Critical Raw Materials (CRMs), also known as Critical Resource Materials, are raw materials that are economically and strategically important, but that also have a high risk of supply disruption. CRMs are essential…
Category: Industrial Metals
What Are The Platinum Group Metals (PGMs)? Critical Raw Materials
International bodies including the U.S. National Research Council, European Commission, and British Geological Survey have consistently identified PGMs as among the most critical raw materials essential for economic and national security. The…
Interesting Facts About Iridium: A Critical Raw Material
Iridium is one of the six platinum-group elements discovered in 1803, possessing exceptional physical and chemical properties including extreme resistance to wear, tarnishing, and chemical attack, and the ability to withstand high…
Interesting Facts About Osmium: A Critical Raw Material
Osmium’s classification as a critical raw material by the United States in 2022 and inclusion in the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act IEAUSGS reflects growing recognition of its strategic importance. The…
Interesting Facts About Palladium: A Critical Raw Material
The economic implications of palladium’s criticality are profound. When supply disruptions occur, entire automotive production lines can halt – as seen during 2020 when semiconductor shortages combined with PGM supply issues to…
Interesting Facts About Rhodium: A Critical Raw Material
Rhodium stands out as one of the most critical raw materials globally due to an exceptional combination of factors: extreme supply concentration, irreplaceable industrial applications, unprecedented price volatility, and severe supply chain…
Interesting Facts About Ruthenium: A Critical Raw Material
Ruthenium represents a perfect storm of criticality: extreme geographic concentration in politically and economically volatile regions, complete dependence on byproduct recovery, irreplaceable industrial applications, no viable substitutes, limited recycling potential, and a…
Interesting Facts About Rubidium: A Critical Raw Material
Rubidium, considered a specialty metal, was discovered in 1861 but had extremely limited industrial use until the 1920s. Small quantities of rubidium-containing minerals were mined in the United States prior to the…
Interesting Facts About Strontium: A Critical Raw Material
Strontium commonly occurs in nature, averaging 0.034% of all igneous rock; only two minerals, celestite (strontium sulfate) and strontianite (strontium carbonate), however, contain strontium in sufficient quantities to make its recovery practical….
Interesting Facts About Tantalum: A Critical Raw Material
Tantalum (Ta) is ductile, easily fabricated, highly resistant to corrosion by acids, and a good conductor of heat and electricity and has a high melting point. The major use for tantalum,…