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Hard Metals are a group of materials more commonly known as cemented carbides. They consist of mixtures of one or more of the finely divided carbides of tungsten, titanium, tantalum and vanadium embedded in a matrix of cobalt or nickel by sintering. Widely used for cutting tools where for many applications they have replaced conventional high speed steels.
Tungsten
Tungsten ore is a light-gray to white metal that is the hardest of all metals and one of the heaviest of all elements. It is used for a diverse range of commercial, industrial and military applications. Tungsten is used as a substitute for lead in bullets, for lamp filaments and in tools used to drill or cut rock and concrete.
Tungsten is usually mined underground. Scheelite/Wolframite is frequently located in rather narrow veins which are slightly inclined and often widen with depth. Open pit mines exist but are rare. Usually processed at the mine site using crushing and grinding to liberate mineral grains, followed by gravity separation to produce tungsten concentrates. These concentrates are then sold and processed chemically to produce ammonium paratungstate (APT), which is the main tungsten intermediate product.
Tungsten has the highest melting point of all metallic elements and expands at nearly the same rate as borosilicate glass and is used to make metal-to-glass seals. Tungsten is also used as a target for X-ray production, as heating elements in electric furnaces and for parts of spacecraft and missiles which must withstand high temperatures.
Tungsten Prices
Tungsten prices are usually quoted per metric ton unit ("MTU" -- one hundredth of a metric ton of 1,000 kilograms) of contained tungsten trioxide (WO3). One MTU contains 10 kilograms of WO3 or 7.93 kilograms of tungsten ("W").
Molybdenum
Molybdenum in its pure state is silvery white in color, fairly soft, and has one of the highest melting points of all pure elements. In small quantities, molybdenum is effective at hardening steel.
Historically, molybdenum has been used in the manufacture of pipelines, automobiles, and electronics. The world's steel industry consumes about 75% of molybdenum production. The remaining 25% is used for lubricants, hydro-cracking catalysts for oil-refining and high temperature applications.
Molybdenum (moly) is necessary in the manufacture of all types of stainless steel as it directly impacts shelf life and corrosion resistance. Modern, high-grade moly charged stainless steels are used in various demanding applications including marine shipbuilding steels, architecture, building and construction, home and industrial food and beverage processing, home appliance manufacture, power, water and waste water handling, and chemical processing.
As North American infrastructures are improved and conventional building materials replaced or enhanced with stainless steel, the demand for molybdenum is increasing dramatically. In leapfrog economies like Asia and India, moly-reinforced stainless is a primary building material of choice. In North American highway and bridge construction, stainless rebar is incrementally replacing the more corrosive iron rebar -- extending road, bridge and structural life considerably.
New developments in the use of molybdenum include fuel cells, nuclear reactor fuel, coal liquefaction and nuclear reactor vessel walls.
Global production shortfalls for molybdenum have reached double digit proportions and increase annually. For molybdenum, once the ugly duckling metal, the future is bright.
Molybdenum Price
Molybdenum prices have increased from a low of about $2/pound in 2000, to about $25/pound as of June 2006, down from a high of $40/pound in May of 2005, and dropping to about $15/pound in early 2009
Spotlight on Molybdenum
- 21st century metal used in stainless steel manufacture
- 10% production shortfall globally, grows by 4% annually
- Asian smelter groups desperate for long-term supply of smelter feed concentrates
- Record high prices reflects popularity and supply shortfall
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