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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (53819)	8/21/2009 12:35:16 AM
From: energyplay	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217739

One other problem with some (not all) rare earths are the tiny tiny quantities needed. As an example, Intel is using Hafnium Hf (not a rare earth, but thought to be one for a long time - it is close to the rare earths in the periodic table) as the metal layer in some of their microprocessors. I did a calculation of how much Hf Intel would need, based on 0.5 micro thick metal (that's is way too thick), 20% sputter metal being on the wafers, no recovery of sputtered metal, etc. And I figure 2 Billion processors - enough for everyone who has a cell phone. Total hafnium need comes out to under 100,000 pounds, or about two semi trailer trucks, or two shipping containers. That will cover about 3-4 years production for the whole world. And it is only about 50 tons. So for many of the rare earths, most industrial firms can build their own strategic stockpile. Neodyium is need in large amounts for magnets (Neodyium iron boron NIB) and light bulbs, but that's the only one I can think of with massive volume. A few others were needed for TV tube phosphors, but LCD displays may have pushed that down.