging devices that use lenses containing germanium partially offset the decline in defense consumption.


2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production, refinery 3,000 ? ? ? ?Total imports 38,500 48,500 45,700 36,200 37,000 Total exports 5,900 15,300 12,500 12,000 12,000 Shipments from Government stockpile Excesses — — — — — Consumption, estimated 36,000 38,000 38,000 32,000 30,000Price, producer, yearend, dollars per kilogram: Zone refined 1,450 1,640 1,900 1,900 1,760 Dioxide, electronic grade 1,250 1,360 1,230 1,300 1,170Net import reliance as apercentage of estimated consumption 90 85 85 85 85

Recycling: Worldwide, about 30% of the total germanium consumed is produced from recycled materials. During the manufacture of most optical devices, more than 60% of the germanium metal used is routinely recycled as new scrap. Germanium scrap is also recovered from the window blanks in decommissioned tanks and other military vehicles.

Import Sources (2011–14): China, 63%; Belgium, 20%; Russia, 9%; Canada, 4%; and other, 4%.

World Resources: The available resources of germanium are associated with certain zinc and lead-zinc-copper sulfide ores. Substantial U.S. reserves of recoverable germanium are contained in zinc deposits in Alaska and Tennessee. Based on an analysis of zinc concentrates, U.S. reserves of zinc may contain as much as 2,500 tons of germanium. Because zinc concentrates are shipped globally and blended at smelters, however, the recoverable germanium in zinc reserves cannot be determined. On a global scale, as little as 3% of the germanium contained in zinc concentrates is recovered. Significant amounts of germanium are contained in ash and flue dust generated in the combustion of certain coals for power generation.

Germanium Recycling

Eagle Metal Group, Umicore, Novotech, and PIKA International are a few buying scrap germanium. This metal along with the other rare metals like Gallium, Indium, and Tellurium are

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going to become increasingly rare and increasingly expensive. Recycling electronics will become very popular in the future.

Gold Production

From SNL Metals & Mining, “U.S. Mines to Market”, September, 2014:

Gold, more than any other commodity, is strongly associated with the financial sector, from gold held by central banks, to its use as a financial asset by a large number of investors. It is also a vital constituent of jewelry. It is used in electronics, mobile phones, computer systems, and in a variety of high-performance and safety critical electronic systems.

Advances in gold-based nanotechnology are making contributions to diverse sectors from medicine to renewable energy. Research indicates gold nanotechnology to be an efficient and accurate method for delivering cancer treatments. Gold nanoparticles are also being used to improve the efficiency of solar cells. New research shows that gold can be used in catalytic convertors, with a more effective formulation when combined with palladium and platinum.

The pollution-prevention capacity of gold is being tested in Kentucky, with researchers using a gold and palladium catalyst to remove chlorinated compounds from water in the state. Gold could become an efficient and cost-effective tool to manage pollution resulting from industrial activities.

The United States is the fourth largest producer of gold in the world, accounting for 8.2 percent of global production in 2013. U.S. mined gold production in 2013 was estimated at 229 tons, with domestic refined production at 400 tons. Reported U.S. consumption (excluding stocks) was 160 tons, and the U.S. had a positive trade balance, with net trade reported at 450 tons.

See Figure 5, “Top U.S. Gold Mines”. From USGS report on Gold production:

Domestic Production and Use: In 2015, domestic gold mine production was estimated to be about 200 tons, 5% less than that in 2014, and the value was estimated to be about $7.6 billion. Gold was produced at fewer than 45 lode mines, at several large placer mines in Alaska, and numerous smaller placer mines (mostly in Alaska and in the Western States). About 7% of domestic gold was recovered as a byproduct of processing domestic base-metal ores, chiefly copper. The top 29 operations yielded more than 99% of the mined gold produced in the United States. Commercial-grade gold was produced at about 25 refineries. A few dozen companies, out of several thousand companies and artisans, dominated the fabrication of gold into commercial products. U.S. jewelry manufacturing was heavily concentrated in the New York, NY, and Providence, RI, areas, with lesser concentrations in California, Florida, and Texas. Estimated domestic uses were jewelry; 43%; electrical and electronics, 37%; official coins, 15%; and other, 5%.

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2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production: Mine 234 235 230 210 200 Refinery: Primary 220 222 223 203 200 Secondary (new and old scrap) 263 215 210 161 140 Imports for consumption 550 326 315 308 265 Exports 664 695 691 500 500 Consumption, reported 168 147 160 150 150 Price, dollars per troy Ounce 1,572 1,673 1,415 1,269 1,170 Employment, mine and mill, number 11,100 12,700 13,000 11,800 11,000

Recycling: In 2015, 140 tons of new and old scrap was recycled, slightly less than the reported consumption. Following the decline in price, the domestic and global supply of gold from recycling continued to decline from the high level in 2011.

Import Sources (2011–14): Mexico, 41%; Canada, 19%; Colombia, 13%; Peru, 8%; and other, 19%.

World Resources: An assessment of U.S. gold resources indicated 33,000 tons of gold in identified (15,000 tons) and undiscovered (18,000 tons) resources. Nearly one-quarter of the gold in undiscovered resources was estimated to be contained in porphyry copper deposits. The gold resources in the United States, however, are only a small portion of global gold resources

Gold Recycling

The prospects for recycling more gold are confusing at this point. The possibility is that individuals may start hording gold in the future and the U.S. gold supply may be a big problem in the future. On the other hand, individuals may start hocking every bit of gold they have as the price rises in order to get cash. The price will certainly rise tremendously when the economic crisis begins. Like silver imports, Mexico and Canada are the main sources of imports.

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Graphite Production

From Wikipedia:

Graphite (pronunciation: /ˈɡræfaɪt/), archaically referred to as plumbago, is a crystalline form of carbon, a semimetal, a native element mineral, and one of the allotropes of carbon. Graphite is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions.

There are three principal types of natural graphite, each occurring in different types of ore deposits:

Crystalline flake graphite (or flake graphite for short) occurs as isolated, flat, plate-like particles with hexagonal edges if unbroken and when broken the edges can be irregular or angular;

Amorphous graphite: very fine flake graphite is sometimes called amorphous in the trade; Lump graphite (also called vein graphite) occurs in fissure veins or fractures and appears

as massive platy intergrowths of fibrous or acicular crystalline aggregates, and is probably hydrothermal in origin.

Highly ordered pyrolytic graphite or more correctly highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) refers to graphite with an angular spread between the graphite sheets of less than 1°.

The name "graphite fiber" is also sometimes used to refer to carbon fibers or carbon fiber-reinforced polymer.

Graphite occurs in metamorphic rocks as a result of the reduction of sedimentary carbon compounds during metamorphism. It also occurs in igneous rocks and in meteorites. Minerals associated with graphite include quartz, calcite, micas and tourmaline. In meteorites it occurs with troilite and silicate minerals. Small graphitic crystals in meteoritic iron are called cliftonite.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), world production of natural graphite in 2012 was 1,100,000 tonnes, of which the following major exporters are: China (750 kt), India (150 kt), Brazil (75 kt), North Korea (30 kt) and Canada (26 kt). Graphite is not mined in the United States, but U.S. production of synthetic graphite in 2010 was 134 kt valued at $1.07 billion.

From Graphite Investing website:

But while investors are keen to take stakes in North America-focused graphite companies, the fact remains that very few companies are producing graphite there. In fact, in 2015 only two North American countries produced any graphite at all — Canada put out 30,000 MT of the metal while Mexico produced 22,000 MT. Meanwhile, the US produced none at all.

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Graphite is deemed a critical material by the US and other countries and about a century ago it was mined abundantly there, mostly in Alabama. A New York Times article states that in 1916 the country produced 10.9 million pounds of crystalline graphite, while in 1917, it put out 2,622 tons of amorphous graphite.

However, according to a report from the US Geological Survey, graphite mining in the US has long since stagnated. In fact, the metal has not been mined in the country since 1990, when United Minerals suspended operations at its graphite mine in Montana.

As a result, the US now imports all of the graphite it requires. In terms of exactly how much the country needs, another US Geological Survey report states that in 2015, 90 US firms consumed 54,400 MT of natural graphite valued at $50.7 million.

Total imports for that year stood at 65,900 MT of natural graphite — of that amount, 65 percent was fake and high-purity graphite, 34 percent was amorphous graphite and one percent was lump and chip graphite. The US’ main sources of graphite for the year were China (38 percent), Mexico (32 percent), Canada (18 percent) and Brazil (6 percent). The other 6 percent was derived from various other sources.

The US mainly used that graphite in brake linings, foundry operations, lubricants, refractory applications and steelmaking. The above statistics indicate that the US seems to be meeting its graphite needs despite the fact that it does not produce the metal.

However, the country has made clear that it’s not satisfied with the status quo, and — as mentioned — considers graphite a critical material.

Case in point: in its Strategic and Critical Materials 2015 Report on Stockpile Requirements, the US Department of Defense includes graphite on its list of shortfall materials, identifying a gross shortfall of 82,612 MT. Of the metal, the report states, “[o]ne key sub-segment of the market for graphite is in high demand whilst supply adequacy is uncertain.” Specifically, it identifies lithium-ion batteries and expandable graphite as applications that require “top quality flake graphite.”

What’s more the report appears to recognize that the US may not always be able to get its graphite from the sources it currently uses. “Demand for top quality natural fake graphite has led to recent exploration activity mainly in Canada but exploration often fails to result in production,” it states.

And while the report does note that synthetic graphite and organic composites could be used as substitutes for natural graphite, it cites ”increased cost” and the lengthy production process for synthetic graphite as issues with both of those plans.

It’s clear that while graphite mining in the US is currently not happening, the country recognizes that it’s something that needs to occur. In that vein, there are a number graphite companies targeting graphite mining in the US.

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For example, Graphite One Resources (TSXV:GPH) is focused on the Graphite Creek deposit, which it bills as North America’s largest known flake graphite deposit. Graphite Creek is located in Alaska, and consist of 129 mineral claims covering 6,799 hectares. According to Graphite One, it “controls all prospective lands with known graphite mineralization in the region.”

Alabama Graphite (TSXV:ALP) is another company aiming to bring back graphite mining in the US. It holds two fake graphite projects in Alabama: Coosa and Bama. Respectively, they are in Coosa County and Chilton County, and according to the company both are “within the heart of a previously producing region.”

From USGS report on Graphite production:

Domestic Production and Use: Although natural graphite was not produced in the United States in 2015, approximately 90 U.S. firms, primarily in the Northeastern and Great Lakes regions, consumed 54,400 tons valued at $50.7 million. The major uses of natural graphite in 2015 were brake linings, foundry operations, lubricants, refractory applications, and steelmaking. During 2015, U.S. natural graphite imports were 65,900 tons, which were 65% flake and high-purity, 34% amorphous graphite, and 1% lump and chip.

Thousands Metric Tons (Production and Consumption):

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production, mine — — — — — Imports for consumption 72 57 61 64 66 Exports 6 6 9 12 12 Consumption, apparent 65 50 52 53 54 Price, imports (average dollars per ton at foreign ports): Flake 1,180 1,370 1,330 1,270 1,240 Lump and chip(Sri Lankan) 1,820 1,960 1,720 1,870 1,890 Amorphous 301 339 375 360 370 Net import reliance as a percentage of apparent consumption 100 100 100 100 100

Recycling: Refractory brick and linings, alumina-graphite refractories for continuous metal castings, magnesia-graphite refractory brick for basic oxygen and electric arc furnaces, and insulation brick were the leading sources of recycled graphite products. The market for recycled refractory graphite material is growing, with material being reused in products such as brake linings and thermal insulation.

Recovering high-quality flake graphite from steelmaking kish, a mixture of graphite, desulfurization slag, and iron, is technically feasible, but not practiced at the present time

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because it is not economical. The abundance of graphite in the world market inhibits increased recycling efforts. Information on the quantity and value of recycled graphite is not available.

Import Sources (2011–14): China, 38%; Mexico, 32%; Canada, 18%; Brazil, 6%; and other, 6%.

World Resources: Domestic resources of graphite are relatively small, but the rest of the world’s inferred resources exceed 800 million tons of recoverable graphite.

Graphite Recycling

From Graphite Sales website:

Graphite Sales, Inc. is America's largest recycler of graphite and carbon materials. We commenced business in 1971 by purchasing broken graphite electrodes from steel mills that employed electric arc furnaces and re-machining them into smaller usable sizes. Today we recycle all types of graphite and carbon materials. Graphite Sales, Inc. segregates all materials by chemistry and then re-processes by machining into specific components or crushing and sizing into useful granular products for the steel and foundry industries. We now purchase used synthetic graphite from all industries that utilize graphite and carbon raw materials in their processes.

From Weaver Industries website:

Weaver Industries has been leading the way in reusing and recycling scrap material. We routinely buy and recycle all grades, shapes and sizes of non-contaminated graphite, broken or unwanted electrodes, and breast block material.

You are going to see a lot more of these recycle companies that have been laboring in the recycle market for years and sometimes barely staying in business.

Indium Production

From Wikipedia:

Indium is a chemical element with symbol In and atomic number 49. It is a post-transition metal that makes up 0.21 parts per million of the Earth's crust. Very soft and malleable, Indium has a melting point higher than sodium and gallium, but lower than lithium and tin. Chemically, indium is similar to gallium and thallium, and it is largely intermediate between the two in terms of its properties. Indium was discovered in 1863 by Ferdinand Reich and Hieronymous Theodor Richter by spectroscopic methods. They named it for the indigo blue line in its spectrum. Indium was isolated the next year.

Indium is a minor component in zinc sulfide ores and is produced as a byproduct of zinc refinement. It is most notably used in the semiconductor industry, in low-melting-point

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metal alloys such as solders, in soft-metal high-vacuum seals, and in the production of transparent conductive coatings of indium tin oxide (ITO) on glass. Indium has no biological role, though its compounds are somewhat toxic when injected into the bloodstream. Most occupational exposure is through ingestion, from which indium compounds are not absorbed well, and inhalation, from which they are moderately absorbed.

Indium, Gallium, and Germanium are all byproducts of zinc production. The only U.S. smelter that could recover Indium is the Nyrstar Clarksville, Tennessee plant, but they don’t at present. I doubt if it would ever be economical to do so in the U.S.. We’ll see. So it is imports from Canada, China, Belgium (Nyrstar), and Korea for now.

From USGS report on Indium production:

Domestic Production and Use: Indium was not recovered from ores in the United States in 2015. Several companies produced indium products—including alloys, compounds, high-purity metal, and solders—from imported indium metal. Production of indium tin oxide (ITO) continued to account for most of global indium consumption. ITO thin-film coatings were primarily used for electrical conductive purposes in a variety of flat-panel displays—most commonly liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Other indium end uses included alloys and solders, compounds, electrical components and semiconductors, and research. Based on an average of recent annual import levels, estimated domestic consumption of refined indium was 124 tons in 2015. The estimated value of refined indium consumed domestically in 2015, based on the average New York dealer price, was about $67 million.


2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production, refinery — — — — — Imports for consumption 146 109 97 123 145 Exports NA NA NA NA NA Price, annual average, dollars per kilogram: New York dealer 685 540 570 705 540Free market NA NA NA NA 460 U.S. producer 720 650 615 735 NA 99.99% c.i.f. Japan 680 510 575 700 NA Net import reliance as apercentage of estimated consumption 100 100 100 100 100

Recycling: Data on the quantity of secondary indium recovered from scrap were not available. Indium is most commonly recovered from ITO scrap in Japan and the Republic of Korea. A small quantity of scrap was recycled domestically.

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Import Sources (2011–14): Canada, 21%; China, 16%; Belgium, 15%; Republic of Korea, 10%; and other, 38%.

World Resources: Indium is most commonly recovered from the zinc-sulfide ore mineral sphalerite. The indium content of zinc deposits from which it is recovered ranges from less than 1 part per million to 100 parts per million. Although the geochemical properties of indium are such that it occurs in trace amounts in other base-metal sulfides— particularly chalcopyrite and stannite—most deposits of these metals are sub economic for indium.

Indium Recycling

Believe it or not, there is an Indium Corporation in the U.S., headquarters in Clinton, N.Y. From their website:

Indium Corporation is a premier materials supplier to the global electronics, semiconductor, thin film, thermal management, and solar markets. Products include solders, and fluxes; brazes; thermal interface materials; sputtering targets; indium, gallium, germanium, and tin metals and inorganic compounds; and NanoFoil®. Founded in 1934, Indium has global technical support and factories located in China, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the USA.

You see, everything is being recycled, and much more will be recycled in the future.

Iridium Production

Iridium is a chemical element with symbol Ir and atomic number 77. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, iridium is generally credited with being the second densest element (after osmium). It is also the most corrosion-resistant metal, even at temperatures as high as 2000 °C. Although only certain molten salts and halogens are corrosive to solid iridium, finely divided iridium dust is much more reactive and can be flammable.

Iridium was discovered in 1803 among insoluble impurities in natural platinum. Smithson Tennant, the primary discoverer, named iridium for the Greek goddess Iris, personification of the rainbow, because of the striking and diverse colors of its salts. Iridium is one of the rarest elements in Earth's crust, with annual production and consumption of only three tonnes. 192Ir and 193Ir are the only two naturally occurring isotopes of iridium, as well as the only stable isotopes; the latter is the more abundant of the two.

The most important iridium compounds in use are the salts and acids it forms with chlorine, though iridium also forms a number of organometallic compounds used in industrial catalysis, and in research. Iridium metal is employed when high corrosion resistance at high temperatures is needed, as in high-performance spark plugs, crucibles for recrystallization of semiconductors at high temperatures, and electrodes for the production of chlorine in the chloralkali process. Iridium radioisotopes are used in some radioisotope thermoelectric generators.

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Iridium is one of the Platinum Group metals. Go to Part III for the USGS report. Iridium is one of the metals the DOD stockpiles.

Iridium Recycling

Again Eagle Metal Group and Umicore advertise for iridium scrap. There are others that can be found by searching the internet. The U.S. Department of Defense certainly considers the metal important. Of course, their stockpile is insignificant in the long run. The question is, what is the long run? My answer is not very long, especially if you are younger than 50.

Iron Ore Production

Iron ore is the most important element in manufacturing. The United States is in good shape in conjunction with Canadian production for iron ore supplies. See Figure 8, “Iron Ore Production/Consumption and Net Trade”. The U.S. is a net exporter of iron ore.

From USGS report on Iron Ore:

Domestic Production and Use: In 2015, mines in Michigan and Minnesota shipped 98% of the usable iron ore products in the United States—the remaining 2% of domestic iron ore was produced for nonsteel end uses—with an estimated value of $3.8 billion. Twelve iron ore mines (nine open pits and three reclamation operations) and three iron metallic plants, including direct-reduced iron (DRI) and iron nugget producers, operated during the year to supply steelmaking raw materials. Each open pit mine site included a concentration plant and pelletizing plant. A stand-alone pelletizing plant in Indiana used iron ore fines from reclamation plants in Minnesota. The United States was estimated to have produced and consumed 2.5% of the world’s iron ore output.

Million Metric Tons (Production and Consumption)

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production: Production Iron ore 54.7 54.0 52.0 55.9 42.5 Iron metallics 0.4 0.4 0.5 1.9 2.5Shipments 55.6 52.9 52.7 55.9 44.9 Imports for consumption 5.3 5.2 3.2 5.1 4.2 Exports 11.1 11.2 11.0 12.1 8.1 Consumption: Reported (ore and total agglomerate) 46.3 48.8 51.7 48.9 37.9 Apparent 49.1 48.1 45.0 45.9 39.4 Value, U.S. dollars per metric ton 99.45 98.16 96.88 92.78 84.00 Employment, Numbers 5,270 5,420 5,644 6,273 4,850

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The recent economic slowdown has decreased the demand for iron ore in the world, especially in China.

Import Sources (2011–14): Canada, 56%; Brazil, 35%; Sweden, 3%; Argentina, 2%; and other, 4%.

World Resources: U.S. resources are estimated to be 110 billion tons of iron ore containing about 27 billion tons of iron. U.S. resources are mainly low-grade taconite-type ores from the Lake Superior district that require beneficiation and agglomeration prior to commercial use. World resources are estimated to be greater than 800 billion tons of crude ore containing more than 230 billion tons of iron.

Substitutes: The only source of primary iron is iron ore, used directly as direct-shipping ore or converted to briquettes, concentrates, DRI, iron nuggets, pellets, or sinter. At some blast furnace operations, ferrous scrap may constitute as much as 7% of the blast furnace feedstock. DRI, iron nuggets, and scrap are extensively used for steelmaking in electric arc furnaces and in iron and steel foundries, but scrap availability can be limited. Technological advancements have been made, which allow hematite to be recovered from tailings basins and pelletized.

Ferrous Metal Recycling

From Wikipedia:

In the United States, steel containers, cans, automobiles, appliances, and construction materials contribute the greatest weight of recycled materials. For example, in 2008, more than 97% of structural steel and 106% of automobiles were recycled…

More than 80 million tons of steel are recycled each year in North America. For every ton of steel recycled, 2500 pounds of iron ore, 1400 pounds of coal, and 120 pounds of limestone are conserved. Steel is recycled more than all other materials combined. The stable metallurgical properties of steel allow it to be recycled over and over again, with no degradation in performance.

Overall recycling rates of steel have been increasing since 2001. See Figure 6, “Overall Steel Recycling Rate”, and Figure 7, “Ferrous Scrap Metal Melting Facility Map”. As the oil-gas age winds down in the U.S., the fleet of large gas guzzling automobiles could become dinosaurs and an increasing source of recycled steel, aluminum, and plastics.

Lead Production

Lead is a bad thing, isn’t it? Yes, when it’s in paint and your drinking water. However, it’s still in your automobile battery. From USGS report on Lead production:

Domestic Production and Use: Six lead mines in Missouri, plus five mines in Alaska, Idaho, and Washington that produced lead as a coproduct, accounted for all domestic lead mine

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production. The value of the lead in concentrates mined in 2015, based on the average North American Market price for refined lead, was about $790 million. The 11 secondary lead refineries in 10 States that had capacities of at least 30,000 tons per year of refined lead accounted for more than 95% of secondary lead production in 2015. Lead was consumed at more than 70 manufacturing plants. The lead-acid battery industry accounted for about 90% of reported U.S. lead consumption during 2015. Lead-acid batteries were primarily used as starting-lighting-ignition (SLI) batteries for automobiles and trucks, as industrial-type batteries for standby power for computer and telecommunications networks, and for motive power for forklifts. During the first 9 months of 2015, 94.1 million lead-acid automotive batteries were shipped by North American producers, a slight increase from those shipped in the same period of 2014.


2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Production: Mine, lead in concentrates 342 345 340 379 385 Primary refinery 118 111 114 — — Secondary refinery, old scrap 1,130 1,110 1,150 1,130 1,120 Imports for consumption: Lead in concentrates >0.5 >0.5 >0.5 >0.5 >0.5 Refined metal, wrought and unwrought 316 351 487 596 550 Exports: Lead in concentrates 223 214 210 356 350 Refined metal, wrought and unwrought 47 53 48 60 50 Consumption: Reported 1,410 1,350 1,390 1,510 1,470 Apparent 1,540 1,500 1,700 1,670 1,620 Price, average, centsper pound: North American Producer 122 114 115 NA NA North American Market NA NA 110 106 93 London Metal Exchange 109 93.5 97.2 95.0 83.0 Employment: Mine and mill (average), number 1,700 1,660 1,690 1,730 1,730 Primary smelter, refineries 290 290 290 — — Secondary smelters, refineries 2,000 2,000 2,000 1,800 1,800 Net import reliance4 as a percentage of

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apparent consumption, refined lead 19 18 26 32 31

Recycling: In 2015, about 1.12 million tons of secondary lead was produced, an amount equivalent to 69% of apparent domestic consumption. Nearly all secondary lead was recovered from old (post-consumer) scrap.

Import Sources (2011–14): Metal, wrought and unwrought: Canada, 57%; Mexico, 20%; Peru, 5%; Australia and Kazakhstan, 4% each; and other, 10%.

World Resources: Identified world lead resources total more than 2 billion tons. In recent years, significant lead resources have been identified in association with zinc and (or) silver or copper deposits in Australia, China, Ireland, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Russia, and the United States (Alaska).

There are no lead smelters remaining in the United States. The last one owned by St. Joseph in Herculaneum, Missouri, was closed in December 2013.

Lead Recycling

Most of the lead produced comes from secondary sources. Lead scrap includes lead-acid batteries, cable coverings, pipes, sheets and lead coated, or terne bearing, metals. Solder, product waste and dross may also be recovered for its small lead content. Most secondary lead is used in batteries. So the lead industry is mostly produce for batteries and recover from old batteries.

Aqua Metals is trying a new recycling process that would eliminate lead smelting. From Waste360 website:

Technology company Aqua Metals launched a lead-acid battery recycling plant in McCarran, Nev. today that the Alameda, Calif.-based company says will revolutionize how lead from batteries is processed. The company says its proprietary technology, AquaRefining, is a cheaper, cleaner alternative to its long-standing forerunner, smelting. It will be available to recyclers as well as battery manufacturers who will have two options: purchasing the commodity, or buying into the technology to launch their own plants…

This new recovery method has been shown to generate less air emissions than smelting, which produces greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Smelting emits sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain. And it churns out toxins like arsenic, lead, mercury and carbon dioxide, which are emitted into the air and leach into soil and water.

Aqua Metals also says its process will cut transportation costs since operations can be co-located with battery manufacturers and distributors whereas the alternative is shipping the wasted material to smelters. The technology eliminates the need to run energy-guzzling glass

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furnaces. Environmental permitting will be less involved and cheaper. And, says Cotton, you can scale down manufacturing to meet demand as it is not done via batch processing.

So lead recycling is now in the how can we reduce greenhouse emissions phase, which would eventually eliminate all imports.

Lithium Production

From Wikipedia:

Lithium (from Greek: λίθος lithos, "stone") is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silver-white metal belonging to the alkali metal group of chemical elements. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive and flammable. For this reason, it is typically stored in mineral oil. When cut open, it exhibits a metallic luster, but contact with moist air corrodes the surface quickly to a dull silvery gray, then black tarnish. Because of its high reactivity, lithium never occurs freely in nature, and instead, appears only in compounds, which are usually ionic. Lithium occurs in a number of pegmatitic minerals, but due to its solubility as an ion, is present in ocean water and is commonly obtained from brines and clays. On a commercial scale, lithium is isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride.

The nucleus of the lithium atom verges on instability, since the two stable lithium isotopes found in nature have among the lowest binding energies per nucleon of all stable nuclides. Because of its relative nuclear instability, lithium is less common in the solar system than 25 of the first 32 chemical elements even though the nuclei are very light in atomic weight. For related reasons, lithium has important links to nuclear physics. The transmutation of lithium atoms to helium in 1932 was the first fully man-made nuclear reaction, and lithium-6 deuteride serves as a fusion fuel in staged thermonuclear weapons.

Lithium and its compounds have several industrial applications, including heat-resistant glass and ceramics, lithium grease lubricants, flux additives for iron, steel and aluminium production, lithium batteries, and lithium-ion batteries. These uses consume more than three quarters of lithium production.

From USGS report on Lithium production:

Domestic Production and Use: The only lithium mine operating in the United States was a brine operation in Nevada. Two companies produced a large array of downstream lithium compounds in the United States from domestic or imported lithium carbonate, lithium chloride, and lithium hydroxide. Domestic production was not published to protect proprietary data.

Although lithium markets vary by location, global end-use markets are estimated as follows: batteries, 35%; ceramics and glass, 32%; lubricating greases, 9%; air treatment and continuous

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casting mold flux powders, 5% each; polymer production, 4%; primary aluminum production, 1%; and other uses, 9%. Lithium consumption for batteries has increased significantly in recent years because rechargeable lithium batteries are used extensively in the growing market for portable electronic devices and increasingly are used in electric tools, electric vehicles, and grid storage applications. Lithium minerals were used directly as ore concentrates in ceramics and glass applications worldwide.


2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production ? ? 870 ? ? Imports for consumption 2,850 2,760 2,210 2,120 2,980 Exports 1,310 1,300 1,230 1,420 1,770 Consumption: Apparent ? ? 1,800 ? ? Estimated 2,000 2,000 1,800 2,000 2,000 Price, annual average, battery-grade lithium carbonate, dollars per metric ton 5,180 6,060 6,800 6,690 6,400 Employment, mine and mill, number 70 70 70 70 70 Net import reliance as a percentage of apparent consumption >80% >60% >50% >50% >60%

Recycling: Historically, lithium recycling has been insignificant but has increased steadily owing to the growth in consumption of lithium batteries. One U.S. company has recycled lithium metal and lithium-ion batteries since 1992 at its facility in British Columbia, Canada. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded the company $9.5 million to construct the first U.S. recycling facility for lithium-ion vehicle batteries. Construction neared completion in 2015.

Import Sources (2011–14): Chile, 58%; Argentina, 38%; China, 3%; and other, 1%.

World Resources: Identified lithium resources in the United States have been revised to 6.7 million tons and total approximately 34 million tons in other countries. Identified lithium resources in Bolivia and Chile are 9 million tons and more than 7.5 million tons, respectively. Identified lithium resources in major producing countries are: Argentina, 6.5 million tons; Australia, 1.7 million tons; and China, 5.1 million tons. In addition, Canada, Congo (Kinshasa), Russia, and Serbia have resources of approximately 1 million tons each. Identified lithium resources in Brazil and Mexico are180,000 tons each, and Austria has 130,000 tons.

Lithium Recycling

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From CNBC, “The New OPEC: Who will supply the lithium to run the future’s electric cars?”, Justina Crabtree, December 30, 2016:

Volkswagen Chairman Herbert Deiss told CNBC at the Paris Motor Show in November that "electric mobility will take off by 2020," while Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in May his aim for annual production to be at 1 million vehicles by this same year.

"Lithium is a pretty abundant element naturally," Jamie Speirs, a fellow in energy analysis and policy at Imperial College London, told CNBC via telephone. But, though worldwide production of the metal is increasing year on year, he detailed that "the current supply chain will not match up with lithium demand by, say, 2040."

The onus is now on rechargeable batteries – rather than petrol – to propel the automotive industry into its proposed greener future, with lithium ion cells being the prevailing form of this technology.

There are two problems. One is the cost of lithium as all these electric cars are manufactured. The other is the supply of cobalt. First consider the future supply of cobalt. From Industrial minerals website, “The Role of Cobalt in Battery Supply, by Cameron Perks, September 16, 2016:

The importance of cobalt to many lithium battery chemistries is sometimes forgotten, with industry news tending to focus solely on lithium itself. Delegates at the Battery Metals Conference in Beijing last week took a closer look at the battery supply chain.

While elements such as nickel, lithium and manganese have important roles to play in various popular battery chemistries, cobalt is the critical mineral concerning many industry experts.

The reason for this is the nature of its source, with over 50% of the world’s supply mined in conflict-stricken Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

With rechargeable battery electrodes being the primary use for cobalt, recent instability in the DRC has been unnerving.

Last week there were several reports of violent outbreaks and on Friday the border crossing between DRC and Zambia was closed for 24 hours by the Zambians to prevent trouble spilling over into the country.

To add to the already concerning story, Mo Ke, chief analyst at RealLi Research, said at the 2016 Argus Battery Metals Conference last week in Beijing that there would "probably be a shortage next year", thanks to a combination of increasing demand and restricted supply. Some commentators, such as Ian Pringle, managing director of Bayrock Materials and Pacific Basin Bluestone, thinks that this is an understatement.

Next is the future price of lithium. Again from CNBC, “The New OPEC: Who will supply the lithium to run the future’s electric cars?”:

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China's lithium reserves are an estimated 3.2 million metric tons, according to the USGS in January 2016, meaning that the superpower ranks among those with the largest domestic supply. Most resources are located in its Qinghai and Tibet regions.

Perhaps in response to how much the market has grown – and where it may progress to in coming years – the price of Chinese battery grade lithium is currently well over $20,000/ton, compared to $7,000/ton in mid-2015, according to mining analysis firm CRU.

"China has a stranglehold on lithium production," Speirs said. "Well organized and professionally run mining companies" make this enterprise profitable, he added.

Argentina, Bolivia and Chile form a troika of lithium producers in Latin America, otherwise known as the "lithium belt" or "lithium triangle." Could these countries spearhead a second commodity boom in the region?

"Latin American countries once produced lithium from ore, as with other metals, but can now do so from brine, which is cheaper," Speirs explained. Contributing to the metal's profitability, CRU added that for Latin America, "industrial-grade lithium carbonate contract prices increased by around 40% in 2016 due to strong demand growth and the ongoing supply deficit. Battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide prices surged higher."

But, structural problems could hamper this particular market from taking off.

According to the USGC in January of this year, Australia's estimated reserves sit at 1.5 million metric tons. By way of contextualizing this figure, CRU said that "in 2015, Australia was the largest producer of lithium and accounted for around 40% of global lithium supply."

It added that lithium production capacity will increase, meaning that the country is expected to maintain its position as one of the largest lithium producers in the long term.

Location is key for Australia, as CRU explained that the country enjoys investment from "downstream players such as battery manufacturers in Asian countries." Considering that lithium is not currently traded on any major commodities or futures exchanges, shoring up future supply is crucial.

Where is the U.S. in this race? When it comes to mining relatively rare minerals, we are usually far back in the race. Retriev Technologies, formerly Toxco, has a battery recycling operation in Lancaster, Ohio that is supposed to be “the future home to the advanced large format battery recycling lines, which are being built-out using $9.5 million in matching funds awarded by the Department of Energy to promote sustainable hybrid and EV batteries.”

We will see how that works, but if electric cars are to be any substantial part of the future, than lithium-ion battery recycling has to grow as fast.

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Magnesium Production

Magnesium is a chemical element with symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray solid which bears a close physical resemblance to the other five elements in the second column (Group 2, or alkaline earth metals) of the periodic table: all Group 2 elements have the same electron configuration in the outer electron shell and a similar crystal structure.

Magnesium is the ninth most abundant element in the universe. It is produced in large, aging stars from the sequential addition of three helium nuclei to a carbon nucleus. When such stars explode as supernovas, much of the magnesium is expelled into the interstellar medium where it may recycle into new star systems. Magnesium is the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and the fourth most common element in the Earth (after iron, oxygen and silicon), making up 13% of the planet's mass and a large fraction of the planet's mantle. It is the third most abundant element dissolved in seawater, after sodium and chlorine.

Magnesium occurs naturally only in combination with other elements, where it invariably has a +2 oxidation state. The free element (metal) can be produced artificially, and is highly reactive (though in the atmosphere, it is soon coated in a thin layer of oxide that partly inhibits reactivity — see passivation). The free metal burns with a characteristic brilliant-white light. The metal is now obtained mainly by electrolysis of magnesium salts obtained from brine, and is used primarily as a component in aluminium-magnesium alloys, sometimes called magnalium or magnelium. Magnesium is less dense than aluminium, and the alloy is prized for its combination of lightness and strength.

Magnesium is the eleventh most abundant element by mass in the human body and is essential to all cells and some 300 enzymes. Magnesium ions interact with polyphosphate compounds such as ATP, DNA, and RNA. Hundreds of enzymes require magnesium ions to function. Magnesium compounds are used medicinally as common laxatives, antacids (e.g., milk of magnesia), and to stabilize abnormal nerve excitation or blood vessel spasm in such conditions as eclampsia.

Great, milk of magnesia is not what the DOD is interested in. They are interested in magnesium and magnesium-aluminum powders. From Magnesium Elektron website:

For over 70 years, Magnesium Elektron Powders has been a reliable supplier of magnesium-based powders for military applications. The Company’s Reade Manufacturing and Hart Metals plants are designated as “Critical Suppliers” by the U.S. DoD.

Magnesium powders are widely used in the manufacture of energetic devices for the protection of all military aircrafts and helicopters. Examples of such pyrotechnic devices includes:

Infrared Counter-Measure Flares Illuminating Flares

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Marker Flares Tracer Rounds Explosion Simulators

From USGS report on Magnesium production:

Domestic Production and Use: Seawater and natural brines accounted for about 63% of U.S. magnesium compounds production in 2015. The value of production of magnesium compounds, excluding dead-burned magnesia, was $137 million. Magnesium oxide and other compounds were recovered from seawater by one company in California and another company in Delaware; from well brines by one company in Michigan; and from lake brines by two companies in Utah. Magnesite was mined by one company in Nevada. One company in Washington processed stockpiled olivine that was previously mined. About 54% of the magnesium compounds consumed in the United States were used in agricultural, chemical, construction, environmental, and industrial applications in the form of caustic-calcined magnesia, magnesium chloride, magnesium hydroxide, and magnesium sulfates. The remaining 46% was used for refractories in the form of dead-burned magnesia, fused magnesia, and olivine.


2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production 306 244 297 288 295 Imports for consumption 316 260 230 258 265Exports 20 19 21 23 30 Consumption, apparent 602 485 506 523 520 Employment, plantnumber 300 275 250 250 260Net import reliance as apercentage of apparentconsumption 49 50 41 45 43

Recycling: Some magnesia-based refractories are recycled, either for reuse as refractory material or for use as construction aggregate.

Import Sources (2011–14): China, 54%; Brazil, 14%; Canada, 9%; Australia, 6%; and other, 17%.

World Resources: Resources from which magnesium compounds can be recovered range from large to virtually unlimited and are globally widespread. Identified world magnesite and brucite resources total 12 billion tons and several million tons, respectively. Resources of dolomite, forsterite, magnesium-bearing evaporite minerals, and magnesia-bearing brines are estimated to constitute a resource of billions of tons. Magnesium hydroxide can be recovered from seawater.

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Magnesium Recycling

From Advanced Magnesium Alloys Corporation website:

Advanced Magnesium Alloys Corporation (AMACOR) is the largest magnesium recycling facility in the world. We are serving our customers in the die casting and aluminum industries with top quality magnesium scrap recycling and alloy ingot supply.

The annual production capacity of the plant is approximately 50,000 MT. The AMACOR plant is strategically located in Anderson, Indiana, U.S.A., close to the heart of the die casting industry in North America.

The plant is highly automated and utilizes a unique process that incorporates a number of features:

complete traceability of material in process specific process controls of weights and temperatures full scale laboratory located on the production floor bar code inventory system fully integrated cost management system

Across the border in Canada from Magnesium Tecnologie Recycles website:

The company Magnesium Tecnologie Recycles Inc. (MTR) is the largest magnesium recycling company in North America. These ingots are of high purity and sizes that adjusts to each customer, it is with a new technology (MTR) can be recycled all grades of magnesium and recovery rates are very raising for these customer / provider.

We have a large quantity of magnesium ingots, AM50, AM60, AZ91, AZ92, AZ31, AZ61, AZ40, magnesium mixed AM60/AZ91 and more.

MagOne, a Canadian technology, processing, and production company bought a 50% share in MTR in September 2016. From MagOne press release:

Mag One Products Inc. is a technology, processing and production company, that aims to be the diamond standard in the Magnesium (Mg) market by concentrating on three initial projects: I. Magnesium-based structural insulated sheathing panels; II. production of MgO, Mg(OH)2 and other saleable co-products, byproducts and compounds; and III. production of 99.9% pure magnesium metal at the Company’s ore and manufacturing plant site in southern Quebec, Canada. Mag One’s advantages are its proprietary patent(s) pending technology, modular processing plant expansion concept and the fact that it has secured 50 Million tonnes of already mined, ongrade tailings which on average, contain 22% Mg (or 11 Million tonnes of Mg Metal) and pays only $1.00/tonne, as it is used. This is sufficient ore for over 100 years of production at the targeted production levels of the Mg products.

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I believe there will be much more interest in magnesium recycling in the future.

Manganese Production

From Geology.com, August, 2014:

Manganese is a silver metallic element with an atomic number of 25 and a chemical symbol of Mn. It is not found as an element in nature. It occurs in many minerals such as manganite, purpurite, rhodonite, rhodochrosite, and pyrolusite. It is also found in many mineraloids such as psilomelane and wad…

Put in simplest terms — you can’t make steel without manganese. Domestic consumption of manganese is about 500,000 metric tons each year, predominantly by the steel industry. The United States is totally reliant on imports for this amount of manganese.

Manganese constitutes roughly 0.1 percent of the Earth’s crust, making it the 12th most abundant element. Its early use was mainly in pigments and oxidants in chemical processes. The significance of manganese to human societies exploded with the development of modern steelmaking technology in the 1860s. Manganese is essential and irreplaceable in steelmaking, and its global mining industry is dominated by just a few nations. It is therefore considered to be one of the most critical mineral commodities for the United States.

As much as 90 percent of manganese consumption, both in the United States and globally, is accounted for by the steel industry. Manganese removes oxygen and sulfur when iron ore (an iron and oxygen compound) is converted into iron. It also is an essential alloy that helps convert iron into steel.

As an alloy, it decreases the brittleness of steel and imparts strength. The amount of manganese used per ton of steel is rather small, ranging from 6 to 9 kilograms. About 30 percent of that is used during refinement of iron ore, and the remaining 70 percent is used as an alloy in the final steel product.

Other Uses of Manganese

Manganese is used also as an alloy with metals such as aluminum and copper. Important nonmetallurgical uses include battery cathodes, soft ferrites used in electronics, micronutrients in fertilizers, micronutrients in animal feed, water treatment chemicals, colorant for automobile undercoating, bricks, frits, glass, textiles, and tiles. The product “manganese violet” is used for the coloration of plastics, powder coatings, artist glazes, and cosmetics.

Nearly all manganese ores are beneficiated near the mine sites to improve the manganese grade before further processing. Most also are smelted to form the alloys ferromanganese and silicomanganese. It is these alloys, rather than manganese ore itself, which are used in most metallurgical applications.

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Manganese Supply and Demand

Most of the world's manganese ore is produced by a few countries that include South Africa, Australia, China, and Gabon. Ninety percent of proven manganese reserves are also in these four countries, plus Brazil and Ukraine.

The United States has no manganese reserves, as is the case for many other industrialized countries, especially in Europe. All manganese ore consumed in the United States is imported from sources that include Gabon, Australia, South Africa, and Brazil.

Although there are manganese ferroalloy and manganese chemical producers in the United States, the country still imports large amounts of manganese alloys, chemicals, and metal to meet its consumption needs.

Important amounts of ferromanganese imports are from South Africa, China, Ukraine, and the Republic of Korea. Silicomanganese is imported from South Africa, Georgia, Norway, and Australia. Demand for manganese historically closely follows steel production and is expected to do so in the future.

Ensuring a Domestic Manganese Supply

Although the total reserves of the world are adequate to meet foreseeable demand, there has long been a concern in the United States, because of its total import reliance for manganese ore, for a continued manganese supply in light of possible political or military disruptions of production or supply chains.

Although there are large resources of manganese-enriched rock in the United States, mostly in Maine and Minnesota, their manganese content is substantially below manganese ores readily available from other parts of the world, so they are presently uneconomic to mine.

Globally, there is no shortage of manganese ore. Land-based manganese deposits are dominated by the great Kalahari manganese district of South Africa, which accounts for roughly 70 percent of known manganese resources of the world (reserves plus identified material that has yet to be fully proven to be economic). As a result, South Africa is expected to continue to play a dominant role in global manganese supply well into the future.

Seabed Manganese Mining

Should deep seabed mining become economic, the sources of manganese ore could significantly shift from land to ocean. The estimated manganese nodule resource dwarfs land-based resources and could greatly diversify worldwide manganese sources. Much of the resource is in international waters. Substantial seabed manganese resources also occur within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and are entirely under United States jurisdiction.

From USGS report on manganese production:

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Domestic Production and Use: Manganese ore containing 20% or more manganese has not been produced domestically since 1970. Manganese ore was consumed mainly by eight firms with plants principally in the East and Midwest. Most ore consumption was related to steel production, either directly in pig iron manufacture or indirectly through upgrading the ore to ferroalloys. Additional quantities of ore were used for such nonmetallurgical purposes as production of dry cell batteries, in plant fertilizers and animal feed, and as a brick colorant. Manganese ferroalloys were produced at two smelters. Construction, machinery, and transportation end uses accounted for about 33%, 13%, and 10%, respectively, of manganese consumption. Most of the rest went to a variety of other iron and steel applications. In 2015, the value of domestic consumption, estimated from foreign trade data, was about $950 million.


2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production, mine — — — — — Imports for consumption: Manganese ore 552 506 549 396 430 Ferromanganese 348 401 331 364 330 Silicomanganese 348 348 329 444 340 Exports: Manganese ore 1 2 1 1 1 Ferromanganese 5 5 2 2 3 Silicomanganese 8 6 6 3 1 Shipments from Government stockpile excesses: Manganese ore 75 — — — — Ferromanganese 10 6 1 18 36 Consumption, reported: Manganese ore 532 538 523 551 530 Ferromanganese 303 382 368 360 330 Silicomanganese 106 150 152 146 130 Consumption, apparent, manganese 699 843 794 852 750 Price, average, 46% to 48% Mn metallurgical ore, dollars per metric ton unit, contained Mn: Cost, insurance, and freight (c.i.f.), U.S. ports 6.67 4.97 4.61 4.49 3.79

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

C.i.f, China, CRU Ryan’sNotes 5.72 4.84 5.29 4.72 3.65 Net import reliance as a

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percentage of apparent consumption 100 100 100 100 100

Recycling: Manganese was recycled incidentally as a constituent of ferrous and nonferrous scrap; however, scrap recovery specifically for manganese was negligible. Manganese is recovered along with iron from steel slag.

World Mine Production and Reserves (metal content): Reserves for Australia, Brazil, and Gabon have been revised downward and those for South Africa revised upward, based on reported data by the Governments of Australia and Brazil and the major manganese producers in Gabon and South Africa. Reserves for Ghana have been added based on reported data by the sole manganese ore producer in the country.


Manganese ore: Gabon, 67%; Australia, 14%; South Africa, 12%; Mexico, 2%; and other, 5%.

Ferromanganese: South Africa, 61%; Norway, 9%; Australia, 9%; Republic of Korea, 8%; and other, 13%.

Manganese contained in principal manganese imports: South Africa, 34%; Gabon, 21%; Australia, 11%; Georgia,

Manganese Recycling

Is manganese important? You better believe it is. Without it, no steel can be produced. And who has the most? South Africa! with Gabon, Australia, and Brazil as alternates.

Manganese is recycled with the steel that is recycled, and that is the best we can do. From “Manganese Depletion and Recycling”, L. David Roper, July 2, 2016:

It appears that the recent rapid rise in extraction rate is unsustainable for more than a few decades or so from now.

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Mercury Production

From Wikipedia:

Mercury is a chemical element with symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is commonly known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum (/haɪˈdrɑːrdʒərəm/).A heavy, silvery d-block element, mercury is the only metallic element that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure; the only other element that is liquid under these conditions is bromine, though metals such as caesium, gallium, and rubidium melt just above room temperature.

Mercury occurs in deposits throughout the world mostly as cinnabar (mercuric sulfide). The red pigment vermilion is obtained by grinding natural cinnabar or synthetic mercuric sulfide.

Mercury is used in thermometers, barometers, manometers, sphygmomanometers, float valves, mercury switches, mercury relays, fluorescent lamps and other devices, though concerns about the element's toxicity have led to mercury thermometers and sphygmomanometers being largely phased out in clinical environments in favor of alternatives such as alcohol- or galinstan-filled glass thermometers and thermistor- or infrared-based electronic instruments. Likewise, mechanical pressure gauges and electronic strain gauge sensors have replaced mercury sphygmomanometers. Mercury remains in use in scientific research applications and in amalgam for dental restoration in some locales. It is used in fluorescent lighting. Electricity passed through mercury vapor in a fluorescent lamp produces short-wave ultraviolet light which then causes the phosphor in the tube to fluoresce, making visible light.

Why is mercury on the DOD stockpile list? From Chemical & Engineering News, “Mercury Excess”, July 2, 2007:

With the U.S. facing international pressure to ban exports of mercury, Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency are independently exploring options for permanent storage of the neurotoxic metal.

The origin of the problem is basic: Domestic supply outpaces demand. Thousands of tons of mercury are now used at eight U.S. chemical plants that eventually will shut down, and the mercury at these sites will be recovered. Hazardous waste handlers keep mercury from polluting the environment by reclaiming the liquid metal from scrap electrical switches, thermometers, and fluorescent light bulbs. Meanwhile, the gold-mining industry continues to extract mercury from the earth as a by-product. Currently, excess U.S. supplies of mercury from these sources are sold internationally.

Legislation before the House and Senate would outlaw these overseas sales. The proposed export ban is aimed at decreasing the supply of quicksilver on the world market because the mercury increasingly finds its way to small-scale gold miners in developing countries... Millions

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of these miners around the world are suffering from poisoning from mercury, which is relatively inexpensive and easy to obtain.

U.S. chlor-alkali manufacturers say the government needs to settle issues about mercury storage before it halts international sales of the metal.

"It is premature to establish a ban on mercury exports until the U.S. has a program established and in place for the permanent storage of mercury," said Arthur E. Dungan, president of the Chlorine Institute. This chemical industry trade group, which represents chlor-alkali makers, backs the creation of a federal stockpile for mercury, he said at the hearing.

Dungan pointed out that the Departments of Defense and Energy currently warehouse thousands of tons of mercury. The two departments have plans to store their stockpiles for the next 40 years. Unlike nuclear waste, mercury can easily and safely be stored in a warehouse, he added.

That’s why! It’s being stored as a hazardous waste much like radioactive waste storage, but less hazardous to store.

From USGS report on Mercury production:

Domestic Production and Use: Mercury has not been produced as a principal mineral commodity in the United States since 1992. In 2015, mercury was recovered as a byproduct from processing gold-silver ore at several mines in Nevada; however, production data were not reported. Secondary, or recycled, mercury was recovered from batteries, compact and traditional fluorescent lamps, dental amalgam, medical devices, and thermostats, as well as mercury-contaminated soils. It was estimated that less than 50 metric tons per year of mercury was consumed domestically. The leading domestic end users of mercury were the chlorine-caustic soda (chloralkali), electronics, and fluorescent-lighting manufacturing industries. Only two mercury cell chloralkali plants operated in the United States in 2015. Until December 31, 2012, domestic- and foreign-sourced mercury was refined and then exported for global use, primarily for small-scale gold mining in many parts of the world. Beginning January 1, 2013, export of elemental mercury from the United States was banned, with some exceptions, under the Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008.


2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production: Mine (byproduct) NA NA NA NA NA Secondary NA NA NA NA NA Imports for consumption(gross weight), metal 110 249 38 49 15Exports (gross weight),

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metal 133 103 ( 1 ) — — Price, average value, dollars per flask, free market 1,850 1,850 1,850 1,850 1,850Net import reliance as a percentage of apparent consumption 0 0 NA NA NA

Recycling: In 2015, six companies in the United States accounted for the majority of secondary mercury production. Mercury-containing automobile convenience switches, barometers, compact and traditional fluorescent lamps, computers, dental amalgam, medical devices, thermostats, and some mercury-containing toys were collected by as many as 50 smaller companies and shipped to the refining companies for retorting to reclaim the mercury. In addition, many collection companies recovered mercury when retorting was not required. The increased use of mercury substitutes has resulted in a shrinking reservoir of mercury-containing products for recycling. Minimizing the use of mercury in products that still require mercury has further reduced the amount of secondary mercury available for recovery.

Import Sources (2011–14): Chile, 32%; Argentina, 29%; Canada, 19%; Germany, 13%; and other, 7%

World Resources: China, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, and Ukraine have most of the world’s estimated 600,000 tons of mercury resources. Mexico reclaims mercury from Spanish Colonial silver-mining waste. In Peru, mercury production from the Santa Barbara Mine (Huancavelica) stopped in the 1990s; however, Peru continues to be an important source of byproduct mercury imported into the United States. In Spain, once a leading producer of mercury, mining at its centuries-old Almaden Mine stopped in 2003. In the United States, there are mercury occurrences in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Nevada, and Texas; however, mercury has not been mined as a principal mineral commodity since 1992. The declining consumption of mercury, except for small-scale gold mining, indicates that these resources are sufficient for another century or more of use.

Mercury Recycling

From Bethlehem Apparatus website:

Bethlehem Apparatus Company is recognized as the leader in the recovery, recycling and retirement of mercury and mercury bearing waste. We also are the leading domestic supplier of prime virgin and high purity mercury. Our senior executive officer, Bruce Lawrence is known world-wide for his expertise in the responsible use, handling and disposal of mercury and is a frequent speaker before U.S. congressional committees.

Bethlehem Apparatus operates the world's largest commercial mercury recovery/recycling and retirement facility in North America with over 150,000 sq. ft. including 25 advanced high vacuum

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mercury waste retorts, a continuous feed retort, 8 quadruple distillation systems and a 600 ton Calomel processing plant. Additionally, we have 40,000 square feet dedicated to pre-processing handling and storage including 1000 metric ton containers available to meet your shipment needs.

Solutions for Mercury Disposal

Bethlehem Apparatus specializes in providing safe, convenient and cost effective methods for handling mercury-bearing materials. Using the most advanced process technologies in the mercury industry, including thermal, chemical and physical treatment systems, Bethlehem Apparatus can process a wide variety of solid and liquid mercury bearing wastes. Our EPA approved system of checks and balances gives you the assurance that your hazardous and universal wastes are being handled in a responsible manner. We know how to solve and handle virtually any mercury disposal problem.

I don’t think this is a business of the future.

Molybdenum Production

From SNL Metals & Mining, “U.S. Mines to Market”, September, 2014:

Molybdenum has an important function in the manufacture of steel. A small amount of the metal goes a long way in improving the strength and hardness of alloys, corrosion resistance and weldability. High strength steel, containing molybdenum, increases vehicle strength in automobile manufacturing while reducing overall weight of the car body and chassis by 20-25 percent. These cars use less fuel and emit less CO2, while at the same time improving passenger safety.

Molybdenum steels and super alloys enable supercritical and new ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plants to run at higher temperatures, increasing thermal efficiency and delivering significant reductions in CO2 emissions.

Stainless steel, which contains molybdenum, increases corrosion resistance. The alloy is used for a wide range of specialty applications, including the construction of seawater desalination plants. In this way the metal contributes to the delivery of sustainable supplies of fresh water.

The United States is the largest producer of mined molybdenum in the world, accounting for 19 percent of global production in 2013, when the country produced 61,000 tons of mined molybdenum. The United States consumed less than 40,000 tons in 2013, and is a net exporter of molybdenum, with a positive net trade balance estimated at 20,900 tons.

Great a positive trade balance! See Figure 9, “Top U.S. Molybdenum Mines”.

In the United States, molybdenum ore is produced as a primary product by two mines, Climax in Colorado and Thompson Creek in Idaho , with other output coming as a by-product from

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operations in Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. In the latter state, Chevron’s Questa primary molybdenum mine was permanently shut down in 2014 as it was no longer economically feasible.

The primary operations account for around 52 percent of domestic output. The remaining molybdenum production is derived as a by-product of copper mining, notably due to its occurrence as the principal metal sulfide in large low-grade porphyry copper deposits.

From USGS report on Molybdenum production:

Domestic Production and Use: In 2015, 56,300 metric tons of molybdenum, valued at about $1.0 billion (based on an average oxide price), was produced at 10 mines. Molybdenum ore was produced as a primary product at two mines—both in Colorado—whereas eight copper mines (five in Arizona, one each in Montana, Nevada, and Utah) recovered molybdenum as a byproduct. Three roasting plants converted molybdenite concentrate to molybdic oxide, from which intermediate products, such as ferromolybdenum, metal powder, and various chemicals, were produced. Iron and steel and super alloy producers accounted for about 74% of the molybdenum consumed.


2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Production, mine 63,700 61,500 61,000 68,200 56,300 Imports for consumption 21,100 19,800 20,200 25,300 22,200 Exports 56,700 48,900 53,100 65,100 63,400 Consumption: Reported 19,100 19,400 18,600 19,500 19,000 Apparent 26,100 33,100 29,800 27,900 15,600 Price, average value, dollars per kilogram 34.34 28.09 22.85 25.84 17.80 Employment, mine and plant, number 940 940 960 1,000 950

Recycling: Molybdenum is recycled as a component of catalysts, ferrous scrap, and superalloy scrap. Ferrous scrap comprises revert scrap, and new and old scrap. Revert scrap refers to remnants manufactured in the steelmaking process. New scrap is generated by steel mill customers and recycled by scrap collectors and processors. Old scrap is largely molybdenum-bearing alloys recycled after serving their useful life. The amount of molybdenum recycled as part of new and old steel and other scrap may be as much as 30% of the apparent supply of molybdenum. There are no processes for the separate recovery and refining of secondary molybdenum from its alloys. Molybdenum is not recovered separately from recycled steel and super alloys, but the molybdenum content of the recycled alloys is significant, and the molybdenum content is reused. Recycling of molybdenum-bearing scrap will continue to be

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dependent on the markets for the principal alloy metals of the alloys in which molybdenum is found, such as iron, nickel, and chromium.


Ferromolybdenum: Chile, 83%; Canada, 9%; United Kingdom, 4%; and other, 4%.

Molybdenum ores and concentrates: Mexico, 31%; Canada, 28%; Peru, 23%; Chile, 17%; and other, 1%.

World Resources: Identified resources of molybdenum in the United States are about 5.4 million tons and, in the rest of the world, about 14 million tons. Molybdenum occurs as the principal metal sulfide in large low-grade porphyry molybdenum deposits and as an associated metal sulfide in low-grade porphyry copper deposits. Resources of molybdenum are adequate to supply world needs for the foreseeable future.

Molybdenum Recycling

From Business Insider, “This rare metal is being depleted at an alarming rate”, OilPrice.com, Dave Forest, September 14, 2016:

World molybdenum stocks are nearly gone.

That was revealed in data released last week from the London Metal Exchange. With a monthly report from the world’s premier metals trading platform showing that moly stocks have plunged over the last four months at a shocking rate.

The outgoing shipments over the summer are especially notable in comparison with the placid trading that LME moly saw during the previous 8 months. Both charts above show that warehouses had been mostly idle up until May — with overall stock levels holding almost exactly even since August of last year.

Perhaps most interestingly, LME reported that the drop in inventories has come as global molybdenum prices have been rising. The chart below shows how prices began to take off in early May — just as outgoing deliveries from warehouses began to pick up.

Either way, this is an important situation for mining investors to keep an eye on. Watch for LME data next month to see if the drawdown is continuing — and check moly prices for continued upward momentum.

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What I think happened short-term is that the molybdenum producers cut back production due to the drop in price from mid-April 2014 to the bottom in late 2015. From S&P Global Platts, “Chile produces 4,595 mt of molybdenum in December, down 9.6%”, Santiago (Platts)--30 Jan 2017:

Chile produced 4,595 mt of unroasted molybdenum concentrates in December, down 9.6% fromthe same month of 2015, government figures showed Monday.

Could be the producers were trying to drive the price up, coping the oil industry, by cutting back on production in an uncoordinated effort. I don’t know, but I haven’t read any more about it lately. In any case a few think the world molybdenum supply will peak within 10 ten years. From “Molybdenum Depletion Including Recycling”, L. David Roper, July 2, 2016:

It appears that world-molybdenum extraction will peak by 2025.

Per USGS, There are no processes for the separate recovery and refining of secondary molybdenum from its alloys.

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FIGURE 1

PERIODIC TABLE OF KNOWN ELEMENTS

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FIGURE 2

ALUMINUM PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES

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FIGURE 3

COPPER PRODUCTION/CONSUMPTION AND NET TRADE

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Source: USGS

Net Trade Mine Production Refined Consumption Refinery Production

U.S. PRODUCTION, CONSUMPTION AND

NET TRADE – COPPER

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 -500

-1000


TOP U.S. MINES – COPPER (2013)

StateProduction

(kt)

Share ofU.S.

Production (%)

Controlling company

World production 17,900

U.S. Production (% of world) 1,246 7.0

Morenci Copper (SX-EW)

Arizona 270 21.7 Freeport-McMoRanBingham CanyonBagdad

UtahArizona

21185

16.96.8

Rio Tinto GroupFreeport-McMoRan

Ray Arizona 70 5.6 Grupo MéxicoSafford (SX-EW) Arizona 66 5.3 Freeport-McMoRan

FIGURE 4

TOP U.S. COPPER MINES

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TABLE 6 TOP U.S. MINES – GOLD (2013)

StateProduction

(t)

Share ofU.S.

Produc- tion (%)

Controlling company

World production 3,022

(% of world) 229 8.2

Newmont Nevada Nevada

55 24.2 Newmont Mining Corp.Cortez Nevad

a42 18.3 Barrick Gold Corp.

Betze Post Nevada

28 12.2 Barrick Gold Corp.Fort Knox Alaska 13 5.8 Kinross Gold Corp.Pogo (Stone Boy) Alaska 10 4.5 Sumitomo Metal Mining

Co.

FIGURE 5

TOP U.S. GOLD MINES

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FIGURE 6

OVERALL STEEL RECYCLING RATE

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FIGURE 7

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FIGURE 8

IRON ORE PRODUCTION/CONSUMPTION AND NET TRADE

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Net TradeConsumptionMine Production

Source: USGS

U.S. PRODUCTION, CONSUMPTION AND

NET TRADE – IRON ORE

65

55

45

35

25

15

-15 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013


TABLE 8 TOP U.S. MINES – MOLYBDENUM (2013)Production Share of U.S.

State (kt) Production Controlling companyWorld Production 270U.S. Production(% of world) 59.9 22.2Climax Colorado 22.0 36.7 Freeport-McMoran Inc.Thompson Creek Idaho 9.5 15.8 Thompson Creek

Metals Co.Sierrita Arizona 8.0 13.4 Freeport-McMoran Inc.(Copper Mine)Bingham Canyon Utah 5.7 9.5 Rio Tinto Group(Copper Mine)Mineral Park Arizona 5.2 8.7 Mercator Minerals

Ltd.(Copper Mine)

FIGURE 9

TOP U.S. MOLYBDENUM MINES

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Future Trends - Recycling - Metals - Part II

Business

Transcript of Future Trends - Recycling - Metals - Part II