Economic Geology Models 5. Specialty, Critical, Battery, Magnet and Photovoltaic Materials: Market Facts, Projections and Implications for Exploration and Development

Abstract

Many exploration companies are now focusing on specialty materials that are associated with so-called ‘green technology’. These include ‘battery materials’, ‘magnet materials’ and ‘photovoltaic materials’, and many such commodities are also broadly labelled as ‘critical materials’ because they are seen as vital for industrial development, societal needs or national security. The definitions used for such materials are not always consistent among jurisdictions or across industry, and this paper attempts to clarify the criteria and address some common misconceptions. The distinction between major minerals (e.g. base metals) and ‘specialty materials’ (i.e. those mined or produced in much smaller amounts) is particularly important. The markets for many specialty materials are growing faster than those for traditional ferrous, precious and base metals and they are often portrayed as excellent long-term investment opportunities. However, the small market bases for specialty materials and considerable uncertainty around growth projections (especially related to material substitutions and rapid technological change) need to be taken into consideration for objective assessment of the development potential of any proposed project, establishment of new supply chains by major corporations, and responsible decision-making (mineral policy) by government. In the short-term, projects aimed at specialty materials (materials with a small market base) cannot benefit from economy of scale, and their development hinges on commercially proven metallurgical processes, unless they are supported by governments or end-users. Several specialty metals (e.g. germanium, indium, cadmium, and cobalt) are commonly obtained as by-product of base metal extraction. In such cases, systematic testing of base metal ores for their specialty metal content may justify the addition of relevant recovery circuits to existing smelters. If positive results are obtained, the need for targeting new sources of such specialty metals as primary exploration targets may be reduced or eliminated. Where market conditions permit and concerns about the future availability of materials seem reliable, grass-roots exploration for specialty materials is warranted, and pre-competitive government involvement may be justified to promote such development efforts.

Mechanisms of Mg carbonates precipitation and implications for CO2 capture and utilization/storage

“…143 Brucite can be produced from reject brine through the use of alkaline solutions, but the feasibility of the method is dependent of the purity requirements for the obtained brucite, 144 and its commercial applications are mainly as flame retardant, odour control, agricultural feed and additive in Ordinary Portland cement. 143 Mg(OH) 2 is a usual precursor for producing Mg carbonates at high pressures and moderate temperatures, being the final product determined by the employed experimental parameters as reported in several works (Table 9). Many proposed routes for indirect mineral carbonation are performed in two steps of which brucite is extracted from Mg bearing silicate minerals, converted into MgSO 4 and then carbonated.…”

“…However, the global abundance of brucite is difficult to estimate due to the inconsistencies in the reported numbers. 143 Brucite can be produced from reject brine through the use of alkaline solutions, but the feasibility of the method is dependent of the purity requirements for the obtained brucite, 144 and its commercial applications are mainly as flame retardant, odour control, agricultural feed and additive in Ordinary Portland cement. 143 Mg(OH) 2 is a usual precursor for producing Mg carbonates at high pressures and moderate temperatures, being the final product determined by the employed experimental parameters as reported in several works (Table 9).…”

Vanadium as a critical material: economic geology with emphasis on market and the main deposit types

“…Because vanadium belongs to 'specialty' and 'critical' material categories (Simandl et al 2021), the ferrovanadium and V 2 0 5 prices are subject not only to variations reflecting the strength of the global economy, but also to wild fluctuations related to electric power shortages and weather conditions in vanadium producing regions, liquidations of stockpiles by major industrialised countries, shutdowns of individual production facilities, changes in government construction policies, levels of enforcement of environmental regulations, and a variety of other supply risks (Figure 1 (b)). The ferrovanadium price fluctuations show the same pattern as V 2 O 5 .…”

Supplemental Material: Ancient roots of tungsten in western North America

“…Recent disruptions in supply chains have drawn attention to the strategic need to secure local supplies of critical elements (Guan et al, 2020). In this context, identifying prospective locations for critical elements such as tungsten is a global priority (European Commission, 2020;Simandl et al, 2021). The tungsten cycle over Earth's history has been affected by supercontinent assembly and breakup (Romer and Kroner, 2016), the evolution of early life (Kletzin and Adams, 1996), and crustal melting and differentiation (Candela and Bouton, 1990).…”