Scandium Mining
Scandium Mining
Scandium:
Scandium is a silvery white soft transition rare earth metal with an atomic number of 21 and atomic weight of 45. It was first discovered by Fredrick nelson during his experiments with euxenite and gadolinite in 1879. It was named after Scandinavian Peninsula where it was first found. Scandium is as much lighter as aluminium but have comparatively high melting point which in turn acts as an advantage in producing light weight aluminium alloys for various applications.
Mining and Extraction:
Scandium is not directly extracted from its metallic ores rather it is obtained as a by- product of uranium, iron, nickel, zinc and other metallic ores in most of the mines around the globe. Its common natural occurrence is Scandia or scandium oxide. The mining of scandium oxide are done in the mines of Zhoti Vody in Ukraine, Bayan Oba in China, Kola Peninsula in Russia, NioCorp in United States, Nickel Asia Corporation in Philippines, Iveland evje region in Norway, Scandium international in Australia, some regions in Madagascar and Kazakhstan.
The mining method used in the excavation of scandium comprising ore is open pit mining. The open pit mines is designed as steps by walls with benches and ramps on it. The stepping alignment is carved basically for the in mine locomotion of machineries, miners and ore harboring trucks.
It is also been helpful for the wide and deep excavation of the ores in the mine. An initial ore processing plant is usually set up near the mine for filtering the scandium containing minerals from other ore particles. In the processing unit, the scandium is separated from the raw ore by milling, crushing and leaching by concentrated strong acids. The separated scandium is in obtained as scandium oxide.
The obtained scandium oxide is converted into scandium fluoride and reduced with metallic calcium in order to produce the metal scandium.There are much more researches are in process for extraction of scandium from as much as earth and metallic ores possible due to the demand for this metal is very high.
China, Russia and Norway have been a leading miners and distributors of scandium across the world.In Russia the scandium is also extracted from the stockpiles of Russian defense aircrafts from cold war and World War II
Scandium:
Scandium is a silvery white soft transition rare earth metal with the atomic number of 21 and atomic weight of 45. It was first discovered by Fredrick nelson during his experiments with euxenite and gadolinite in 1879. It was named after Scandinavian Peninsula where it was first found. Scandium is as much lighter as aluminium but have comparatively high melting point which in turn acts as an advantage in producing light weight aluminium alloys for various applications.
Mining And Extraction:
Scandium is not directly extracted from its metallic ores rather it is obtained as a by- product of uranium, iron, nickel, zinc and other metallic ores in most of the mines around the globe. Its common natural occurrence is Scandia or scandium oxide. The mining of scandium oxide are done in the mines of Zhoti Vody in Ukraine, Bayan Oba in China, Kola Peninsula in Russia, NioCorp in United States, Nickel Asia Corporation in Philippines, Iveland evje region in Norway, Scandium international in Australia, some regions in Madagascar and Kazakhstan.
The obtained scandium oxide is converted into scandium fluoride and reduced with metallic calcium in order to produce the metallic scandium.
There are much more researches are in process for extraction of scandium from as much as earth and metallic ores possible due to the demand for this metal is very high.
China, Russia and Norway have been a leading miners and distributors of scandium across the world.
In Russia the scandium is also extracted from the stockpiles of Russian defense aircrafts from cold war and World War II
Supply and Demand
The production of scandium is so less compared to the demand for it in the market. The express development in the area of lightweight and heavy strength alloys for the manufacture of automobiles and aero-crafts have soared the demand for scandium to the top. The mere 15 to 20 metric tons of global production from the various sources of the world might not be sufficient. Ongoing development of new mines in the New South Wales of Australia can lift up the overall global production of scandium. But still the demand for scandium is never to cease.
Applications:
*The light weighted and hard built scandium is used in the production of aluminium-scandium alloys. These alloys have qualities such as light weight, strong corrosion and heat resistant which are the basic attributes making metals used for the aircrafts. Thus so it is used in the production of minor aircraft components. The introductions of aluminium scandium alloys have reduced the aircrafts weight by 15 to 20 percentages.
*Its lightweight and hard quality has also inspired the sports equipment production by producing of alloys for bicycle frames, golf rods, handles in baseball bats and fishing rods.
*It also can be used in the solid oxide cells with its promising electrical properties and heat resistance.
*Scandium iodide is used in mercury lamps and high intensity lights which are used in the stadiums and film industries for shooting.
*The radioactive isotope of scandium is used as a tracing agent in oil refineries.
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