The Elements of Innovation Discovered

Articles from the April 24, 2024 edition


Sorted by date  Results 1 - 12 of 12

  • Front view of an electric Epiroc underground mine truck connected to a trolley.

    Trolley helps electrify underground mining

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 3, 2024

    Zero-carbon underground mines of the future take step closer to reality with first electric truck trolley system. Boliden, Epiroc, and ABB are each known for pushing the envelope of mining innovation and electrification. Now, these companies have pooled their expertise into installing the first fully battery-electric truck underground trolley system on an 800-meter-long test track within Boliden's Kristineberg mine in northern Sweden. "Over the past three years, we have...

  • Couple in hard hats in a cave with a carved stone car.

    OEMs move upstream in metals supply chain

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated May 3, 2024

    Car and battery manufacturers are getting in on the critical minerals mining business. There has been an increasing trend of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for electric vehicles, and the batteries that power them are moving upstream in the global metals supply chain to secure deals for their own feedstocks of critical minerals – entering into mineral offtake agreements directly with mining companies, investing in mining projects, and joint mining ventures. Until r...

  • Fresh poured graphene concrete with a G printed on the corner.

    Premier Graphene reveals stronger concrete

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated May 3, 2024

    Advanced materials firm reports the successful integration of graphene into construction materials. Trailblazing the development of eco-friendly graphene and its integration into the production process of other products, Premier Graphene Inc. has announced the successful incorporation of graphene with construction materials, marking a groundbreaking leap forward in the construction and materials science industries. Founded in 2010, California-based Premier Graphene is a global...

  • Aerial photo of Founders Park at Purdue University.

    Purdue expands patent rights for ReElement

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated May 3, 2024

    Will now extend capability for all feedstocks including rare earth ores. Purdue University has expanded ReElement Technologies Corp.'s exclusive use of the patents for ligand assisted displacement (LAD) chromatography and knowhow for all feedstocks to now include rare earth ores. When ReElement first began to employ the unique technology developed at Purdue, its license covered critical minerals from recycled permanent magnets and lithium-ion batteries, and was capable of...

  • Illustration of Little Miss Muffet in front of e-waste with a bowl of gold.

    Gold's latest big cheese in urban mining

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated May 3, 2024
    1

    An efficient e-waste recycling process is made possible by whey, a byproduct of cheesemaking. Scientists in Switzerland have recovered high-purity gold through a scalable process using food scrap-derived sponges that efficiently adsorb the precious metal from tricky e-waste. The final result is 450 milligrams of 22-carat gold recovered from 20 discarded motherboards. Because the method utilizes industry byproducts, it is doubly sustainable and cost-effective as well. Gold...

  • A circular pile of blue nickel sulfate retrieved from the seafloor.

    World's first nickel sulfate from deep sea

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated May 3, 2024

    The Metals Company and SGS have produced nickel from harvested polymetallic nodules. As part of The Metals Company's (TMC) pilot-scale processing, the world's first nickel sulfate has been produced from polymetallic nodules harvested from the seabed, further solidifying the resource's promise for battery markets. "The production of the world's first nickel sulfate from deep-seafloor nodules is an important milestone, confirming that our custom flowsheet configuration can be de...

  • AI rendering of a satellite orbiting over Earth.

    Satellite subscription service for miners

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 3, 2024

    Hypervine launches a service that allows users to receive unlimited satellite surveys and reports for a low monthly fee. From gaining a detailed overhead view of the predevelopment landscape to grabbing a snapshot of current conditions and monitoring changes over time, satellite imagery is revolutionizing the planning and operations of modern mines. However, the cost for a satellite to take a snapshot of a mine can be high, and many traditional technologies cannot image the gr...

  • A thin sheet of gold leaf resting on a book beside a brush.

    Meet goldene, the first gilded 2D metal

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated May 3, 2024

    Joining the family of monoelemental crystals first set forth by graphene, Swedish researchers successfully develop the first one-atom-thick metal from gold. Meet goldene, the latest addition to the family of xenes – a remarkable lineage of monoelemental crystals that began with graphene. Like its carbon cousin, gold was synthesized down to a thickness of one atom, which now boasts the distinction as the world's thinnest gold leaf. Since the pioneering discovery of e...

  • The globe showing the Pacific Ocean overlaid by statistics.

    Impossible Metals top-rated in green tech

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated May 3, 2024

    You won't find many miners on TIME and Statista's inaugural list of 250 companies reducing environmental impact, but one green mining tech company has arrived. Sailing in alongside several hydrogen producers as one of America's top green-tech companies of 2024, deep-sea mining firm Impossible Metals is one of the rare few resource-related organizations to be granted the honor. This year, TIME launched its inaugural list of America's Top GreenTech Companies from an intensive...

  • Lana Alagha conducting an experiment at Missouri S&T.

    Missouri S&T innovates minerals recovery

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 23, 2024

    Researcher Lana Alagha received $875,000 from Rio Tinto to explore gallium and germanium recovery from copper waste streams. In a landmark development for critical minerals recovery, global mining company Rio Tinto has granted Missouri University of Science and Technology professor Lana Alagha $875,000 for a two-year project that seeks to pioneer novel techniques for extracting the highly sought after critical minerals gallium and germanium from waste generated in copper... Full story

  • Hydrogen symbol over a satellite view of North America at night.

    Is geological hydrogen dead or alive?

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 23, 2024

    With $20 million in DOE funding, MIT and 15 others are carrying out research that will open Schrödinger's box of potentially low-cost source of abundant green energy fuel. Hydrogen is the Schrödinger's Cat of clean energy fuels – it is both an abundant and affordable clean burning gas that fuels the dreams of a green energy future and a scarce element that comes with a carbon footprint that does not justify the cost to produce it. The U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Res... Full story

  • Union Jack flag flying in front of an old building.

    UK critical minerals policy still vulnerable

    K. Warner|Updated Apr 22, 2024

    Dods’ “Vital but Vulnerable: UK Critical Minerals Policy” report cautions that more needs to be done. Dods Political Intelligence, an advisory service, has published a report to provide context and evaluation of current critical mineral policies in the United Kingdom. These are increasingly crucial for contemporary defense manufacturing, which acts as a deterrent against conflict. Meanwhile, global economies in a rush to transition to green industries are going to colle... Full story

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