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A Headache for Germany: Russian Nickel, Palladium, Chromium Exports
Russian gas and oil are by far the most significant exports Moscow sells to Germany. Yet other important raw materials are also under the spotlight because of the war in Ukraine.
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Ukraine War’s Impact on Critical Materials Supply, Green Energy
The elephant in the room is Europe’s dependence on the vast quantities of hydrocarbons that flow from Russia into Europe, but Putin’s war on Ukraine has the potential to affect many key supply chains for materials that will contribute to the clean energy transition.
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German Auto Industry Alarmed Over Lack of Raw Materials
Critical raw materials from Russia and Ukraine could become increasingly scarce as a result of the conflict. Car industry experts called on the EU to seek new markets and boost the domestic extraction of key metals.
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Giving New Life to Old Concrete Structures Through “Vascularization”
Concrete is a ubiquitous building material, and it is often cited as the most consumed commodity on Earth, second only to potable water. As this inherited concrete infrastructure continues to age, maintaining and repairing concrete is of increasing strategic importance to both defense and civilian infrastructure. DARPA’s BRACE program aims to revitalize legacy DoD infrastructure to extend its serviceability.
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Artificial Intelligence’s Promise: Discovering New Rare-Earth Compounds
Rare earth elements have a wide range of uses including clean energy technologies, energy storage, permanent magnets, defense technology, and much more. Artificial intelligence advances how scientists explore materials, and researchers have developed an AI-based framework for experimenting with compounds and understanding chemical instabilities.
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2022 List of Critical Minerals
The U.S. Geological Survey has released a new list of 50 mineral commodities critical to the U.S. economy and national security. The 2022 list of critical minerals was determined using the most up-to-date scientific methods to evaluate mineral criticality.
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U.S. to Bolster Critical Mineral Supply Chain
The U.S. federal government and private sector are taking actions to bolster the supply chain for rare earths and other critical minerals used in technologies from household appliances and electronics to defense systems. These steps will reduce the U.S. dependence on China, a major producer of these elements.
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U.S. Mines Produced Approximately $90.4 Billion in Mineral Commodities
U.S. mines produced approximately $90.4 billion in mineral commodities in 2021—a $9.7 billion increase over the 2020 revised total of $80.7 billion. Increases in consumption of nonfuel mineral commodities were attributed to the restarting of markets in 2021 following closures due to the global COVID 19 pandemic in the prior year.
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Functionally Graded Material Resistant to Blasts, Fire in buildings
When a bomb goes off or fire breaks out, a building constructed or retrofitted with an engineered composite currently confined to special applications could buy the surviving occupants extra time to get out. Functionally graded material (FGM), a recently developed composite characterized by the gradual variation of material properties across its thickness, is an effective bomb-resistant material in structural uses.
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Demand for Rare Minerals and Metals Creates Eco-Dilemma
The world is crying out for rare minerals for the manufacture of electric cars, wind turbines and other technologies that we simply need more of. But how can we guarantee access to these resources without threatening the natural world and mankind as we know it?
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Selective Separation Could Help Alleviate Shortage of Critical Metals
A new way of processing rare-earth and other key metals to separate them from other materials could reduce environmental impact and cost.
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USGS Seeks Public Comment on Draft List of 50 Critical Minerals
The U.S. defines a “critical mineral” as a non-fuel mineral or mineral material essential to the economic or national security of the U.S. At least every three years, the Department of the Interior is required to review and update the list of critical minerals On Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announced it is seeking public comment by Dec. 9, on a draft revised list of critical minerals.
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Estimates U.S. Recoverable Helium: 306 Billion Cubic Feet
Helium is a lighter-than-air gas that is primarily used in medical imaging such as MRIs, semiconductor manufacturing, laser welding, aerospace, defense and energy programs. The United States is the leading supplier of helium for the world, producing about 44 percent of the total global production. The natural gas reservoirs of the United States contain an estimated 306 billion cubic feet of recoverable helium, according to a new report from the USGS.
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How Big Was the 2020 Beirut Explosion?
On 4 August 2020, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history pulverized a Beirut port and damaged more than half the city. The explosion resulted from the detonation of tons of ammonium nitrate, a combustible chemical compound. The explosive yield estimates varied widely, and in some cases, were inconsistent with what would be expected based on the amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the Beirut harbor.
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The Effect of Imports of Neodymium Magnets on U.S. National Security
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has initiated an investigation to determine the effects on U.S. national security from imports of Neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets.
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More headlines
The long view
Revolutionizing Resource Renewal: Scaling Up Sustainable Recycling for Critical Materials
Permanent magnets, which retain magnetic properties even in the absence of an inducing field or current, are used extensively in clean energy and defense applications. Rare earths are challenging to access because they are scattered across Earth’s crust, yet they are key components in many modern technologies. Recycled rare earths can be used to make new permanent magnets, accelerate chemical reactions and improve the properties of metals when included as alloy components.