Economic relationships and market trends of the rare earths
Abstract This paper considers the market trends of the rare earths and how they are strongly influenced by the by-product/co-product nature of their mining and processing. The two main economic minerals for the rare earths are bastnasite and monazite. Monazite is primarily a by-product of mining ilmenite and rutile and is affected by changes in these markets as well as the presence of thorium. Bastnasite is a byproduct of mining iron ore in China and a stand-alone product in the USA. The paper will use conceptional relationships and empirical data to delineate the various by-products/co-products relationships and how they determine observed market behavior.
Rare earth metals: a strategic concern
Rare earth metals are important inputs into the development and manufacturing of many green and high-tech products. It is an international strategic concern that much of the supply chain for rare earth metals is based in China. This paper looks at issues involving the availability of rare earth metals, its use, China’s involvement, and pricing to better understand the strategic issues and their impact. It is concluded that the major need is to develop rare earth metal processing and use capacity outside of China. However, this will not be easy to do because of economic and social factors.
On the selectivity of palladium catalysts in synthesis gas reactions
Abstract Reactions of CO H 2 mixtures have been studied on a series of Pd SiO 2 catalysts (2 wt% Pd) with and without a promoting additive. Mg and La compounds were used as promoters. It appeared that promoters (i) influence the activity of the catalysts and (ii) increase the selectivity for “oxygenates” and suppress the selectivity for CH 4 . The activity for methanol synthesis is linearly correlated with the amount of Pd extractable from the reduced and used catalysts as Pd-acetylacetonate. Since it is known that promoters also create a new type of ionic adsorption center for CO and NO adsorption, it is concluded that Pd “ions” are indeed the centers for activation of CO toward methanol whereas Pd metal supplies hydrogen atoms for hydrogenation.