Publications

Since 1998, the structure of the lead recycling industry has changed and trade patterns of the domestic lead recycling industry have shifted. Although the domestic demand for lead has remained relatively constant since 1998, production of lead has increasingly shifted to the domestic secondary lead industry. The last primary lead smelter in the United States closed at the end of 2013, at...

Arsenic is a gray metal rarely encountered as a free element, but is widely distributed in minerals and ores that contain copper, iron and lead. Arsenic is often found in groundwater as a result of the natural weathering of rock and soil.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) analyzes supply chains to identify and define major components of mineral and material flows from ore extraction, through intermediate forms, to a final product. Two major reasons necessitate these analyses: (1) to identify risks associated with the supply of critical and strategic minerals to the United States and (2) to provide greater supply chain...

The platinum-group elements (PGE) include platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium. These metals have similar physical and chemical properties and occur together in nature. The properties of PGE, such as high melting points, corrosion resistance, and catalytic qualities, make them indispensable to many industrial applications. PGE are strategic and critical materials...

Niobium and tantalum are transition metals almost always paired together in nature. These “twins” are difficult to separate because of their shared physical and chemical properties. In 1801, English chemist Charles Hatchett uncovered an unknown element in a mineral sample of columbite; John Winthrop found the sample in a Massachusetts mine and sent it to the British Museum in London in...

Titanium is the ninth most abundant element in the earth's crust and can be found in nearly all rocks and sediments. It is a lithophile element with a strong affinity for oxygen and is not found as a pure metal in nature. Titanium was first isolated as a pure metal in 1910, but it was not until 1948 that the metal was produced commercially using the Kroll process (named after its...

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