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• MOFs derived Ni@ZrO 2 catalysts were facilely prepared by tunable strategy. • Nickle precursor impregnated Zr-mofs (Ni/ZrO 2 -B catalyst) shows the highest DRM performance. • Physico-chemical properties including ni species, ZrO 2 matrix, and interface interaction were strongly affected by preparation strategy. • Strong metal-support interaction is responsible for superior catalytic performance. Metal-support interaction (MSI) plays an important role in heterogeneous catalysis, that could be well regulated by many strategies. Here, Ni@ZrO 2 catalysts were controllably synthesized by sacrificial Zr-MOFs template strategy, and were applied to the dry reforming of methane (DRM). Amongst, the Ni/ZrO 2 -B catalyst shows the best performance toward CH 4 and CO 2 conversion, H 2 /CO ratio, and stability, following by Ni/ZrO 2 -A and Ni/ZrO 2 C catalysts. The difference in catalytic performance should be ascribed to different synthetic strategy, resulting in different properties of Ni species and ZrO 2 matrix, and interface interaction. It revealed that small Ni particles were benefit for CH 4 activation, and strong MSI boosted CO 2 activation, that could remain the Ni dispersion and thermal stability. This study is beneficial to the catalyst design in DRM reaction. A Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) strategy was proposed to assist the preparation of supported Ni/ZrO 2 catalyst. The embedded structure and strong metal-support interaction endow it with superior performance in dry reforming of methane (DRM). [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mining Report is the property of GVSt,GesamtverbandSteinkohlee.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The 1970s were a period marked by price hikes and fluctuations in the commodity markets, both of which had considerable economic and political repercussions. Although this refers to almost all kinds of raw materials, the case of oil dominates the memory. Metals, by contrast, have received little attention despite their crucial importance for both industrialized consumer states and ore-exporting developing countries. This article develops three main points. First, by highlighting the global metal markets from the late 1960s to the early 1980s it contextualizes the oil-price shock and points out the interactions between the markets for energy and other raw materials. Second, the article aims to draw attention to the sense of crisis in Western industrialized countries regarding their metal supply during this period. This is a topic which has been overshadowed by the case of oil, but which nevertheless deserves study, also because of the parallels to recent developments between 2004 and 2011. Third, the article analyses how notions of resource scarcity, vulnerability and crisis were constructed despite the fact that the commodity crisis proved to be a merely anticipated crisis with high and volatile prices, but no long-term disruptions of supply. Within this article West Germany serves as a case study for highly industrialized, import-dependent countries. The focus is on non-ferrous metals like copper, nickel and aluminium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In this paper, we develop a method to assess the environmental impacts of metal scenarios. The method is life cycle based, but enables forward looking and upscaling. The method aims at translating metal demand scenarios into technology‐specific supply scenarios, necessary to make the translation into environmental impacts. To illustrate the different steps of the methodology, we apply it to the case of seven major metals. Demand scenarios for seven major metals are taken from literature. We translate those into technology‐specific supply scenarios, and future time series of environmental impacts are specified including recycling rates, energy system transformation, efficiency improvement, and ore grade decline. We show that the method is applicable and may lead to relevant and, despite many uncertainties, fairly robust results. The projections show that the environmental impacts related to metal production are expected to increase steeply. Iron is responsible for the majority of impacts and emissions are relatively unaffected by changes in the production and energy system. For the other metals, the energy transition may have substantial benefits. By far, the most effective option for all metals appears to be to increase the share of secondary production. This would reduce emissions, but is expected to become effective only in the second half of the twenty‐first century. The circular economy agenda for metals is therefore a long‐term agenda, similar to climate change: Action must be taken soon while benefits will become apparent only at the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mining of primary metals is critical for a range of modern infrastructure and goods and the continuing growth in global population and consumption means that these primary metals are expected to remain in high demand. However, metallic deposits are, in essence, finite and non-renewable—leading to some concern that we may run out of a given metal in the future. Here, we address this concern by presenting a brief review of the reporting of mineral resource estimates, compiling detailed datasets for national and global trends in mineral resources for numerous metals, and present detailed case studies of major mining projects or fields. The evidence clearly shows strong growth in known mineral resources and cumulative production over time rather than any evidence of gradual resource depletion. In addition, the key factors that already govern existing mining projects and mineral resources are certainly social, environmental and economic in nature rather than geological or related to physical resource depletion. Overall, there is great room for optimism in terms of humankind’s ability to supply future generations with the metals they will require. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minerals and the metals derived therefrom are non-renewable resources that deliver a wide range of goods and services to mankind. While their value has been recognized since thousands of years, their large-scale industrial production only really took off after World War II, thanks to the availability of efficient industrial production processes and of a rapidly rising demand, driven by demographic growth, urbanization and growing economic affluence in developed countries. The fast development of the Chinese economy, with about 300 million people reaching middle-class status and migrating to cities, drove a boom demand for minerals and metals of unprecedented magnitude in terms of tonnages consumed, that lasted from 2002 to 2013. Over a century, from 1914 to 2013, the production and consumption of pig iron, manganese and copper grew by a factor of 20, that of chromium by a factor of 182 and that of phosphate by a factor of nearly 42, while humanity grew only by a factor of about 4. Driven by demographic growth, continuing urbanization and growth of the global middle class the demand for minerals and metals will continue to exponentially grow. A scenario is proposed assessing what the theoretical requirements could be up to 2050 for minerals and metals commonly used in the construction industry, to develop infrastructure, for the mass production of metal intensive goods such as cars or in agriculture, to provide our food. The scenario, built on the trends observed since 1950, foresees that, by 2050, the demand for aluminium demand could be eight times the current production levels and the production of cement would need to grow by a factor of 7 to meet the 2050 level of demand. The lead demand would double by 2050. While geological scarcity does not appear to be an issue to feed such a demand, many factors are likely to limit the amount of minerals and metals that can be sustainably produced. Energy and water, both essential to mining, ore processing and metallurgy are likely to be limiting factors, as well as the sustainable management of the enormous amount of waste that would be generated. Public acceptance and access to exploration and mine development financing are other limiting factors to be considered. Inter-generational equity among all the stakeholders is concerned by mining, and intra-generational equity is necessary to ensure that the use of non-renewable natural capital provides benefits that last well beyond the closure of mining operations. This requires equity among stakeholders, including with nature, the silent stakeholder our lives depend on. Overcoming the challenges of the twenty-first century will require the following factors: Decoupling economic growth from its unsustainable negative environmental impacts (UNEP 2011a), inter alia to reduce the pressure on natural resources;Rapid development of a more circular economy based on resource efficiency and the systematic minimization of waste. Flanking policy measures (for instance: European Commission 2016) are needed to close the natural resources loop and avoid the dire predicaments of resources depletion;Institutional strengthening and capacity building to ensure that sustainability agendas are developed and well integrated in corporate strategies and public policies; andTrust among the stakeholders, based on corporate accountability, transparency, stakeholder engagement and reporting of the economic, environmental, governance and social performance of companies.Failure to act on the above requirements at the global scale is likely to be a source of deep crisis where all humanity could lose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Resourcing Future Generations (RFG) program is a global strategy proposed by the International Union of Geological Sciences to meet global demand for natural resources. The Belt and Road (B&R) initiative of China provides a great opportunity for promoting the RFG across much of the Eurasian continent. The countries covered by the B&R initiative are mostly low-income economies. With rapid developments of economy and infrastructure construction, these countries are set to have huge demands for mineral resources in the future. However, the proven mineral reserves in this region are too limited, and the region’s overall level of metal recycling is far from optimistic. These countries are expected to have obstacles in meeting future demands. However, the regional Tethyan metallogenic domain and Central Asia metallogenic district are key areas for new discoveries of mineral resources, possessing a variety of mineral resources with a positive prospecting potential. The B&R initiative of China provides favorable opportunity for mutual beneficial cooperation to improve regional exploration and prospecting through geological mapping, inter-comparison study on Tethyan metallogenic domain, joint assessment of mineral resource potentials, joint training of geological engineers and workers and building information systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. Geological Survey National Minerals Information Center (NMIC) is the U.S. Government agency tasked with the collection, analysis, and dissemination of information on the production, consumption, import, export, and other measures of the flows of non-fuel mineral commodities of importance to the U.S. economy and national security. The NMIC and its agency predecessors have maintained a database of this information, collected and published annually, dating back to the beginning of the twentieth century. Time series analysis of annual information from the NMIC provides the opportunity to identify trends in the supply chains of the minerals and metals which are increasingly in demand for advanced technologies. The identification of trends in data for net import reliance, country concentration of production, global demand, price volatility, and other measures, when combined with world governance indicators, can be used to focus attention on individual mineral commodities where supply chain restrictions may develop. Specific examples for U.S. net import reliance, global tantalum primary mining, and mineral criticality screening are presented to illustrate the utility of time series analysis of trends in mineral commodity supply and demand, the types of data required, and the limitations of currently available information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rare earth elements (REE) have attracted much attention in recent years, being viewed as critical metals because of China’s domination of their supply chain. This is despite the fact that REE enrichments are known to exist in a wide range of settings, and have been the subject of much recent exploration. Although the REE are often referred to as a single group, in practice each individual element has a specific set of end-uses, and so demand varies between them. Future demand growth to 2026 is likely to be mainly linked to the use of NdFeB magnets, particularly in hybrid and electric vehicles and wind turbines, and in erbium-doped glass fiber for communications. Supply of lanthanum and cerium is forecast to exceed demand. There are several different types of natural (primary) REE resources, including those formed by high-temperature geological processes (carbonatites, alkaline rocks, vein and skarn deposits) and those formed by low-temperature processes (placers, laterites, bauxites and ion-adsorption clays). In this paper, we consider the balance of the individual REE in each deposit type and how that matches demand, and look at some of the issues associated with developing these deposits. This assessment and overview indicate that while each type of REE deposit has different advantages and disadvantages, light rare earth-enriched ion adsorption types appear to have the best match to future REE needs. Production of REE as by-products from, for example, bauxite or phosphate, is potentially the most rapid way to produce additional REE. There are still significant technical and economic challenges to be overcome to create substantial REE supply chains outside China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal life cycles define and quantify the rates of supply and demand for metals currently used in modern society. Each metal life cycle stage is potentially influenced by material transformation losses, import/export flows, and stockpiling. Flows and stocks in metal life cycles, the rates of by-product extraction, determinations of metal stocks in use, and scrap generation rates remain difficult to quantify, rendering it difficult to make reasonable estimates of the future supply of secondary metals and, therefore, of the future demands for primary metals. This paper presents four grand challenges to geologists, materials scientists, product designers, and industrial ecologists. Addressing these challenges is a prerequisite to achieving better resource efficiencies, as well as to addressing our moral obligation to enable a resource-sufficient life for future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth in metal use in the past few decades raises concern that supplies may be insufficient to meet demands in the future. From the perspective of historical and current use data for seven major metals—iron, manganese, aluminum, copper, nickel, zinc, and lead—we have generated several scenarios of potential metal demand from 2010 to 2050 under alternative patterns of global development. We have also compared those demands with various assessments of potential supply to midcentury. Five conclusions emerge: (1) The calculated demand for each of the seven metals doubles or triples relative to 2010 levels by midcentury; (2) The largest demand increases relate to a scenario in which increasingly equitable values and institutions prevail throughout the world; (3) The metal recycling flows in the scenarios meet only a modest fraction of future metals demand for the next few decades; (4) In the case of copper, zinc, and perhaps lead, supply may be unlikely to meet demand by about midcentury under the current use patterns of the respective metals; (5) Increased rates of demand for metals imply substantial new energy provisioning, leading to increases in overall global energy demand of 21-37%. These results imply that extensive technological transformations and governmental initiatives could be needed over the next several decades in order that regional and global development and associated metal demand are not to be constrained by limited metal supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-carbon energy systems are more metal-intensive than traditional energy systems. Concerns have been expressed that this may hamper the transition to a low-carbon economy. We estimate the required extraction of Fe, Al, Cu, Ni, Cr, In, Nd, Dy, Li, Zn, and Pb until 2050 under several technology-specific low-carbon scenarios. Annual metal demand for the electricity and road transportation systems may rise dramatically for indium, neodymium, dysprosium, and lithium, by factors of more than three orders of magnitude. However, in the base year 2000 the dominant uses were often in other sectors. Since growth in these other, previously dominant sectors has been less pronounced, the overall growth in society’s metal needs is much less dramatic than in the electricity and transportation sectors. Total annual demand for the researched metals would rise by a factor of 3–4.5, corresponding to compound growth rates of between 2% and 3%. Such growth rates are similar or lower compared with historical growth rate levels over the last few decades. Prolonged higher levels have existed for copper, for example, with production rising by 8% per year from 1992 to 2006. Yet this state of affairs does not give cause for complacency. The richest resources may have been used, production is showing a tendency towards becoming very large-scale, and development times have increased, all leading to greater risks of disruption. It is therefore crucial, when developing specific technologies, that the resource-specific constraints are analyzed and options for substitution are developed where risks are high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) with their unique properties are central for economic growth, quality of life, and the creation of new jobs. The base-metal producing sector is, however, under growing public pressure in respect to energy and water requirements and needs to meet several challenges, including increased demand and lower ore grades, which are generally associated with larger resource use. The development of technologies for metal production from secondary sources is often motivated by increased sustainability, and this paper aims to provide further insights about one specific aspect of sustainability--namely, climate change. The paper presents a review of carbon footprints (CF) for Cu and Zn produced from primary and secondary raw materials by analyzing data taken from scientific literature and the Ecoinvent database. Comparisons are carried out based on the source of data selected as a reference case. The data available in the literature indicate that secondary production of Cu and Zn has the potential to be more beneficial compared to primary production regarding the impact on climate change. However, the technologies used today for the production of both metals from secondary sources are still immature, and more research on this topic is needed. The general variation of data suggests that the standardization of a comparison is needed when assessing the environmental benefits of production in line with the principles of waste valorization, the zero waste approach, and circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to understand the role of primary processing, i.e. the first post-mining stage, in supply risk, by means of a case study on three critical metals (neodymium, cobalt, and platinum) in the context of Japan. Applying the ‘footprint’ concept with a multiregional input–output model, we have quantified the direct and indirect vulnerability of the Japanese economy to such risks. Considering the supply risks associated with primary processors, we find that Japanese final consumers are exposed to relatively higher supply risks for neodymium as compared with cobalt and platinum. Our study shows that the primary processing stage of a metal’s supply chain may contribute significantly to the overall supply risks, suggesting that this stage should be taken into due account in understanding and mitigating supply-chain vulnerability through, e.g. supplier diversification and alternative material development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New development and technological innovations make electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) more functional by using an increasing number of metals, particularly the critical metals (e.g. rare and precious metals) with specialized properties. As millions of people in emerging economies adopt a modern lifestyle, the demand for critical metals is soaring. However, the increasing demand causes the crisis of their supply because of their simple deficiency in the Earth’s crust or geopolitical constraints which might create political issues for their supply. This paper focuses on the sustainable supply of typical critical metals (indium, rare earth elements (REEs), lithium, cobalt and precious metals) through recycling waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). To illuminate this issue, the production, consumption, expected future demand, current recycling situation of critical metals, WEEE management and their recycling have been reviewed. We find that the demand of indium, REEs, lithium and cobalt in EEE will continuously increasing, while precious metals are decreasing because of new substitutions with less or even without precious metals. Although the generation of WEEE in 2014 was about 41.9 million tons (Mt), just about 15% (6.5 Mt) was treated environmentally. The inefficient collection of WEEE is the main obstacle to relieving the supply risk of critical metals. Furthermore, due to the widespread use in low concentrations, such as indium, their recycling is not just technological problem, but economic feasibility is. Finally, relevant recommendations are point out to address these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of the metals extracted as by-products and rated as ‘critical’ are vital to important modern technologies but are seldom reported as extractable commodities by the mining industry. This creates numerous uncertainties and challenges in estimating the global resources of these metals; here we outline the current approaches (or lack thereof) used in resource reporting and identify and discuss the uncertainties surrounding critical co- and by-product reporting in detail. We present a review of ore reserve and mineral resource reporting in the mining industry, including the identification of various methods by which resource accounts have been constructed, a discussion of examples and differences between countries, states and organisations that conduct these assessments, and a discussion of the various ways in which these resource data have been interpreted. This is followed by a series of case studies that document and discuss the reporting of selected critical metals that suggest that the lack of reporting is dominantly as a result of the perceived or actual low monetary value of by-products at the mine site rather than as a result of any lack of these metals, indicating that different types of uncertainties can arise in estimating the global resources of these critical commodities. This paper also addresses (and continues in parts II and III) the numerous issues and uncertainties identified in this study by outlining approaches and alternative data sources that can be used to develop more comprehensive assessments of critical metal resources from deposit to global levels. The hybrid methodologies proposed in this paper provide reasons for some optimism in that by-product and critical metal resources can still be identified to a reasonable degree of accuracy, and these resources are likely to be sufficient to meet demand for some decades. However, there is still a strong case for improved reporting of by-products and critical metals in mineral deposits to assist in these efforts and to clarify the true global position in terms of the future security of supply of co- and by-product metals, invariably including the critical or e-tech metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economía Coyuntural, Revista de Temas de Coyuntura y Perspectivas is the property of Instituto de Investigaciones Economicas y Sociales Jose Ortiz Mercado (IIES-JOM) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Rare metals are less common metals that are generally perceived to be scarce. The media often presents one-track thinking on the depletion of mineral resources. Despite this common notion, the supply of most rare metals – including rare earth metals (REMs) – in terms of the amount of minerals available in known deposits is not a serious problem. Key factors that determine the supply of rare metals are the costs of mining and smelting, and related environmental destruction. These are the major practical constraints, rather than the amount of mineral deposits in the earth. When extracting rare metals from recycled feed material, harmful wastes generated from natural ore processing can be avoided. This is the primary advantage of the cyclical use of rare metal resources. In this article, bottlenecks of rare metal supply, and the importance of recycling, are discussed, using REMs as an example. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The integrated model WORLD and Hubbert's model were used for assessment of future supply for different metals: iron, nickel, manganese, chromium, molybdenum, tantalum, niobium, rhenium, zirconium, tungsten, cobalt, copper, zinc, lead, aluminium and the technology metals derived from copper–zinc mining (tellurium, selenium, gallium, indium, antimony, bismuth, tin, germanium, selenium). The connections between their productions were mapped. The literature was reviewed for best estimates of total recoverable amounts, and best estimates were made, considering extraction costs and extractability. Peak years were determined for all the metals studied. Most metals seem to reach peak production during the next 4 decades, suggesting a risk for shortages in the near future. When supplies from mines dwindle, measures such as recycling from society's stock, substitutions to other materials than metals when this is possible, and stopped dissipative uses, will become important mitigation tools, calling for reorganization of resource policies world-wide. Present resource policies at all levels (regional, national, international) are to a large degree inadequate and need thorough review. The relevance of the Hubbert's model as an assessment tool was done. It is useful for all metals taken from independent ore deposits, whereas the method appears to be less suited for extraction of dependent metals unless the curve is derived from the Hubbert's model applied on the parent source. In such times, strategic thinking and strategic leadership based in systems thinking will be required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long term development of world primary extraction, market supply, recycling and extractable amounts of the platinum group metals platinum, palladium and rhodium was assessed. The degree of sustainability was estimated using system dynamics modelling. Compiling estimates from different sources, and considering recent technological advances in deep mining suggests that the Ultimately Recoverable Resource (URR) is about 216,000 ton of platinum group metals down to a mining depth of maximum 5 km, significantly more than earlier published estimates. The world supply and production of platinum group metals was calculated using system dynamics methodology to develop the PGM-model for this study. The model combines mining, ore grade changes, trade markets, price mechanisms, supply, demand, estimates of stock-in-use, waste, dissipative losses and recycling into a whole world system. The model was run for the period of 1900–2400. The model outputs were successfully tested on historic data for mining rate, ore grades and platinum market price during 1900–2014. The model indicates that extraction will reach maximum in the period 2020–2050 and that market supply will peak in 2070–2080. The delay is caused by the effect of recycling. The outputs from the model emphasize the importance of recycling, metal conservation and elimination of dissipative losses in order to secure long term sustainable platinum group metals supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To a set of well-regarded international scenarios (UNEP’s GEO-4), we have added consideration of the demand, supply, and energy implications related to copper production and use over the period 2010–2050. To our knowledge, these are the first comprehensive metal supply and demand scenarios to be developed. We find that copper demand increases by between 275 and 350% by 2050, depending on the scenario. The scenario with the highest prospective demand is not Market First (a “business as usual” vision), but Equitability First, a scenario of transition to a world of more equitable values and institutions. These copper demands exceed projected copper mineral resources by mid-century and thereafter. Energy demand for copper production also demonstrates strong increases, rising to as much as 2.4% of projected 2050 overall global energy demand. We investigate possible policy responses to these results, concluding that improving the efficiency of the copper cycle and encouraging the development of copper-free energy distribution on the demand side, and improving copper recycling rates on the supply side are the most promising of the possible options. Improving energy efficiency in primary copper production would lead to a reduction in the energy demand by 0.5% of projected 2050 overall global energy demand. In addition, encouraging the shift towards renewable technologies is important to minimize the impacts associated with copper production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxhide ingots are probably one of the most remarkable metal artefacts that ever circulated throughout the Mediterranean during the second millennium BC. From the Levantine coast to Sardinia, oxhide ingots were produced, exchanged, used and transformed for almost six centuries (c.1600-1100/1000 BC). They are generally regarded as a class of material that is found only in the Mediterranean area. However, there are a number of oxhide ingots that have been encountered far beyond the coasts of the Mediterranean. The aim of this paper is to throw some light on these items and their significance in order to increase our understanding of the complex and far-reaching Bronze Age metal supply networks in Europe. The application of a commodity branding model also allows the possibility of achieving a deeper understanding of these items as tokens of the long-lasting links between Continental Europe and the Mediterranean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cobalt, one of the more scarce energy metals, is widely utilized in many crucial industries. China is a major consumer and supplier of resources such that domestic cobalt are being rapidly depleted, which results in the boost of consumer electronics (CE) and electric vehicles (EV) industries vulnerable to the sustainability of cobalt reserve base. Here we summarize that China's cobalt demand will increase significantly due to the continuing growth of CE and the briskly emerging market of EV, resulting in a short carrying duration of cobalt, even with full recycling of cobalt products. With these applications increasing at an annual rate of 5%, the carrying duration of cobalt resource until 2030 will oblige the cobalt products recycling rate of not less than 90%. To sustain cobalt utilization in China, one approach for cobalt recycling would be to improve the collection system and recycling technology towards closed-loop supply chain, and other future endeavours should include commercializing the low-content cobalt battery and optimizing cobalt industrial structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imbalances between metal supply and demand, real or anticipated, have inspired the concept of metal criticality. We here characterize the criticality of 62 metals and metalloids in a 3D "criticality space" consisting of supply risk, environmental implications, and vulnerability to supply restriction. Contributing factors that lead to extreme values include high geopolitical concentration of primary production, lack of available suitable substitutes, and political instability. The results show that the limitations for many metals important in emerging electronics (e.g., gallium and selenium) are largely those related to supply risk; those of platinum group metals, gold, and mercury, to environmental implications; and steel alloying elements (e.g., chromium and niobium) as well as elements used in high-temperature alloys (e.g., tungsten and molybdenum), to vulnerability to supply restriction. The metals of most concern tend to be those available largely or entirely as byproducts, used in small quantities for highly specialized applications, and possessing no effective substitutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the strategic role certain metals play is seen as central to the geopolitics promulgated by state agents in the North. While a switch to renewable energy and an increase in energy efficiency might be instrumental to reducing dependence on fossil energy, it increases dependence on metals. This paper starts from an analysis of the likely availability of metals in the near future and then proceeds to investigate political concerns raised by considering the geological fundamentals of social development at the peripheries of the capitalist world-system. The inequality of metal stocks, future metal requirements and the ensuing political challenges are investigated, taking copper as an example. The final section is dedicated to the discussion of regulatory challenges in view of multiple constraints on metal extraction. This section also highlights the preconditions of a socially legitimate transition to a renewable energy system in the coming period of socio-ecological transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the expansion of the lithium ion (Li-ion) battery market, new materials for lithium ion cathodes are constantly being developed. Especially automotive applications require a decrease in production costs, which often means to increase the content of less expensive metals. However, these composition changes also affect the cathode properties and may also require considerable changes in the processing conditions. There are still considerable gaps regarding life cycle inventories for cathode materials as the availability of commercial process data is limited. The presented study had two main objectives: (1) quantifying the natural resource use for the production and recycling of five cathode materials for Li-ion batteries in a closed loop scenario based on data directly provided by industry and (2) assessing the impact of differences in composition, cathode material properties and production technology. An exergy-based method was employed to assess the cumulative resource use. To get a better view on the impact of the property differences of the cathode materials, resource consumption was expressed per kg, per kWh one cycle and per kWh over the cycle life. The latter was the actual functional unit. The results per kg of cathode were comparable for all (290–346 MJ ex /kg) but one (622 MJ ex /kg) of the cathode materials. Metal supply and energy use during cathode material production were the main drivers of natural resource use. Due to the diverging characteristics of the cathode materials the relative results in terms of the functional unit (0.39–0.70 MJ ex /kWh) differed considerably from the results per kg of cathode material. For example, while the resource use for one of the cathodes was relatively high per kg of material, it was similar to the resource use of two other cathode materials per kWh (cycle life). This implies that it is not sufficient to have good process data to compare the resource consumption of different cathode materials. The properties of the cathode materials, respectively the battery as a whole, have to be carefully determined in function of the application. Two of the cathode materials were developed with the target to reduce cost of feedstock metals while maintaining performance. Indeed, those two cathodes showed low resource use per kg (290–343 MJ ex ) and per kWh (one cycle) (377–463 MJ ex ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because modern technology depends on reliable supplies of a wide variety of materials and because of increasing concern about those supplies, a comprehensive methodology was created to quantify the degree of criticality of the metals of the periodic table. In this paper, we apply this methodology to iron and several of its main alloying elements (i.e., vanadium, chromium, manganese, and niobium). These elements represent the basic metals of any industrial society and are vital for national security and economic well-being. Assessments relating to the dimensions of criticality - supply risk, vulnerability to supply restriction, and environmental implications - for 2008 are made on the global level and for the United States. Evaluations of each of the multiple indicators are presented, with aggregate results plotted in "criticality space", together with Monte Carlo simulation-derived "uncertainty cloud" estimates. Iron has die lowest supply risk, primarily because of its widespread geological occurrence. Vanadium displays the highest cradle-to-gate environmental implications, followed by niobium, chromium, manganese, and iron. Chromium and manganese, both essential in steel making, display the highest vulnerability to supply restriction, largely because substitution or substitution at equal performance is not possible for all end-uses. From a comprehensive perspective, we regard the overall criticality as low for iron and modest for the alloying elements we evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Xe recycle-and-supply system was incorporated into a dual-target rotation magnet sputtering (DT-RMS) process to fabricate amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs). DT-RMS is an upgraded version of the previously reported single-target rotation magnet sputtering system [Goto et al., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 27, 653 (2009)] designed to expand deposition area. In DT-RMS, multiple moving plasma loops are excited at the dual-target surface. These plasma loops work to homogenize the properties of the films deposited on the substrates, with time-averaged homogenization of the plasma parameters at the substrate. As a result, film thicknesses and uniform distributions of the a-IGZO-film properties were obtained at an appropriate target-substrate distance. In this configuration, the Xe-sputtered a-IGZO TFTs exhibited higher field-effect mobilities than conventional Ar-sputtered TFTs. When using the recycled Xe supplied from the Xe recycle-and-supply system, the field-effect mobility value was the same as for fresh-Xe sputtered TFTs, demonstrating the technique's potential as a low-cost alternative for providing the flat panel display industry with Xe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The authors have collected data for the silver market, shedding light on market size, stocks in society and silver flows in society. The world supply from mining, depletion of the remaining reserves, reducing ore grades, market price and turnover of silver was simulated using the SILVER model developed for this study. The model combines mining, trade markets, price mechanisms, populations dynamics, use in society and waste and recycling into an integrated system. At the same time the degree of sustainability and resource time horizon was estimated using different methods such as: 1: burn-off rates, 2: peak discovery early warning, 3: Hubbert's production model, and 4: System dynamic modelling. The Hubbert's model was run for the period of 6000BC–3000AD, the SILVER system dynamics model was run for the time range 1840–2340. We have estimated that the ultimately recoverable reserves of silver are in the range 2.7–3.1 million tonne silver at present, of which approximately 1.35–1.46 million tonne have already been mined. The timing estimate range for peak silver production is narrow, in the range 2027–2038, with the best estimate in 2034. By 2240, all silver mines will be nearly empty and exhausted. The outputs from all models converge to emphasize the importance of consistent recycling and the avoidance of irreversible losses to make society more sustainable with respect to silver market supply. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Base metals like lead and zinc are ranked in the fourth respectively in the fifth place in the world being debated about their use. In the last two years, the relation supply/demand of these metals is obviously disordered in favor of raising demand, and this has caused an enormous variety of prices for base metals in the market. From the other side, the region of Balkan is relatively rich with ore deposits of these metals. Changes and transitions which happened through 90-ties destroyed the mining production which still is not erected. The European Union after year 2000 approved some regulations with which are prescribed the framework of sustainable development of the mining sector. Besides, in the past, there were built metallurgy capacities for Pb and Zn, which today but also in a certain future will not easily face with European frameworks, but will also not have sufficient concentrates for their own processing capacities. In this paper, there has been analyzed the actual situation in primary ore and concentrate production and is estimated the expected perspective of ore and metal production, always seen from the point of view of European requirements for sustainable development. The need for a closer cooperation in between ore-processing and metallurgy units in the region, with the purpose of full rationalization, to effectively solve the environmental problems and better financial circulation, appears as one of the potential and acceptable options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of metals that are now important to the electronic industry (and others) will become much more important in the future if current trends in technology continue. Most of these metals are byproducts (or hitch-hikers) of a small number of important industrial metals (attractors). By definition, the metals in the hitch-hiker group are not mined by themselves, and thus their production is limited by the demand for the major attractors. This article presents a material flow analysis (MFA) of the complex inter-relationships between these groups of metals. First, it surveys the main sources of geologically scarce (byproduct) metals currently considered critical by one or other of several recent studies. This is followed by a detailed survey of their major functions and the quantities contained in intermediate and end-products. The purpose is to identify the sectors and products where those metals are used and stocked and thus potentially available for future recycling. It concludes with a discussion of the limitations of possible substitution and barriers to recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Platinum is an excellent catalyst, can be used at high temperatures, and is stable in many aggressive chemical environments. Consequently, platinum is used in many current industrial applications, notably automotive catalytic converters, and prospective vehicle fuel cells are expected to rely upon it. Between 2005 and 2010, the automotive industry used approximately 40% of mined platinum. Future automotive industry growth and automotive sales shifts toward new technologies could significantly alter platinum demand. The potential risks for decreased platinum availability are evaluated, using an analysis of platinum market characteristics that describes platinum’s geophysical constraints, institutional efficiency, and dynamic responsiveness. Results show that platinum demand for an automotive fleet that meets 450 ppm greenhouse gas stabilization goals would require within 10% of historical growth rates of platinum supply before 2025. However, such a fleet, due largely to sales growth in fuel cell vehicles, will more strongly constrain platinum supply in the 2050 time period. While current platinum reserves are sufficient to satisfy this increased demand, decreasing platinum ore grade and continued concentration of platinum supply in a single geographic area are availability risk factors to platinum end-users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Low temperature (LT) metal supported solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have many advantages in comparison to conventional electrode or electrolyte supported type SOFCs. NRC has demonstrated high performance LT metal supported planar SOFCs fabricated by either wet colloidal spray/sintering or suspension thermal spray. The combination of tubular configuration and metal supported SOFCs may produce more unique and very attractive advantages such as easy and inexpensive sealing method and materials, high specific and volumetric power density, cost-effective fabrication, enhanced robustness, rapid start up, red-ox cycle tolerance and potential use for a pressurized integrated system. In this paper, thin film solid electrolyte of Sm0.2Ce0.8O1.90 (SDC) and NiO-SDC composite anode on sintered porous tubular metal supports were deposited by suspension HVOF spray and suspension plasma spray, respectively on sintered porous tubular metal support. La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3−δ (LSCF) cathode on the SDC electrolyte was formed by wet colloidal spray and subsequent sintering process as the final fabrication step. The detailed investigation of suspension and process-related parameters for suspension thermal spray was performed in order to produce thin and crack-free SDC thin film coatings. The electrochemical performance of single cells was demonstrated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses the need for the renewable energy businesses to open up and be the first to disclose more about their heavy reliance on mining and upstream impacts and environmental externalities or costs. It explores the European Union (EU) 2050 Energy Roadmap, which did not included upstream material impacts in the sustainability discussions. It presents the views of Olivier Vidal of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) on the rise of metal and mineral demands.