HardAssetsInvestor

Written by Tom Vulcan  |

June 23, 2008

Molybdenum: Mighty Tough

Details

Could molybdenum soon be traded on the LME? Maybe.

• Critical production uses
• Demand currently trumping supply
• Delivery poses a challenge

 

 

In our recent interview with Charles Swindon, chairman of the Minor Metals Trade Association, Mr. Swindon noted that - with the LME's board having appointed someone to look into this very question - cobalt, molybdenum and ferro-chrome were, indeed, "possibilities" for LME trading.

But why molybdenum?

A Mighty Metal

Over the last 100 years, and particularly in the last 50 or so, molybdenum has become an increasingly important metal in everyday life. It is also a metal upon which the appellation "minor" sits increasingly uncomfortably.

Among the 80 naturally occurring metals, molybdenum is one of the 40 or so that can be considered as having major industrial importance. There is one very particular and very good reason for this: The moly (rhymes with Molly) in molybdenum means tough, mighty tough.

Its unique properties (and those of its alloys) include:

 

• lightness
• high resistance to extreme temperatures
• exceptional incompressibility
• low thermal expansion
• environmental stability
• resistance to corrosion
• bondability & hardenability
• thermal & electrical conductivity

 

To cap it all, moly is somewhat irreplaceable. Because of its unique combination of properties, few metals can substitute for moly, especially as an alloying element in cast irons and steels.

A Short History Of Moly

While it has always been around, moly was only positively identified in 1778, by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, a Swedish scientist. It took an accident in 1782, by Peter Jacob Hjelm, to actually produce a dark metallic powder he termed "molybdenum."

Whether used by chance, or otherwise, moly has been found in the blade of 14^th-century Japanese swords - some three centuries prior to Scheele's "discovery." In this context we have a clear endorsement of some of moly's signal properties: great strength, lightness and exceptional incompressibility. Anyone who has hefted a real traditional Japanese sword will no doubt attest to all three of these characteristics.

For much of the 19^th century, moly lay about in labs, an unused curiosity. It was only at the end of that century that a French company started to use it as an alloy in the production of armor plate.

As such an alloy, moly really came of age during the First World War. During the war, it was used extensively as a substitute for tungsten, then in heavy demand for the production of impact-resistant and hard steels for production of armor plate and gun barrels. (The monster German gun Big Bertha was made of moly.)

Moly was more than a satisfactory substitute for tungsten; it also had the added advantage of being only just over half as dense. Indeed, equally as strong - if not stronger - moly is lighter than both tungsten and tantalum.

Since then, as more and more has been learned of moly's unique combination of properties, the range of its uses, alloys and compounds has greatly expanded.

Today, moly is now critical to the production of stainless steels, alloy steels, high-speed and tool steels, cast iron, electronics, chemicals, lubricants, super alloys, catalysts and pigments.

 

Source: CPM Group

 

Moly is used in a wide range of sectors. These include:

 

Sector Sub-Sector/Use Building and Construction   Chemicals   Defense Armor Plate   Jet Engines: Turbine Blades and Discs   Optics   Supermagnets   Gun Barrels Energy Catalysts   Petrochemical Processing   Nuclear Power Plants   Oil Pipelines and Drill Stems Industrial Development   Transportation Aerospace   Automotive   Rail   Shipbuilding Water Industry Drinking Water Distribution

Sources include: CPM Group and IMOA

 

Moly Supply

The majority of the world's moly supply flows from two distinct types of mining operations:

 

• as a by-product - typically of copper mining (in Canada, Chile, Peru and the U.S.) - amounting to around 61% of total moly output (2007)

 

• as a primary product (in Canada, China and the U.S.)

 

In January of this year, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated world mine production of moly for the last year at more than 412 million pounds.

Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2008