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: Minerals & Metalloids
Interesting Facts About Phosphate Rock: A Critical Raw Material
Phosphorus is an essential element for plant and animal nutrition. Most phosphorus is consumed as a principal component of nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium fertilizers used on food crops throughout the world. Phosphate rock minerals are…
Interesting Facts About Silicon: A Critical Raw Material
Silicon (Si) is a light chemical element that combines with oxygen and other elements to form silicates. Silicon in the form of silicates constitutes more than 25% of the Earth’s crust. Silica…
Interesting Facts About Boron: A Critical Raw Material
Strategic and economic factors have elevated boron’s importance in recent years. The U.S. Department of Defense’s $49.6 million investment under the Defense Production Act to boost domestic boron carbide production underscores its…
25 Interesting Facts About Fluorspar
Fluorspar is the commercial name for fluorite, which is the only fluorine mineral mined at scale. The largest global production of fluorspar is found in China, followed next by Mexico. The number…
20 Interesting Facts About Barite
The largest identified global resources of barite are found in the Qinling and Jiangnan regions of southern China and the Cuddapah district of India. In 2018, China was the largest producer of…
20 Interesting Facts About Antimony
Antimony is an important mineral commodity used widely in modern industrialized societies and considered by many nations to be a Critical Resource Mineral because of its applications in aerospace and defense. There…
20 Interesting Facts About Tellurium
Tellurium is critical to efficient, thin-film photovoltaic cells that produce electricity from sunlight. Several materials can replace tellurium in most of its uses, but with losses in efficiency and product characteristics. With…
20 Interesting Facts About Arsenic
A crystalline metalloid found in minerals such as arsenopyrite, realgar and orpiment, the infamous arsenic has an amazing history – from the time of the Roman Empire to the Victorian era, arsenic…
20 Interesting Facts About Germanium
Germanium, the first element in the periodic table named after a country, has the chemical symbol Ge, the atomic number 32, and is a lustrous metalloid in the carbon group. Germanium is…