Mwangala Mwangala of class 7B, 11 years old, in clean school uniform, steps forward in front of all his teachers, clears his throat, and stands in front of the…
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CrucibleThe Crucible: May 2018
*10% Discount for MMTA Members for CRU Ryan’s Notes Ferroalloys Europe 2018*
MEMBER DISCOUNT Meet the right people, at the right time, in the right place, at the right price. CRU Ryan’s Notes Ferroalloys Europe 2018 is the leading European-focused ferroalloys trading…
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2018年4月11日至13日，由MMTA主办，Metal Events承办的2018年MMTA国际小金属贸易协会年度峰会在加拿大蒙特利尔成功举办。本次峰会的主题是“全球小金属的市场发展以及小金属行业的前景” 。来自欧洲，北美，南美及亚洲等300余位嘉宾参会。
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CrucibleThe Crucible: June 2018A pinch of salt containing minor metals can improve battery performance
MMTA alumnus, Tiesheng Wang (王铁胜), has found a simple way to fabricate a family of regular 3-D carbon-based materials by soaking solutions of metal salts with supramolecular sponges then baking…
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Our MMTA Charity, Friends of Mufulira (FOM), arises out of The Minor Metals Trade Association’s wish to publicly recognize the communities in developing countries upon which we all depend for…
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Commercially available since the 1970s, the lithium-ion battery is now the workhorse power source in many applications. It can be found in cell phones, laptops and electric vehicles. Yet, much…
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Against the backdrop of the recent speech by Theresa May outlining the UK government’s aspirations for Brexit, and President Trump’s tweeted warnings of tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to…
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It has been over 2 years since the British public voted to leave the EU, but the last weeks have seen activity ramping up significantly. With Brexit Secretary David Davis’s…
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A former manager for Microsoft Corp in China has been named as the first Executive Secretary of the Responsible Cobalt Initiative (RCI), which works to address social and environmental risks…
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Sales of new-energy passenger vehicles in China amounted to over 92,000 units in May, up 140% year-on-year and up 30% month-on-month, according to wholesale data from China Passenger Car Association (CPCA)…
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COBALT: What about small scale miners? In global markets the price of cobalt, used in batteries for high-tech products from phones to cars , has nearly tripled to $81,500 a…
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‘The United States must not remain reliant on foreign competitors like Russia and China for the critical minerals needed to keep our economy strong and our country safe’ The signing…
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This year’s 24th CRU Ryan’s Notes Ferroalloys conference will take place 21-23 October 2018 at The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, Orlando, FL, USA. Widely considered the largest and most important ferroalloys networking…
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第24届CRU Ryan’s Notes Ferroalloys Conference 将于2018年10月21日至23日在美国弗洛里达州奥兰多The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress举行。
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CrucibleThe Crucible: June 2018
Densified wood to challenge metal? Cheaper than composites and as strong as titanium?
Wood has been used for millennia for building and has some great technical properties. It has, however, some drawbacks that have barred it from certain applications until now. Its most…
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Derek John BENHAM was born in Enfield on 20 November 1952. As a child he had an amateur radio license, and a large aerial at the bottom of the family…
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CrucibleThe Crucible: May 2018Does Metal Use Slow When a Country’s Wealth Grows? Maybe Not, Study Shows
It is widely believed that a nation’s metal use plateaus when that country’s gross domestic product (GDP) reaches a threshold of $15,000 per person; with rising affluence, the theory goes,…
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The MMTA’s chosen charity, ‘Friends of Mufulira’, now has an account on AmazonSmile. AmazonSmile is a platform that allows you to support a charity of your choice at no extra…
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From the Earth’s Core It is possible to imagine that when the Earth first began, it looked a lot like the geothermal region in the North Island of New Zealand.…
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In research that could lead to better gas mask filters, scientists at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have been putting the X-ray spotlight on composite…
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Hazardous e-waste material exported from the affluent developed world continues to plague cities in developing countries. The city of Moradabad, home to 900,000 people, was once celebrated as the brass…
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CrucibleThe Crucible: July/August 2018How recycling more steel and aluminium could slash imports without a trade war
Many economists expect President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported steel and aluminium to increase what American companies and consumers pay for those metals and the goods made from them. Dozens of…
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Materials comparison website lists properties of Marvel’s magical material Have you ever wondered just how strong Black Panther’s suit or Captain America’s shield is? The materials scientists at Matmatch have,…
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Researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology have successfully tested a new material that can be used for cheap and large-scale production of hydrogen – another promising alternative to fossil…
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Indium Phosphide Under RoHS Review The MMTA recently coordinated industry input to the EU’s RoHS Consultation on indium phosphide (InP), which was included in the list of seven…
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The MMTA was pleased to interview the CEO of Matmatch, Melissa Albeck, to find out more about materials selection and how technology can help. Can you tell us a bit…
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A team of researchers from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, led by Professor Milan Brandt, are using laser metal deposition technology to build and repair defence aircraft parts in a…
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China has recently released its new trade policies. These policy changes will significantly impact foreign and multinational companies doing business with China. In order to support our MMTA member companies…
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Dear Members Here’s wishing all members everywhere a very happy spring! We here in the U.S., and I believe, those of you in the UK seem to be some way…
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CrucibleThe Crucible: June 2018
LETTER FROM NORTH AMERICA – From Critical Materials to Conflict Minerals
Dear Members And, now, here we are at the end of May. Time continues to fly by so speedily. The weather in New York has not quite broken yet for…
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Letter from North America: Morocco With an Observation on Rare Earths in Russia and Further Observations on Certain Mineral Resources in Morocco and Western Sahara Dear Members I trust…
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Anthony Lipmann talks to new MMTA Chairman, Simon Boon Close to the site of the two cooling towers over the Don Valley just outside Sheffield (that briefly had the honour…
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CrucibleThe Crucible: April 2018Meet the new ‘renewable superpowers’: nations that boss the materials used for wind and solar
Imagine a world where every country has not only complied with the Paris climate agreement but has moved away from fossil fuels entirely. How would such a change affect global…
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Metalshub takes commodity trading into the digital age It’s not the first time that there has been attempt to ‘digitalise’ minor metals trading, but traditional practices have endured. Now Metalshub…
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This year’s MMTA International Minor Metals Conference was not only exceptionally well attended, with over 300 delegates, but the speaker programme was also outstanding. New MMTA Chairman Simon Boon of…
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Elemental Metals 于2017年4月成立，是供给航空、医药、电子及珠宝市场的高纯度元素原料、合金、氧化物和特种化学品的供应商。
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陕西华钼实业有限公司于2005年在西安市蓝田县工业园投资建设占地面积4万余平方米的大型现代化钼产品生产基地，是国内知名钼金属加工、深加工、销售全产业链企业。
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CrucibleThe Crucible: February - March 2018NASA Armstrong tests nickel-titanium shape-memory alloy for folding aircraft wings padlock
NASA Armstrong tests nickel-titanium shape-memory alloy for folding aircraft wings January 2018 Source: ASM International NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB, Calif., announces a recent series of flight tests in…
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CrucibleThe Crucible: May 2018
New EU ‘Urban Mining’ Tools Map Valuable Resources in e-Waste, Scrap Vehicles, Mine Waste
Standardized, consolidated data helps to identify recovery potential of secondary raw materials worth € billions wasted annually. Expert organizations have united to create the first European database of valuable materials…
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NEW MMTA MEMBER Elemental Metals Elemental Metals was formed back in April 2017. We are a competitive supplier of high purity elemental raw materials, alloys, oxides and specialty chemicals to…
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Shaanxi Head-Moly Industry Co., Ltd. was established in 2005 in Shaanxi Province, China, it is an integrated enterprise which combines molybdenum metal production, processing, sales and export. Our products include…
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CrucibleThe Crucible: June 2018
Newly discovered copper and graphite combo could lead to more efficient lithium-ion batteries
A first-of-its-kind copper and graphite combination discovered in basic energy research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory could have implications for improving the energy efficiency of lithium-ion batteries,…
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Can a seller terminate if a letter of credit is not opened on time? In a recent arbitration decision a tribunal rejected the general principle that the obligation on a buyer…
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CrucibleThe Crucible: July/August 2018OBITUARY- MR. K. ALEXANDER STEWART ASSOCIATE AND FELLOW OF ROYAL INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY
The MMTA team were sad to learn of the passing of long-standing MMTA Member, Alex Stewart. OBITUARY- MR. K. ALEXANDER STEWART ASSOCIATE AND FELLOW OF ROYAL INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY Company…
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CrucibleThe Crucible: June 2018Radical closed-wing aircraft design could see greener skies take flight
An artist’s view of the PrandtlPlane shows what future commercial aircrafts could look like. Image credit – Vittorio C/ University of Pisa, Italy, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 Aviation…
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The European Commission has finally published the delayed second REACH review (REACH REFIT Evaluation) – Expected in June 2017. The results of the assessment have been presented in a Commission…
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CrucibleThe Crucible: July/August 2018Roskill’s Tantalum 2018 Conference 25-26 September 2018- 10% off for MMTA members
Roskill’s inaugural Tantalum 2018 Conference will take place on 25-26 September at the Tower Hotel, London This is an unmissable event for all companies involved in the tantalum industry. By…
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CrucibleThe Crucible: May 2018Sweden’s new road powers electric vehicles – what’s the environmental impact?
Sweden has built the first smart road that will allow electric vehicles to charge as they drive. The eRoadArlanda pilot scheme, which covers two kilometres of road outside Stockholm, is an…
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CrucibleThe Crucible: July/August 2018T.I.C.’s 59th General Assembly (AGM and conference) 14-17 October 2018
This year’s 59th T.I.C. General Assembly (AGM and conference) will take place 14-17 October 2018 at Marriott Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda. Widely considered the largest and most important tantalum and niobium networking event…
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On May 7 1813, when Argentina was beginning the process of beoming a sovereign country, the first Argentinian law for the promotion of mining was sanctioned. The day has now…
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LETTER FROM NORTH AMERICA Towards a Global Open Material Stocks and Flows Database Dear Members So, the end of July. We seem to be very much into a traditional summer…
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Toyota says it has invented a new magnet for high-energy applications such as electric motors that uses a fraction of the amount of neodymium of a standard iron, boron, neodymium (NdFeB) magnet.…
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What does the re-imposition of United States sanctions on Iran mean for business outside the US? On one view, the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)…
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1. The US Top-Up tariff is likely to cut China’s mineral exports. After the US announced on July 11 that China would be charged an additional 10% import tariff, China’s…
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Economic acrimony has been bubbling between the US and China since Donald Trump became president. Now the tensions have boiled over into escalating tit-for-tat announcements of tariffs on key imports. This…
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这是世界上公开展示的最大辉锑矿标本，具有数百个独立的片状晶体，令人叹为观止。辉锑矿是一种含有锑和硫的矿物。2003 年，这个近半吨重的标本从中国东南部的武陵矿中运出。由于晶体是在地下的大洞穴中形成的，因此得以成长至让人印象深刻的长度。这种长度的完整辉锑矿晶体极为罕见。更常见的情况是，采矿者会发现大块的辉锑矿矿床，但其中只有很少量独立的晶体。之后这些矿石被粉碎并“烘烤”，这是提炼锑的过程。这种金属可用于制造发动机轴承、火柴、半导体、陶瓷釉和某些药物。
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尊敬的各位会员， 在此春回大地之际，祝愿大家万事如意！ 很遗憾，当您看到此篇文章时，已时过境迁。美国内政部关于“美国经济与国家安全相关的关键矿物清单“的征集意见截止时间是在3月19日。此前内政部在对此清单征集意见[i]（然而这篇文章的发表时间是3月18日星期天上午11点，已经收到了461条意见）。
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尊敬的各位会员， 光阴似箭，转眼已到五月底。纽约的天气虽然还没有进入夏季，不过气候已逐渐炎热和潮湿。 为了安全起见，我最好不要谈及特朗普先生和他对钢铝的关税政策。因为我相信，最好由专家来评论为好，特别是从一开始就没有如此强烈反对，反对将关税的整个概念作为谈判“武器”的人。我们只需静观其变。只是，对那些在英国和欧洲喜爱波旁威士忌酒的人我感到深深的抱歉（欧盟对美国实施的铝钢进口关税反击，包括向摩托车和波旁威士忌等加征关税）。
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们太阳系外的气态行星“热木星”的透射光谱中，首次发现重金属氧化物。 该行星 WASP-19b 和木星一样大，但是温度却高出很多，达到 2000K 左右。之前，科学家通过分析来自类似行星的光，发现了这些行星中有氢、氧、碳、钠、钾等较轻的元素，但从未发现过较重的元素。 使用欧洲南方天文台的巨型望远镜和 FORS2 光谱仪在智利圣地亚哥附近检测来自 WASP-19b 的光。天文学家使用各种模型来解释光谱，并找到了与氧化钛 (Titanium) 以及金属钠和水相对应的峰值。 他们表示，氧化钛的存在可能会改变该行星的不透明性，这可能会导致大气中出现强烈的昼夜温差。同时也可能引起大气温度的变化，通过高精度仪器探测来自该热木星和其他热木星的热辐射，在将来或许哈勃太空望远镜或詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜可以找到答案。 来源：《自然》 By ESO/M. Kornmesser – https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1729a/, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62429212 在巨大的外行星高温大气层中检测到氧化钛 was last modified:…
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特朗普的推特已经变成了今日政治的一股“主流”。谁知道每个星期的推特马拉松会为全球关系带来什么？ 三月伊始，特朗普便宣布将对进口到美国的钢和铝分别征收25%和10%的关税。“美国优先”已然行动起来，但这一举动是否会对经济造成意想不到的后果呢？ 首先值得注意的是，这项关税措施针对的是任何出口钢和铝的国家，而非仅仅是那些在美国市场上试图“倾销”不公平补贴产品的国家。批评声音认为钢和铝产业并没有遭遇任何会影响到“保护”关税的具体威胁。澳大利亚总理发推文声明澳大利亚将被免除关税，于是剩下欧盟忐忑不安，所幸最后关头游说组织说服特朗普延缓对欧洲实行此项关税。
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美国对伊朗实施的制裁对美国以外的业务意味着什么？ 有一种观点认为，美国退出伊朗核协议（JCPOA）的变化很小。虽然根据联合国安理会第2231（2015）号决议的规定，所有与伊朗核计划有关的联合国制裁，多边和国内制裁措施都将于2016年1月16日之前取消，但是美国的重要制裁仍存在，即使奥巴马总统在2016年1月16日签署了执行伊朗核协议的行政命令。
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一份最新的报告显示，电动车在其使用寿命内所排放的温室气体比柴油发动机少得多，即使电动车是由碳强度最高的能源驱动。 比利时布鲁塞尔自由大学 (VUB) 进行的车辆全生命周期模拟研究发现，在大量使用煤炭的波兰，电动车的排放量比柴油车少 1/4。 瑞典有着欧洲最清洁的电网。其二氧化碳排放量大幅降低了 85%，是英国等国家的一半左右。 T＆E 智库发言人 Yoann Le Petit 表示：“到 2030 年，电动车的平均二氧化碳排放量将减少至柴油车的一半，当中包括制造过程的排放量。” “在过去一年中，我们接收到很多由燃料行业发布的电气化方面的假新闻，但在此项研究中，可以看到，即使在今天的波兰，驾驶电动车比柴油车对气候更有利。” 这项新研究使用了欧盟对波兰排放量的估计值 650gCO2/kWh，这远低于去年欧盟委员会联合研究中心科学部门的计算结果。
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减重是直升机选材的关键考虑因素。复合材料得到广泛使用，并在直升机总重量中占很高的百分比，尤其是在军用直升机中。但对于某些部位，金属材料仍然是工程师的首选；在成本和可靠性等关键问题上，金属占有绝对的优势。
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在靠近谢菲尔德市的两个冷却塔处，一座新的纪念雕像即将建成。 这座被称为钢铁侠的纪念雕像由罗瑟勒姆委员会委托，将被设计成一座坐在黑色煤炭石板基座上的坐姿雕像，象征着谢菲尔德自Harry Brearley发明不锈钢以来，这100年来钢铁的发展。作为纪念雕像的一部分，一个宽2.5米，长3米的钢心将放置在建筑内。
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研究人员发现，液态金属滴可以变成雪花状。 当美国北卡罗莱纳州立大学的一个科学家小组试图用液态镓铟作为电化学电池中的电极时，他们发现了奇怪的现象：在几秒钟内，金属开始扩散成雪花状。液态镓铟具有液体中最大表面张力，其形态很少发生改变，因此这是极不寻常的现象。 但施加中等电压会引起镓合金与周围电解质（氢氧化钠水溶液）之间的反应。金属表面出现氧化并降低了表面张力，就如肥皂会降低水的表面张力一样。当重力将金属扩散成圆盘状，表面的干扰会将其分解成一片片的“雪花”。“雪花”继续变化，分裂出更多的碎片，形成图案。 参考文献 C B Eaker 等，《物理评论快报》2017, 119, 174502 (DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.174502)