Technological innovation has blessed us with many wonderful, modern gadgets, but have you ever considered what metals and minerals are used to power them? Take the example of your mobile phone — most people are inseparable from their beloved iPhones these days guilty as charged — and these amazing gadgets are virtual gold mines.
Well, not quite. Skip to content Company News. Small amounts of gold are used to make the mobile phone circuit board. Lithium is primarily used in the production of mobile-phone batteries. It is mined from salt lakes and hard-rock ore.
What is tellurium used for? Adding tellurium to other metals improves their strength and hardness and reduces corrosion. It can also be used for tinting glass and is vital to the manufacture of solar panels.
Where does tellurium come from? Tellurium is found in copper ore and most often extracted as a by-product of copper processing. Tellurium is mined in Japan and Canada. Lithium ingots with black nitride tarnish. What is lithium used for? Lithium is essential to the production of cathodes in lithium-ion batteries.
Where does lithium come from? Lithium is found in rock and salt lakes called salars, which are mined or pumped out before chemical extraction. Leading producers include Australia, Chile, Argentina and China. Demand for lithium is expected to expand rapidly as demand grows for environmentally friendly technologies. Elemental cobalt. What is cobalt used for? Cobalt is important for rechargeable batteries, circuits and a range of other electrical components.
Coating microscopic copper wires with cobalt makes microchips more reliable. Where does cobalt come from? More than half of the world's cobalt supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Richard says, 'Most of the production that takes place in the Democratic Republic of Congo is done properly, but there is still a potential for cobalt mining from child labour coming into the supply chain and the market should be making sure that doesn't happen. He believes we need to make sure the supply of cobalt is spread more evenly around other parts of the world so that we don't have such enormous reliance on one country.
Manganese in various forms. What is manganese used for? Used extensively for television circuit boards and dry-cell batteries, manganese can make electronics more resilient. The next generation of rechargeable batteries is likely to use more manganese.
Where does manganese come from? A cube of pure tungsten left and tungsten rods with evaporated crystals right. What is tungsten used for? Tungsten is a highly dense and durable metal, four times harder than titanium. Phosphorus, one of the elements in Apatite, is used to make chips and microprocessors in mobile phones Sulphur is used to make mobile phone circuitboards Potassium, an element in Orthoclase, is used in the touchscreen glass of mobile phones Titanium, an element found in the mineral rutile, is used to make mobile phone cases Chromium, an element found in crocoite, is used to make mobile phone cases Manganese, found in manganite, can be used in mobile phone batteries Iron can be used in the speakers and microphones of mobile phones Cobalt, found in the mineral cobaltoan spinel, is used in mobile phone batteries Nickel, found in the mineral nickeline is used in mobile phone batteries Copper is used to make the wires and connectors in mobile phones Sphalerite can contain three elements used in mobile phones: zinc, indium and gallium Arsenic is used to make microprocessor and camera chips in mobile phones Bromargyte contains bromine, which is used to make mobile phone cases Strontianite contains strontium, which is used in mobile phone circuitboards Descrespignyite contains yttrium, which is used in mobile phone cases Zirconium, found in zircon, is used to make mobile phone circuitboards Wulfenite contains the element molybdenum, which can be used to make connectors and wires in mobile phones Silver is used in mobile phone circuitboards Greenockite contains cadmium, used to make mobile phone batteries Tin, found in cassiterite, is used in mobile phone circuitboards Antimony can used to make mobile phone circuitboards Barium, found in barite is used to make circuitboards in mobile phones Tantalum, found in the mineral columbite-tantalite, is used in the wires and connectors of mobile phones Wolframite, found in the mineral tungsten, is used to make the speakers and microphones in mobile phones Platinum can be used in mobile phone circuitboards Gold is used to make connectors and wires in mobile phones Cinnabar contains the element mercury, which can be found in mobile phone circuitboards Lead, found in galena, is used to make mobile phone circuitboards Bismuth is used in the wires and connectors of mobile phones Lanthanite contains lanthanum, used to make the display colours of mobile phones, and neodynium, used in mobile phone vibration un Zirsilite contains cerium, used in the touchscreen glass of mobile phones
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