Chemistry Critical Minerals

[Zafer]

Please share your posts in this thread reserved for the discussion of critical minerals

The definition of critical minerals or materials vary from nation to nation; it is practically materials not widely available but made by very few suppliers. These materials are usually needed in high technology or military applications.

Particularly materials used in

• High quality magnets used in FPV drones, other small drones, electric vehicles and in missile maneuvering motors
• High quality batteries
• Super alloys

These minerals or materials maybe in various states in the supply chain

• Reserves unexplored
• Reserves known
• Ores being mined
• Ores refined to an intermediate mineral
• Minerals refined to a directly usable state (like sponge form for titanium)
• Minerals converted to ingots
• Minerals converted to alloys
• Alloys converted to blank forms used in industries, like sheets, bars, discs (like for turbine blisks), powder for additive manufacturing

A sub category of critical materials is defined as Rare Earth Minerals which consist of 17 minerals that are only mined and refined by a few nations.

China practically dominates the world market for most of these minerals.

Critical raw materials - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Rare-earth element - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Zafer]

Antimony - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Antimony is what makes soft lead bullets harder. Your 9mm bullet has 5-28 % antimony in it. A hard cast lead bullet if also heat treated can penetrate a bear's hard scull while ordinary solf bullets won't. China started sanctioning antimony starting a few months ago.

 

[Zafer]

How Much Control China Has Over the World’s Critical Minerals

China dominates the world’s critical minerals, as the largest supplier of more than half of key materials.

www.visualcapitalist.com

 

[Ripley]

How Much Control China Has Over the World’s Critical Minerals

China dominates the world’s critical minerals, as the largest supplier of more than half of key materials.

www.visualcapitalist.com

@Zafer could you please try uploading again maybe. i can’t see the image.

EDIT: Thank you. It’s back on

 

[Zafer]

The 50 Minerals Critical to U.S. Security

This graphic lists all minerals that are deemed critical to both the economic and national security of the United States.

www.visualcapitalist.com

 

[Zafer]

US and China made a verbal agreement that will suspend China's REE exports ban for a year. This ban hurts the magnet sector the most. Both civilian and military are affected. The agreement is not inked and it is yet to be seen if it will be exercised.

Meanwhile Türkiye has all the mineral reserves used in the making of these magnets and extraction efforts are underway.