Leading rhenium producer Molibdenos y Metales S.A. (Molymet), based in Chile, and Maritime House Metals Inc. of Canada have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore partnering on rhenium recycling, to help meet the growing demand for the metal, particularly from the aerospace industry in the USA, UK, EU, and China.
The two companies, both MMTA members, are looking to establish a 50:50 joint venture to acquire rhenium-bearing materials, including nickel-bearing superalloy scrap and binary alloy scrap, and to process them into ammonium perrhenate (APR, a precursor for rhenium metal as well as rhenium-bearing catalysts) and rhenium metal. This recycling will initially be carried out at one or the other company’s facilities in Chile or Canada, respectively. However, the partners will also evaluate the commercial viability of setting up new processing facilities in North America if the volume of sourced feeds exceeds their current processing capacities. The JV will market and sell finished rhenium products, including APR, rhenium metal pellets, and rhenium powders, and hopes to collaborate with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to supply and recycling solutions.
Rhenium is a critical material used in high-performance applications, particularly in the aerospace industry. With demand projected to, the partners said their JV is poised to play a pivotal role in stabilising the global rhenium market. Rhenium is one of the more rare metal elements, occurring at 0.4 parts per billion in the Earth’s crust. It is a recovered by-product of refining molybdenum, itself a by-product of copper mining, with no primary molybdenum mines in existence.
Rhenium’s primary supply hovers at around 65t/year, while recycling contributes up to another 20t, but its economic sustainability has been challenging, being highly dependent on volatile market pricing. This has left British company Maritime House’s Canadian plant in Napanee, Ontario, as the leading player in this field. Maritime House has also partnered with Kazakhstan’s veteran rhenium APR producer Zhezkazganredmet on developing new technologies for rhenium extraction.
Demand for rhenium is set to rise, driven not least by space programmes, with China buying up quantities in recent years close to Chile’s annual production. Rhenium content has been possible to reduce but not replace in ensuring creep resistance in single crystal nickel-based superalloys that enable modern aircraft engine high pressure turbines to run at temperatures upward of 1,500°C that ensure efficient fuel burn. HPT blade material design choices instead point to increased rhenium use. Extreme heat resistance is also what creates the need for rhenium in coatings and claddings for rocket engines. Meanwhile, in petroleum cracking catalysts, rhenium’s potential substitutes are costlier platinum group metals.
