Commodity Online
Most metals used in industry can be replaced with another metal in case of supply shortages. For example, car manufacturers are replacing Steel with Aluminium when steel prices are going through the roof. But Molybdenum is a refractory metallic element used principally as an alloying agent in steel, cast iron and super alloys to enhance hardenability, strength, toughness and wear and corrosion resistance.

There is little substitution for molybdenum in its major application as an alloying element in steels and cast irons. In fact, because of the availability and versatility of molybdenum, industry has sought to develop new materials that benefit from the alloying properties of the metal. Potential substitutes for molybdenum include chromium, vanadium, niobium (columbium), and boron in alloy steels; tungsten in tool steels; graphite, tungsten, and tantalum for refractory materials in high-temperature electric furnaces; and chrome-orange, cadmium-red, and organic-orange pigments for molybdenum orange.

World Resources
Identified resources amount to about 5.4 million tons of molybdenum in the United States and about 13 million tons in the rest of the world. Molybdenum occurs as the principal metal sulfide in large low-grade porphyry molybdenum deposits and as an associated metal sulfide in low-grade porphyry Copper deposits. Resources of molybdenum are adequate to supply world needs for the foreseeable future.

The world's largest producers of molybdenum materials are the United States, Canada, Chile, Russia, and China. porphyry copper deposits such as the Chuquicamata mine in northern Chile produce molybdenum as a byproduct of copper mining. The Knaben mine in southern Norway was Though molybdenum is found in such minerals as wulfenite (PbMoO4) and powellite (CaMoO4), the main commercial source of molybdenum is molybdenite (MoS2).

Molybdenum is mined as a principal ore, and is also recovered as a byproduct of copper and tungsten mining. Large mines in Colorado (Climax) and in British Columbia yield molybdenite, while many opened in 1885, making it the first molybdenum mine. It remained open until 1973. Molybdenum is the 42nd-most-abundant element in the universe, and the 25th-most-abundant element in Earth's oceans, with an average of 10.8 mt/km³.

The Russian Luna 24 mission discovered a single molybdenum-bearing grain (1 × 0.6 µm) in a pyroxene fragment taken from Mare Crisium on the Moon. A side product of molybdenum mining is rhenium. As it is always present in small varying quantities in molybdenite, the only commercial source for rhenium is molybdenum mines.

The ability of molybdenum to withstand extreme temperatures without significantly expanding or softening makes it useful in applications that involve intense heat, including the manufacture of aircraft parts, electrical contacts, industrial motors, and filaments. Molybdenum is also used in alloys for its high corrosion resistance and weldability.

Most high-strength Steel alloys are .25% to 8% molybdenum. Despite being used in such small portions, more than 43 million kg of molybdenum is used as an alloying agent each year in stainless steels, tool steels, cast irons, and high-temperature superalloys. Because of its lower density and more stable price, molybdenum is implemented in the place of tungsten.

Recycling:
Molybdenum in the form of molybdenum metal or superalloys was recovered, but the amount was small. Although molybdenum is not recovered from scrap steel, recycling of steel alloys is significant, and some molybdenum content is reutilized. The amount of molybdenum recycled as part of new and old steel and other scrap may be as much as 30% of the apparent supply of molybdenum.

Molybdenum can be implemented both as an alloying agent and as a flame-resistant coating for other metals. Although its melting point is 2623 °C, molybdenum rapidly oxidizes at temperatures above 760 °C, making it better-suited for use in vacuum environment. Although current molybdenum production meets demand, refiners, or roasters, are expected to run into a shortfall between 2009 and 2015, depending on demand.

A roaster processes the moly into a fine powder, pellets, or other forms. Total world moly roaster capacity is currently 320 million pounds per year, barely enough to meet demand. There is not much excess roasting capacity, and no one is actively permitting for the production of any new roasters in the United States. Global roaster capacity also looks limited, and a future roaster shortage is predicted. The data above are based on the assumption that mines will be able to increase output.

Western demand is projected to increase by around 3 percent annually, while China and the CIS demand is projected to increase by around 10 percent annually, increasing overall global demand by around 4.5 percent annually. Increasing demand can be attributed to two main factors. Hydroprocessing catalysts are becoming essential for crude oil.

The other contributing factor is the increase in nuclear reactor construction. There are 48 nuclear reactors to be built by 2013, and approximately 100 are to be built by 2020. The International Molybdenum Association (IMOA) says that an average reactor contains about 520,000 feet of stainless steel alloy. Some larger reactors contain over 1 million feet of stainless steel alloy. Unless moly mine production picks up at a rapid pace, shortfalls of the metal are expected to arrive around 2009.

This article appeared in COMMODITY MARKET, India’s No 1 news magazine on commodities.

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