Ch. 3— Minerals Supply, Demand, and Future Trends • 89 



duction of external desulfurization processes. Con- 

 tinuous casting technology can reduce the amount 

 of scrap produced in steel manufacturing. Emerg- 

 ing technologies, for example, surface treatment 

 technologies (e.g., ion-implantation) and powdered 

 metal technologies, may also reduce the use of some 

 metals for high-performance applications in the 

 future. 



For several metals, "obsolete scrap" ("old 

 scrap") could play an even more important role 

 in reducing the need for virgin materials if economic 

 conditions change and institutional problems are 



overcome. Recycling and secondary production has 

 become a stable sector for several of the minerals 

 (e.g., copper, lead, zinc, nickel, silver, iron, steel, 

 and to a lesser extent platinum, chromium, and co- 

 balt). Very little manganese is recycled. Economic 

 factors largely determine the recyclability of ma- 

 terials, factors such as price; cost of collecting, iden- 

 tifying, sorting, and separating scrap; and the cost 

 of cleaning, processing, and refining the metal. It 

 is technologically possible to recover significantly 

 more chromium, cobalt, and platinum from scrap 

 should the need arise and economics permit. 



MAJOR SEABED MINERAL COMMODITIES 



Cobalt 

 Properties and Uses 



Cobalt imparts heat resistance, high strength, 

 wear resistance, and magnetic properties to mate- 

 rials. In 1986, about 36 percent of the cobalt con- 

 sumed in the United States was for aircraft engines 

 and industrial gas turbines (superalloys contain 

 from 1 to 65 percent cobalt); 14 percent was for 

 magnetic alloys for permanent magnets; 13 percent 

 for driers in paints and lacquers; 11 percent for 

 catalysts; and 26 percent for various other appli- 

 cations. These other applications included using of 

 cobalt to cement carbide abrasives in the manu- 

 facture of cutting tools and mining and drilling 

 equipment; to bind steel to rubber in the manu- 

 facture of radial tires; as a hydrators, desulfurizer, 

 and oxidizer and as a synthesizer of hydrocarbons; 

 in nutritional supplements; and in dental and med- 

 ical supplies. 



There are currently no acceptable substitutes or 

 replacements for cobalt in high-temperature appli- 

 cations, although alternatives have been proposed. 

 However, the possible substitutes are also strate- 

 gic and critical metals such as nickel. While cer- 

 amics have potential for high-temperature appli- 

 cations, it will be some time in the future before 

 they can be used extensively in jet engines or in- 

 dustrial gas turbines. Use of some cobalt-rich al- 

 loys could be reduced by substitution of ceramic 

 or ceramic-coated automobile turbochargers, and 

 there are possible replacements for cobalt in 

 magnets. 



National Importance 



The United States imported 92 percent of the co- 

 balt it consumed in 1986.'® Cobalt is considered 

 to be a potentially vulnerable strategic material (ta- 

 ble 3-1) and is a priority item in the National De- 

 fense Stockpile. The stockpile goal for cobalt is 

 42,700 tons, and the inventory is currently 26,590 

 tons of contained cobalt, or about 62 percent of the 

 goal. Much of the stockpiled cobalt is of insufficient 

 grade to be used for the production of high-perform- 

 ance metals, although it could be used to produce 

 important chemical products and for magnets." 



No cobalt has been mined in the United States 

 since 1971. Zaire supplied 40 percent of U.S. co- 

 balt needs from 1982 to 1985, Zambia 16 percent, 

 Canada 13 percent, Norway 6 percent, and vari- 

 ous other sources 25 percent.'' In addition, about 

 600 tons of cobalt was recycled from purchased 

 scrap in 1986, or approximately 8 percent of appar- 

 ent consumption. There has been no domestic co- 

 balt refinery capacity since the AMAX Nickel 

 Refining Company closed its nickel-cobalt refin- 

 ery at Port Nickel, Louisiana, (capacity of 2 mil- 

 lion pounds of cobalt per year), although two firms 

 use the facility to produce extra-fine cobalt pow- 

 der from virgin and recycled material. 



-1987 



""W. Kirk, "Cobalt," Mineral Commodity Summaries- 

 (Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1987), p. 38. 



"American Society for Metals, Quality Assessment of National De- 

 fense Stoclipile Cobalt Inventory (Metals Park, OH: American Soci- 

 ety for Metals, 1983), p. 40. 



'"Kirk, "Cobalt," Mineral CommodifySummarjes — 1987, p. 38. 



72-672 0-87 



