Sunday, October 30, 2011

Global Demand Stresses Limited Supply

A mere few countries control worldwide production of many minerals that have become essential to high-tech manufacturing: europium for TV displays, neodymium for computer disk drives. And some countries, such as China, have begun hoarding the resources for their own companies.

What are they used for?
Platinum Group Metals
Platinum
Palladium
Rhodium
Ruthenium
Iridium
Omium
Catalytic converters, electronics, chemical processing
Catalytic converters, capacitors, carbon monoxide sensors
Catalytic converters, chemical processing
Electronic contacts and resistors, superalloys
Spark plugs, alloys, chemical processing
Electronic contacts, electron microscopy, surgical implants
Rare-Earth Elements
Scandium
Yttrium
Lanthanum
Cerium
Praseodymium
Neodymium
Promethium
Samarium
Europium
Gadolinium
Terbium
Dysprosium
Holmium
Erbium
Thulium
Ytterbium
Lutetium
Aerospace components, aluminum alloys
Lasers, TV and computer displays, microwave filters
Oil refining, hybrid-car batteries, camera lenses
Catalytic converters, oil refining, glass-lens production
Aircraft engines, carbon arc lights
Computer hard drives, cell phones, high-power magnets
Portable x-ray machines, nuclear batteries
High-power magnets, ethanol, PCB cleansers
TV and computer displays, lasers, optical electronics
Cancer therapy, MRI contrast agent
Solid-state electronics, sonar systems
Lasers, nuclear-reactor control rods, high-power magnets
High-power magnets, lasers
Fiber optics, nuclear-reactor control rods
X-ray machines, superconductors
Portable x-ray machines, lasers
Chemical processing, LED lightbulbs
Other Critical Minerals
Indium
Manganese
Niobium
Liquid-crystal displays, semiconductors, solar thin films
Iron and steel production, aluminum alloys
Steel production, aerospace alloys
    As a result, industrial nations are becoming increasingly tense about their sources of “critical elements”—minerals that are crucial but whose supply could be restricted. Most critical for the U.S. are the six elements in the platinum group of metals, the 17 elements known as rare-earth elements, as well as indium, manganese and niobium, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Which nations have them and how dependent the U.S. is (picture below) could affect the American economy and national security (in the case of military products) if trade is curtailed or new deposits are not found. 

SOURCE : SCIENCE MAGAZINE VOL 334

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