American Elements Announces 2nd Annual Top Five "Endangered Elements" That Will Gravely Affect US Manufacturing

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- There will be no more "Made in the USA," with millions of jobs lost if the United States doesn't start mining and stock piling certain strategic metals, according to Alisha A. Ahern, co-director of the Academics & Periodicals Department at American Elements, the global chemical and metals manufacturer which published the list. Today the company released its annual top five Endangered Elements List (EEL) of metals that can upset American Industry.

American Elements funds preparation of an annual EEL to help manufacturers, the government and consumers better understand the gravity of the situation.  Twenty-first century metals such as copper, iron, nickel and tin have given way to critical metals, particularly the rare earths of which the US mines almost none.

"Today China mines a whopping 97 percent of all global rare earth production. America no longer has the resources to manufacture the things we invent," says Ahern. "Advanced metals like Niobium and Yttrium have become essential to thousands of household goods including computers, cell phones and cars. If we lose access or run out of these elements, there will be no more 'made in the USA.' "

According to American Elements CEO Michael Silver, this list goes to America's fundamental ability to generate prosperity, create jobs, defend itself and compete in the global economy. He adds, "Innovation is in fact only the starting point. To manufacture the products flowing from great ideas, a nation must also have access to the critical materials on which the discoveries are based."

The 2012 Endangered Elements List (EEL) describes this year's top five metals that can affect America's success in the 21st century.

2012 ENDANGERED ELEMENTS LIST

#5 NIOBIUM

Niobium is an essential ingredient in structural steel. It increases steel's strength and toughness. It is also used extensively in the super alloys from which jet engines are produced making it critical to the U.S. military and aerospace industries. Yet at present a single nation produces virtually all of the world's niobium. That nation is Brazil which last year produced 58,000 of the 63,000 total tons produced worldwide. Should Brazil suddenly discontinue niobium exports due to worker strikes, for political reasons or other events, it would have an immediate dramatic impact on global steel production. At present the U.S. produces no niobium importing 100% of its annual consumption in spite of the fact that one of the world's largest proven niobium deposits is located in Nebraska (Elk Creek Mine owned by Quantum Rare Earth Development Corp.)

#4 ANTIMONY

All car batteries, commonly referred to as lead-acid batteries, contain antimony to improve their charging ability.  And this accounts for less than 20% of antimony's uses. In the form of antimony oxide, it is an essential ingredient in flame retardants required for fire protection. For the U.S. auto industry to compete with other newly emerging national auto industries, such as China's, America will require a ready access to antimony. Yet America produces no antimony and 90% of the world's antimony production comes only from China.

#3 STRONTIUM

Most only know strontium due to Strontium 90, an isotope of the element that is produced in nuclear fission reactions and is therefore a major component in the nuclear fallout from an atomic bomb blast. However, few know that strontium in the form of strontium nitrate is the propellant that causes air bags in cars to open. It is also heavily used in ceramic and glass production. Yet again the U.S. is 100% reliant on foreign producers, with 2 countries- China and Spain- controlling most of its production.

#2 PLATINUM

If you look at a periodic table you might note that all the metals found in a jewelry store are touching each other in a little island in the center. Gold, silver, platinum and palladium form a class of metals we commonly call the "precious metals" because unlike most other metals they always remain shiny and lustrous. However, they also share other even more significant properties for industry and science. They constitute the catalysts which run much of our modern industrial world. Look hard enough in the catalytic converter on your family car and you will find platinum, gold and/or palladium. We can make neither food nor energy without these precious metal catalysts. And these metals have far greater pressure on their availability and cost than other metals which derive their value based solely on their industrial importance. Precious metals have the additional demand pressure that comes from their inherent monetary value. Emerging nations such as India are consuming record volumes of gold simply for investment or decorative purposes. Yet, for example, the U.S. produces almost none of its platinum consumption. Nearly all of the world's platinum production coming from one country—South Africa—and much of the balance from Russia. The two countries combined account for 86% of world production. The heavy future demand for precious metals, particularly platinum, as catalysts in industry and as safe havens of choice for emerging wealth will put significant pressure on their availability in the future.

#1 YTTRIUM

The number of state of the art technologies that require yttrium are too many to list here. The toughest hardest commercial ceramic material known to man is made with yttrium (YSZ). YSZ can be found in hundreds of important applications from gas turbine blades to dental crowns. Like many advanced elements, when combined with other elements yttrium has numerous wholly unrelated magical properties that form the basis for future billion dollar industries. It is ionically conductive as YSZ which makes it the electrolyte in fuel cells. It is superconducting as yttrium-barium-copper oxide.  Combined with aluminum or iron it forms a garnet that is the crystal in most commercial and medical lasers. Yttrium is in all automobile spark plugs. Access to yttrium will determine which nations will compete in manufacturing many of the innovations of the 21st Century. Yttrium is the last of a group of 17 metals at the very bottom of the periodic table known collectively as the lanthanide series or "rare earths." Each of the rare earth metals has its own unique set of properties that are critical to some future trillion dollar industry. #1 and #2 on last year's EEL were also rare earths (lanthanum and neodymium). Today China mines 97% of all global rare earth production. America presently produces from only one rare earth mine, the recently re-opened Molycorp mine in Mountain Pass, California which was closed in the 1990s. Other U.S. rare earth mines, such as the Ucore mine at Bokan Mountain, Alaska are years from approval unless the federal government and environmentalists can find a way to expedite the approval process.

American Elements is the world's manufacturer of engineered & advanced materials with corporate offices and primary research & laboratory facilities in the United States and manufacturing & warehousing in the United States, China, Mexico and the United Kingdom. www.americanelements.com

SOURCE American Elements