Mining Industry
Mining
Critical Minerals
The mining industry provides the essential raw materials—known as critical minerals—that form the foundation of modern manufacturing, a function vital to the global economy and the transition to clean energy. These elements are the “building blocks” of a vast range of high-tech products, from smartphones and medical devices to batteries and automobiles.
Use Cases for Industry
The global phosphorus mining industry is a vital sector, primarily supplying raw material for agricultural fertilizers, which are essential for global food security. The market is dominated by a few key producing countries and companies, and while reserves are vast, the industry faces significant environmental challenges.
The global copper mining industry is a vital sector, primarily supplying raw material for efficiently moving electrons. Copper is a vital component for numerous industries like electronics and construction, with increasing demand from the electric vehicle and renewable energy sectors.
The industry is driven by high demand for modern technologies like electric vehicles, smartphones, and defense systems.
Critical Minerals Production
Critical minerals production steps include extraction, beneficiation, and refining. Mined ore undergoes multi-stage processing, starting with comminution (crushing and grinding) to reduce the particle size and release the desired minerals from the waste rock (gangue). This is followed by various concentration and refining techniques, many which utilize sulfuric acid as a reagent, to recover the critical minerals.