Raw materials

Evaluating the potential of clay soils for industrial applications: A case study in Mozambique

By Lisa McDonald / November 6, 2020

Clay soils are essential raw materials in the ceramics industry. But how do manufacturers determine the potential of soils for industrial use when scoping out a new clay pit? An open-access study by three researchers in Mozambique shows how they evaluated soil potential based on samples extracted from the Manjacazi district.

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Exploring effects of deep sea mining: Polymetallic nodule extraction may cause long-term reduction of carbon flow throughput

By Lisa McDonald / October 13, 2020

Deep sea mining is of great interest to mining companies, but scientists worry about the environmental impacts. A new study finds extraction of polymetallic nodules will likely reduce ecosystem functioning on at least decadal time scales.

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Data-driven approaches to materials challenges, plus more inside August 2020 ACerS Bulletin

By Lisa McDonald / July 16, 2020

The August 2020 issue of the ACerS Bulletin—featuring data-driven methods to augment experimental methods—is now available online. Plus—USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries

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Sand—a critical material resource with a complicated story and no simple solution

By April Gocha / July 7, 2020

Humans’ voracious sand consumption for infrastructure activities threatens global supply of this critical natural resource. But do we even know how much sand we are consuming worldwide? New research shows that we’ve been calculating the basic unit all wrong.

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Video: Deep sea mining—the search for critical materials dives into dark waters

By Lisa McDonald / January 22, 2020

As the global batteries market expands rapidly in parallel with renewable energy technologies and electric vehicles, manufacturers are looking for new sources of critical materials. Deep sea mining is one possibility—but at what cost to the environment?

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Lucrative lunar? Startup companies raise significant funding to mine the moon for rare earth elements and more

By April Gocha / January 7, 2020

A whole slate of startup companies are raising millions of dollars in funding to support their missions to extract resources from space—but is mining the moon for rare earth elements even feasible?

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Video: Another way to mine—rare-earth elements extracted from scrapped magnets

By Lisa McDonald / August 28, 2019

Extracting rare earth elements from e-waste can be difficult. The Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Institute and other labs are collaborating to develop new recycling methods—and one method is set for commercial production of rare-earth oxides.

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Cheers to sustainability—lifecycle analysis pits glass bottles against aluminum cans

By April Gocha / August 23, 2019

From an environmental sustainability standpoint, which is better: glass bottles or aluminum cans? Turns out, the answer is not so clear-cut.

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Structural clay experts converge on Indianapolis for networking, tours, and more at 2019 brick meeting

By Greg Geiger / July 10, 2019

More than 100 attendees converged in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 24–27 to take part in the combined meeting of the ACerS Structural Clay Products Division, ACerS Southwest Section, and Clemson University’s National Brick Research Center.

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Video: A library of rare colors

By Lisa McDonald / April 3, 2019

The Forbes Pigment Collection at Harvard Art Museums has more than 2,500 pigment samples. Learn how scientists and artists use these pigments in painting restoration and authentication, as well as the unusual materials some pigments are made from.

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