The Elements of Innovation Discovered

Articles from the April 10, 2024 edition


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  • Syrah Resources' Balama Graphite operation in Mozambique.

    Syrah and Indonesia's big graphite deal

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 11, 2024

    Syrah makes large natural graphite sale to Indonesia, steps closer to developing a battery anode global supply chain outside of China. Syrah Resources has delivered a 10,000 metric ton shipment of natural graphite fines from its flagship Balama graphite operation in Mozambique to BTR New Energy Materials in Indonesia, its first large volume natural graphite sale to a battery supply chain participant outside of China. This sale follows an initial trial container shipment to...

  • Computer grapic of charger being plugged into EV on a photo of wind turbines.

    DOE puts $75M into domestic minerals

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 11, 2024

    U.S. Department of Energy is funding a Critical Materials Supply Chain Research Facility support a resilient and secure domestic supply chain. The Department of Energy is funding a Critical Materials Supply Chain Research Facility that will help support a secure domestic supply of minerals and materials critical to economic prosperity, national security, and the green energy transition in the U.S. This week, the DOE's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM)...

  • ABTC workers overlooking production at recycling facility.

    IRS grants $40M in tax credits to ABTC

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 11, 2024

    Evaluation conducted by DOE finds American Battery Technology Company prime candidate to build another recycling facility in U.S. Having earned an initial $20 million tax credit award under the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Tax Credit, otherwise known as 48C, American Battery Technology Company has been selected for an additional $40.5 million to support the design and construction of a new, next-generation commercial battery recycling facility within the United States....

  • Blue-gloved hand holding a solar cell prototype.

    Selenium solar may hit 40% efficiency

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 11, 2024

    Researchers in Denmark are experimenting with a selenium–silicon tandem solar cell. While an increasingly common clean energy resource for individual homes and grid-scale production alike, solar cells are shockingly inefficient – at best capturing less than 30% of the energy from the sunlight that strikes them. Rasmus Nielsen and his team of physicists and engineers at the Technical University of Denmark have found a possible method to boost that efficiency to 40% by cre...

  • A globe-shaped balloon centered over North America.

    American helium shortage at turning point

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 11, 2024

    Pulsar's timely discovery of a massive helium deposit in Minnesota may keep our medical scanners, rockets, and nuclear reactors going. Despite being the second most abundant gas in the universe, there is a definite helium shortage in America, risking the operation of everything from medical diagnostics to cooling nuclear reactors. But the U.S. might finally be in luck – a recently discovered reservoir in Minnesota boasts concentrations pushing 13.8%, the highest the i...

  • Perseverance Mars rover taking a selfie on Mars.

    Perseverance drills exciting Martian sample

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 18, 2024

    The 24th sample taken by the six-wheeled scientist offers new clues about Jezero Crater and the lake it may have once held. As of April 4, Perseverance has been active on Mars for 1,110 sols or three years, one month, and 17 days in Earth time since its landing. In that time, the lonely rover collected 24 samples, but the latest embodies exactly why NASA sent the six-wheeled scientist to the Red Planet. The mission of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is to focus on... Full story

  • SpaceX Bandwagon-1 Mission launch at T-plus-two-seconds with telemetry.

    Fleet Space mineral exploration rockets

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 16, 2024

    Centauri-6 delivers upgrades and optimizations to constellation of satellites that enable Fleet Space's ExoSphere mineral exploration tech. The payload of SpaceX Falcon 9 launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 7 included a next-generation Centauri-6 satellite that will upgrade and expand upon Fleet Space Technologies' constellation of low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites that are playing a vital role in exploring Earth for the minerals needed for the clean...

  • Sodium-ion batteries next to the periodic symbol for sodium.

    Improving sodium-ion batteries with graphene

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 9, 2024

    Researchers find way to make crack-free nanocellular graphene to upgrade low-cost sodium-ion energy storage systems. Looking to solve a critical failure during the manufacture of nanocellular graphene, researchers from Tohoku University in Japan have discovered that by using this specialized form of graphene in a dealloying process effectively "heals" the cracks formed during its making. Ever since its discovery in 2004, graphene has been revolutionizing the field of... Full story

  • Two men in safety gear collect water samples from a stream.

    US offers $1.8B loan for antimony mine

    Shane Lasley|Updated Apr 9, 2024

    Perpetua Resources receives Stibnite Gold Mine debt financing letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) has extended an offer to loan Perpetua Resources Corp. $1.8 billion to fund the development of a mine at Stibnite Gold, which would round out an all-of-government effort to establish the historic project in Idaho as a future domestic source of antimony critical to America's economic and national...

  • A vial of gold being held above a pile of discarded circuit boards.

    Extracting green gold, PGMs from waste

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 5, 2024

    Researchers develop a highly efficient and selective method of extracting precious metals from e-waste, catalytic converters, and ore. Scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a cleaner and more efficient method of recovering gold and platinum group metals (PGMs) from electronic waste and other discarded materials. Even though it costs anywhere from $925 to $4,500 to buy just one ounce of these precious metals, gold and PGMs have special... Full story