This is going up on the IHUB board on Monday. Give the bashes something to talk about next week.
What are the prices of the top 5 minerals in SNEY’s Black Sands?
While an accurate answer is hard to pin point except from the company as they know the actual percentages of the minerals and metals in the black sands, one can see based on the continuous changes in prices some values went up on some and down on others.
It should be also noted that the value of the SNEY’s “black sands” are not reliant on REES only.
As a matter of fact collectively non-REES minerals/elements have greater value that the REES themselves.
1 . Hafnium (Hf) 3.38 lbs per ton of SNEY’s black sands = $1536
Hafnium the Little Known Element with Huge Potential
http://www.swissmetalassets.com/tag/hafnium-producers
Published October 19, 2011. | By Swiss Metal Assets.
Rare Industrial Metal - Hafnium
The metal that is starting to get a great deal of attention from the military industrial complex was already well known in the nuclear industry and in the semiconductor industry. This metal is hafnium. Hafnium was discovered in 1923 by a Danish chemist named Dirk Coster and Georg Karl von Hevesey in Copenhagen. Its symbol on the periodic table is Hf and its atomic number is 72. Hafnium is considered a transition metal and is found as an impurity in Zircon ore deposits. The percentage in Zircon ore deposits is about 15%. The producers of Hafnium are Australia 42%, South Africa 32%, China 11% and a few other nations with smaller amounts.
Hafnium in semiconductors is an emerging use. A few years ago Hafnium replaced some uses of silicon in the semiconductor industry. Hafnium has increased the speed of the microprocessors, decreased the size, and made them more efficient. These chips have lowered energy leakage by 20%. ¨Silicon valley¨ has now become ¨Hafnium Valley¨.
In aviation, hafnium is used in super alloys. Due to it being an excellent refractory metal hafnium has applications where heat resistance is needed. It is used in the, ¨exhaust end¨, of jet engines. The melting point is 2233° C or 4,051° F.
The one area that may see a large increase of use is in the nuclear industry. The control rods which capture the neutrons released from nuclear fission are made of hafnium. The future for nuclear still looks bright even after the accidents in Japan. According to the, ¨Nuclear Engineering Handbook¨ there are 439 plants in operation with over 320 more proposed for the future. To be fair there are some substitutes like the silver, cadmium and indium control rods now available.
In the news recently we have heard about the military industrial complex and their interests in hafnium. One gram of hafnium contains as much energy as 700 pounds of TNT. According to the, ¨New Scientist¨ magazine the US military is developing technologies to use hafnium in its future bombs. The technology is said to produce bombs capable of releasing energy thousands of times greater than conventional weapons. Dr. Bill Herrmannsfeldt of Stanford University is not convinced. The Dr. does not believe that the military should be investing money in technologies that have no scientific basis. As a precaution the Dr. is asking for an independent review of the technology to see if it is scientifically possible.
Worldwide production of hafnium according to the USGS is unknown but we can make a good estimation because we know that hafnium is a byproduct of zirconium mining. Hafnium is a 15% impurity in Zircon ore. The USGS states that 1200t of zirconium are mined per year this would give us approximately 180t of hafnium. Official production is said to be 70t annually. This is a very small amount compared to many other elements and because there is very little information about the amounts of production it makes it difficult to have exact figures.
Unlike many rare industrial metals hafnium is not primarily controlled by China. Australia is the world´s largest producer. The production of hafnium is expected to increase approximately 4-4.5% annually. Hafnium has increased in value tremendously over the years. For over 30 years it consistently could be purchased in the vicinity of $200,000 per ton, now we have prices approaching $1,000,000 a ton. That is quite an increase. Inflation or demand, either way hafnium is performing very well for the producers and investors of the metal.
By: Randy Hilarski – The Rare Metals Guy
2. Titanium (Ti) 193 lbs per ton of SNEY’s black sands = $9650 (pure) or $637 (Ferro Titanium)
Pure Titanium
http://www.advancedtechnologymetals.com/index...;Itemid=11
In recent years, there has been a significant rise in the demand for titanium and titanium alloys, primarily used in aircraft and aerospace applications. The price of commercially pure titanium (CP) has risen sharply since 2003, from $15.00 per lb to $50.00 per lb. It is an extremely light weight and high strength material. Certain alloys like 6AL-4v, 8Mn, 8Al-1MO-1V, 5Al-2.5Sn,and 6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo, are also used in Aircraft engine applications due the ability of these alloys to with stand high temp environments.
The Commercially Pure Alloys ( Grade 1 ,Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4) are primarily used in Aircraft Frame applications.
For a comprehensive overview of Titanium, Click Here
Last Updated: Saturday, 04 August 2012 03:14
Ferro Titanium
http://www.metalprices.com/p/TitaniumFreeChart/
3. Gold (Au) 0.03443 lbs per ton of SNEY’s black sands = $715
4 . Cerium (Ce) 17.50 lbs per ton of SNEY’s black sands = $211
Lowering International Rare Metals Price
http://www.japanmetalbulletin.com/?p=20913
Jun.08,2012 - Nonferrous metal
International rare metal market price is still way to find the bottom. The price of indium and gallium keeps decreasing while antimony, cobalt, bismuth and cerium oxide kept the level for a month but the price could decrease. Chinese supplies of rare metals still keep higher offer but the buyers cannot accept the price due to uncertainty in actual demand and financial market.
Indium market price decreased to around US$ 500 per kilogram, which is 7% lower from the level a month ago. Gallium price also decreased to less than US$ 400.
Neodymium metal price decreased by 6% to US$ 160 per kg in a month. The price decreased to a third of a year earlier level but the users’ appetite is still slow. A trading firm source said the users have enough inventory while the supply increases through worldwide development.
Cerium oxide price keeps US$ 26.50 per kg level for a month. However, the price could decrease due to lower consumption by Japanese users and worldwide new development.
Antimony price is flat at US$ 14,000 per tonne. The price hit US$ 14,200 temporarily but decreased due to slow demand. Cobalt price is also flat at US$ 14.50 per pound for a month due to lowering base metal market.
5. Neodymium (Nd) 9.05 lbs per ton of SNEY’s black sands = $658
http://www.japanmetalbulletin.com/?p=20913
Neodymium metal price decreased by 6% to US$ 160 per kg in a month. The price decreased to a third of a year earlier level but the users’ appetite is still slow. A trading firm source said the users have enough inventory while the supply increases through worldwide development.
From Press Release dated December 7, 2010
http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=45545976
Table: Pampana River Black Sands Analyses #
-------------------------------------------
ppm pct. (%) lbs/ton value/ton
Hf 1689 0.169% 3.38 $994.97 (*1)
Ti --- 9.63% 193 $637.73(*2)
Au 17.21 0.00172% 0.03443 $573.82(*3)
Ce > 8748 > 0.875% > 17.50 > $397.64(*4)
Nd 4523 0.45% 9.05 $281.08(*5)
