ISSN 2056-6735 (Online)

Mandatory European Conflict Minerals Legislation?
Avoiding Cracked Castings and Forgings

The magazine of the Minor Metals Trade Association

1st Edition 2015/February

www.mmta.co.uk

THE MMTA’S INTERNATIONAL MINORMETALS CONFERENCE 2015
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Environmentals LLC

Plansee

Advanced Alloys Services Ltd

Euro-Rijn International BV

Platotex Technology Company Ltd

Aerolytics LLC

Eutectix LLC

PM Recovery Inc

AIM

ExotechPowmet Inc

Alcoa

FAM International Corp

Quest Rare Minerals Ltd

Alfred H Knight International

Fanya Nonferrous Metal Exchange Ltd

Resource Capital Funds Management Pty Ltd

Amalgamated Metal Corporation

FESIL Sales

Retorte GmbH

AmalgametFirst Solar Inc

Rhecoder Special Metals

Ambatovy

Firth Rixson Metals

Rhenium Alloys

American Flux & Metal

F.W. Hempel Intermétaux SA

Rio Tinto

Aminco Resources

Fredstone Materials Inc

Rittenhouse International Resources LLC

Ampere Alloys

GE Aviation

RJH Trading Ltd

Anzaplan

GE Power & Water

RJR Alloys Inc

AREVA

Glencore

Rolls Royce

Argus Media

Global Metal Inc

Roskill Information Services

A & R Merchants Inc

GMH Stachow-Metall GmbHS & A Alloys Inc

Atlantic Metals & Alloys Inc

G. Vogler BV

Sargon Holdings Inc

Avalon Rare Metals Inc

Hard Assets Investor

Scandinavian Steel AB

AVAS Trading Ltd

Hickman, Williams & Co

Shaanxi Huadian Resin Co Ltd

Avon Metals

Hudson Metals Corp

Shengyuan Metal Co Ltd

AVX

IBM Research

Sovereign International Metal & Alloys Inc

Beijing Jiya Semiconductor Material Co Ltd

ICD Group

Strategic Metal Investments Ltd

BGR

ICD Metals LLC

Teck Metals Ltd

Brown Brothers Harriman

Indium Corp

Telex Metals LLC

Buss & Buss Spezialmetalle GmbHJiujiang Jinxin Non Ferrous Co Ltd

Terra Commodities LLC

Campine NV

Jurametal

Thompson Creek Metals Company

Canadian German Chamber of Industry &Kailida Co of Changsha High New Technology

Titan International Inc

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KGHM Metraco SA

Todini & Co SPA

CMK s.r.o.

Lambert Metals International Ltd

Tranzact

CCMA LLC

Lipmann Walton & Co Ltd

Traxys Europe SA

Climax Molybdenum

LS Nikko Copper Inc

Traxys North America LLC

Codelco USA Inc

Magnesium Elektron

Tri-Star Resources

Colonial Metals Inc

Maritime House Ltd

UMMC Holding Corp

CP Metals Inc

Metal Do Co Ltd

Umicore Precious Metals Refining

C. Steinweg Group

Metalink International Co Ltd

Umicore Thin Film Products

Darton Commodities Limited

Mississauga Metals & Alloys Inc

USGS Geological Survey

D Block Metals LLC

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Deer Horn Capital

Molycorp Silmet

Vital Materials Co Ltd

DLA

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Dubal International

Orchard Material Technology

Wogen Resources Ltd

EAC Corporation

Pacorini Metals Rotterdam BV

Womet GmbH

3

INSIDE THIS ISSUE
MMTA’s International Minor Metals
Conference 2015………………………….…….2-3
Obituary—Sam Quick…….…………….…...4-5
European Conflict Minerals ……….…..6-9
Less Common Metals………………..….…….10

Welcome from the Editor
Welcome to the latest edition of the Crucible. We have an excellent programme
planned for 2015 and have launched our first quarter’s events, with an informal
dinner and a plant tour of Aurubis in Hamburg, as well as an extremely informative
course on import and export procedures, including incoterms, so if there is anyone inyour company who would benefit from a refresher (or an introduction), this course isideal. We’re also looking forward to this year’s conference in Toronto, which should
be a fantastic event.

Metal from Atlantis……….………………….…..14

Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the piece on developments in the area ofconflict minerals Regulation in the EU, which may affect many members. Please do
not hesitate to contact me with any concerns or questions, as I will be discussing thiswith MEPs, and would like to be able to convey Members’ thoughts on the matter.

Letter from North America…………….….15

Maria Cox, MMTA

Shape Memory Alloys………………….……….11
Cracked Metals…….................................12-13

Beryllium in Space…...….………………...16-17
AREC Supply Chain………………………..18-19
New MMTA Members ………………9,11,17,19

RIP, Michael Edward ‘Sam’ Quick
14th December 1938 – 9th January 2015
Dozens of traders attended Sam Quick’s memorial service on the 23rd January in Chichester.
Sam was a very popular trader in refractory metals and was well known in MMTA circles
since the founding of the organisation.
Behind Sam’s twinkling eyes, loud, infectious laugh and affable manner there was a toughand shrewd operator who developed a highly successful trading technique helped by his
amazing ability to form strong and lasting friendships.
Other tributes to Sam, covering his private life and his love of rugby football, are being
published elsewhere, but I, as a close friend of his and business partner in the metalbusiness for fifteen years, have been asked to offer this personal account of an exceptional
member of the metal trading fraternity.
Every recruit to the business, past and present, gets exceedingly irritated when they are toldthat once, great ‘characters’ lifted the trade from grubby commerce into something moreglamorous. It was easy to get the impression that all the best traders in the ‘old days’ wore
top hats, sported fresh carnations in their buttonholes, and drank a pint of port every

The MMTA promotes
essential elements thatadd quality, safety andenjoyment to our lives.
The MMTA is the world's
leading minor metals
industry organisation.

lunchtime. I’m sure none of that was true, but Sam was definitely a great character in themodern era.
He recruited me to join Rudolf Wolff from Henry Gardener in 1970. I wasn’t particularly
attracted by Wolff’s cliquey atmosphere but Sam, as many others found out, was someone I
definitely wanted to work with. The MMTA was founded at about this time.
Business in the rarer metals was starting to boom as demand from new technologies inaerospace, electronics and chemicals were transformed by revolutionary innovation. Moreand more metal markets were breaking free from the straitjacket of the ‘producer price’,and new markets were opening up, mainly from behind the ‘Iron Curtain’. Thesedevelopments in supply and demand offered the opportunity for a new type of more
technically orientated metal business to thrive and allowed for small companies to splinteroff from the large traditional traders.
Sam and I, and another Wolff trader, Colin Williams, formed our own company, Wogen

4

Resources. Unlike me (an inveterate market analyst and speculator) Sam’s trading was based on personal relationships. He didbusiness with people he liked, and they tended to be people who were a bit like himself –outgoing, bright, risk-taking, and fun to bewith – and from everywhere you could imagine—giant Japanese trading conglomerates, Sheffield foundries and New York scrap
merchants. Occasionally I would introduce him to someone I thought he could do business with. After the meeting he would oftensqueeze up his eyes, beam his trade mark ironic grin, and say, “No heart”, – his way of saying he couldn’t trust the guy.
While we struggled to do deals in the early years, we all got on very well at Wogen, but eventually we all went our separate ways. Sam
left Wogen and I left the trading world altogether. Two other well-known rare metals traders who had also helped to put Wogen on
the road to prosperity, John Parker and, later, Nick French, also left the company for pastures new.
Sam was able to continue his trading career by forming alliances with many of his old business partners, mainly because they werealso his friends. Sam was no push-over in deals, however. He certainly knew his stuff. His business often involved making numerous
Byzantine calculations, linking an alloy’s analysis with various processing losses and melting charges and spotting profit opportunities
in a whole group of sales possibilities. All too complicated for me, I have to confess.
However busy he was, Sam would ring me up every couple of months throughout the intervening years, and invite me to one of his
famous lunches in Shepherd Market in Mayfair to meet old friends and his new business partners. He had more trading successes andI got the firm impression that he much preferred his new trading experiences working with, rather than for, larger companies. He wasstill putting deals together in his 70s.
One incident stands out as an example of Sam’s sense of fun and generosity. He and I were paying a routine visit to Mexico City tomeet our agent, a rather slick Spanish matador look-alike. Our agent mentioned, in passing, that he was to visit his new acquisition – afluorspar mine - the following day. It was located about four hours’ drive from the town of Ixmiquilpan about 200 kilometres directly
north of Mexico City. Would we like to join him? We said yes and after a mescal-fuelled night in the sleepy Mexican town, we set off inthe cool before dawn into the chaparral country dotted with mesquite, tumble-weed and those tall cactuses you see in cowboy films.
Sam and I opted to sit in the back of the pick-up truck to avoid being asphyxiated by the smell of our agent’s aftershave. It was pretty
uncomfortable as the sun turned into a blowlamp and the road petered out into a rubble-strewn track. The dust was choking and thefar too common sight of a rattle snake crossing our path did no good at all for our searing hangovers.
At one point we could see a small ‘pueblo’ in the distance, and we came across three boys obviously on their way to school. Our agent
stopped to talk to them. They wanted a lift and asked if we wanted to accommodate them. I wasn’t keen. They were none too clean
and I was feeling pretty cramped as it was, but Sam was already helping them up beside us and we were soon on our way. Withinminutes, Sam, who didn’t speak a word of Spanish, had worked out that the children had had real trouble with a sum in their maths
homework and was explaining how to do it using drawings and examples in their exercise books. They were all laughing like donkeys
at his weird efforts to make himself understood, and you could see that Sam was having the time of his life. Generous, full of life andgreat fun.
His love of art and his skill at painting represented another dimension to his energetic personality. Much of his work was inspired by
the lovely landscapes round his home in West Sussex.
He was drinking with his friends in his local pub a few days before he died so suddenly.
Sam made room for hundreds of friends. And his love and loyalty to his children was the centre-piece of his life. Culturally Sam and I
belong in very different worlds, but, for me, he was a metal business character of the very best kind.

Peter Robbins

5European Conflict Minerals
Legislation - Where is thisleading for EU business?
It would be very easy to think that because the EU’s
proposed conflict minerals regulation has beenannounced as voluntary, it won’t have much of an
impact on EU businesses, but this is far from thetruth.
As previously reported in the Crucible, the draft
regulations were published in early 2014.

‘The Commission proposes a draft Regulation setting
up an EU system of self-certification for importers oftin, tantalum, tungsten and gold who choose to importresponsibly into the Union. Self-certification requires
EU importers of these metals and their ores to exercise'due diligence’’. Click here to see the full press release.

full compliance through market pressure and a processof ‘naming and shaming’ of non-compliant companies.
By inviting companies importing tin, tungsten andtantalum, their ores, and gold into the EU to self-certify
as Responsible Importers, the EU aims to use market
pressure both downstream and upstream to ultimately
achieve full compliance. Those companies notdesignated ‘Responsible Importers’ (ie without
traceable, conflict-free supply chains), will be deemed
non-compliant and will increasingly find theircompetitiveness threatened by their downstream
customers selecting importers who are ‘responsible’.
This is how the regulation is planned to work,
nevertheless, there are many voices calling for astraightforward mandatory system that relies on
enforcement rather than market forces to achieve its
goal of breaking the link between the mining & metals
sector and conflict.

The MMTA has made a submission to the International
Trade Committee drafting the report for the European
Parliament on behalf of its Members, as well as to theDevelopment and Foreign Affairs Committees, who arealso involved in making submissions in the process,calling for the scheme to be voluntary, and any move to
In early December, and again in January, the MMTA was
mandatory not to be considered until such time as ainvited to Brussels to discuss European Conflictthorough evaluation of the scheme has been
Minerals legislation with MEPs and other industry
undertaken, fully assessing the impact not only on
representatives.
conflict-affected areas, but also, crucially, on EU
businesses, particularly Small and Medium Sized
From these discussions, including associations andEnterprises (SMEs).
companies in the tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold
KEY QUESTIONS TO BE RESOLVED:
1.

Is the final legislation going to be voluntary, and how voluntary is voluntary?

2.

Who is going to be affected and to what extent?

3.

How far will existing conflict free schemes, both voluntary and mandatory, berecognised, and will companies be able to double up on their compliance efforts
to minimise administration and cost?

4.

What measures will be in place to protect and support SME Importers and allow
them to operate on a level footing in the market?

5.

What are ‘conflict-affected and high-risk areas’, who will decide and how
frequently?

6.

Will this legislation be effective in breaking the link between mining & metals

The onus on the Responsible Importer
is to perform due diligence and beable to confirm that they purchase
only material from Responsible
Smelters & Refiners, who will in turnneed to verify that metal bought fromconflict-affected or high risk areas is
conflict-free. Third party audits will be
required to support self-certification.
The process envisioned would involvea significant administrative andfinancial burden for importers of tin,tantalum, tungsten, their ores, andgold into the EU.

In order to be a Responsible Smelter/
Refiner – and the EU recognises that
7. What will the impact be on conflict-affected areas?
this is the final point at which the
8. What will the impact be on the competitiveness of EU business?
origin of material can be traced, so
wants to capture 100% of smelters/
refiners
globally–
the smelter/refiner needs to be able
supply chains, it became apparent that there were
to
prove
that
they
source only from conflict-freemany shared questions and concerns regarding thesourceswhensourcingfrom any region defined as
details of the draft regulation, including, importantly,
conflict-affectedorhigh-risk.
There will be awhether these requirements would eventually become
mechanism within the EU scheme to remove a smelter
mandatory and increase their scope to other minerals
from the ‘white list’ of Responsible Smelters & Refiners,
and metals.
and if this happens, no Responsible Importer wishing to
The draft proposals currently being reviewed, although retain its own status will be able to purchase material
described as voluntary self-certification, aim to achieve from the delisted smelter/refiner.
and conflict?

6

There remain questions around what will be defined as ‘conflict-affected and high-risk areas’. Although it has
been requested, the Commission does not wish to define a list detailing the scope of the Regulation. It wishes
individual businesses and/or Member State Competent Authorities (as yet to be set up) to use a risk
assessment process to define the current conflict-affected and high-risk areas and review and update theseon a regular basis, redefining their supply chains as appropriate. There are several concerns with thisapproach:Firstly, if global conflicts are too fluid for the Commission to define a list, how will companies with far fewer
resources and expertise do so? Will failure to correctly assess a conflict-affected area lead to non-compliance?
These questions remain un answered so far, and the proposal has been challenged strongly by the MMTA.
In the current draft of the regulation, Responsible Importers will report to individual Member State Competent
Authorities who will gather data, audit and report on compliance or the lack of it. Should the scheme become
mandatory—and for those who choose to self-certify, obligations will be mandatory—the Member State
Competent Authority will also add to and remove companies from the list of Responsible Importers andResponsible Smelters & Refiners. These Competent Authorities will be able to define conflict-affected andhigh-risk areas, and it has been
INDUSTRY DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONS:
suggested that additional confusion,
not to mention administrative
burden, will be created as each
1. Additional mandatory legislation reduces competiveness for those importing
Member State interprets its own
into the EU;
definition according to its own
2. The EU needs to recognise Dodd-Frank and conflict free smelter
priorities. Nevertheless, theinitiative participants instead of doubling on administrative and compliance
Commission fears that at this time,
costs;
when the nations of Europe aredemanding less central control, it
3. There is a danger that such regulation affects the market and encourages end
would be inappropriate to create a-users to just skip Africa altogether to avoid the extra paperwork;
single EU Authority with the power
4. Leaves too much to national authorities - providing a guide book and leaving it
to decide one single list of conflictto individual countries to interpret means that the definition of ‘conflict-affectedaffected and high-risk areas andand high-risk’ may be different from country to country.
one harmonised system.

Photo courtesy Solutions for Hope

The current (OECD) definition is: areas in a state of armed conflict, fragile post-conflict, as well as
areas witnessing weak or non-existent governance and security, such as failed states, and widespreadand systematic violations of international law, including human rights abuses.
It is easy to see that this could encompass many more countries than the DRC region.
The MMTA’s submission includes amendments to the proposal which would require one list of conflictaffected and high-risk areas to be defined for use across the EU, and only countries agreed internationally tobe the cause of most serious international concern would be added, thus avoiding the potential inclusion of
every area to which the above definition could potentially be applied. Business needs certainty anduniformity to be able to plan and operate effectively.

7

Another concern is that it remains unclear to what extent the EU system will recognise and give parity toexisting schemes. There are several audited industry voluntary schemes which have already made significant
progress in certifying conflict-free smelters globally. There is also a raft of compliance required by Dodd Franklegislation in the US. It would go a long way towards making compliance with the EU conflict minerals scheme
manageable if companies could comply once, to one scheme, and have their efforts mutually recognised by
the others as equivalent. As yet this is not included in the proposal, but it is one of the amendments the MMTA
is seeking, and this approach is shared by many industry bodies.
Importantly, the MMTA is also seeking that the burdens of this Regulation not fall solely onto importers.
Conflict-minerals due diligence impacts the entire supply chain and the burden should be shared, notconcentrated on one group. Smelters and refiners, and others, are already complying with audit requirementsfor other schemes, as well as Dodd Frank requirements, and the compliance efforts already involved increating the conflict-free smelter lists should be built upon and not simply duplicated, creating additionalburden. We have made our support for existing industry schemes known, and strongly support efforts for thiswork to be recognised as compliant with the new EU scheme.
There are to be ‘additional measures’ to support SME Importers in their compliance, and all concerned are
keen to stress their wish to minimise the burden on this group. The MMTA asked the Commissioner directly
what form these additional measures will take and how the Commission will ensure that the complianceburden, which will be onerous even for larger importers, does not effectively exclude smaller importers fromthe EU market. The MMTA reminded the panel that REACH compliance is not a thing of the past for EU
businesses – some only registered for the 2013 deadline and for others 2018 compliance still lays ahead.
There is a danger that conflict minerals compliance measures may only succeed in making SMEs (and perhaps
the EU market) uncompetitive.
And if you are sighing with relief because you don’t handle tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold, don’t smile too soon
– the draft regulation does not stipulate that at some point in the future, the scheme will not be extended toinclude additional metals, indeed some parties are actively advocating that the scope should be widened toinclude all metals and minerals imported into the EU.
Based on the current wording of the draft regulation, secondary/recycled material is not explicitly excluded
from the scope of the scheme. We, along with many other industry bodies, are calling for this exclusion to bemade explicit, as no attempt to trace the conflict-free or otherwise origin of secondary materials can beeffective.
There are also questions around alloys: at what % does an alloy need to be included? The draft regulation isbased on ‘custom codes’, which include alloys and downstream products, so there needs to be some clarity as
to where the boundary is. For information, the full Annex of those materials currently within the scope of theregulation is reproduced below:
CN CodeProduct Description

2609 00 00
2611 00 00
2615 90 00

Tin ores and concentrates
Tungsten ores and concentrates
Tantalum ores and concentrates

2616 90 00

Gold ores and concentrates

2825 90 40

Tungsten oxides and hydroxides

2849 90 30
2849 90 50

Tungsten carbides
Tantalum carbides

7108
8001
8003 00 00

Gold, unwrought or in semi-manufactured forms, or in powder form
Tin, unwrought
Tin bars, rods, profiles and wires

8007 00
8101 10 00
8101 94 00

Tin, other articles
Tungsten, powder
Tungsten, unwrought, including bars and rods obtained simply by sintering

8101 96 00

Tungsten wire

8101 99

Tungsten bars and rods, other than those obtained simply by sintering, profiles, plates, sheets,
strip and foil, and other
Tantalum, unwrought including bars and rods, obtained simply by sintering; powders

8103 20 00
8103 90

Tantalum bars and rods, other than those obtained simply by sintering, profiles, wire, plates,
sheets, strip and foil, and other

Maria Cox, MMTA
8KEY CONSIDERATIONS FOR LEGISLATORS:

1.

That the Dodd-Frank Act could beoverturned after the next US election;

2.

That there is now an expectation fromconsumers for transparency inbusiness, as well as there being little
faith in politicians and theadministration.

3.

That there is concern from theindustry side about the impact of EU
legislation undermining thesustainability of industry conflictminerals projects and affecting
co-operation on the ground. It wasemphasised that there is already anaudited conflict-free smelter list
available.

EXISTING INDUSTRY INITIATIVES TO TACKLE THE ISSUE OF CONFLICT MINERALS
Tungsten Industry-Conflict Minerals Council (TI-CMC)
 Provides assurances that Tungsten from compliant companies are conflict free.
 http://www.ti-cmc.org/
World Gold Council (WGC)
 The Conflict Free Gold Standard helps to ‘operationalise’ the OECD guidelines. To
see the standard click here.
 http://www.gold.org/gold-mining/responsible-mining/social
OECD and the due diligence guidanceProvides a theoretical and voluntary guide to companies, offering a flexible
approach to progressive improvement

http://www.oecd.org/corporate/mne/mining.htm

ICGLR regional certification mechanismAn intergovernmental organisation of central Africa setting standards for national

NEW MMTA MEMBER
Fesil Sales SA
Fesil Sales is a subsidiary branchof the British Columbian global
supply chain company MFC
Industrial Ltd. Through MFC, thecompany is now listed on the NY
stock exchange as "MIL". FESIL

member states

Sales supplies a wide range of raw

http://www.icglr.org/index.php/en/six-tools

materials to steel works and

CFSP conflict free smelter programme

Downstream industry system for auditing smeltersGlobally applicable, industry supported and funded

http://www.conflictfreesourcing.org/conflict-free-smelter-program/

ITSCI traceability and due diligence programmefoundries around the world and isspecialized in Bulk and Noble
Ferro alloys, Minor Metals, Pig
Iron, Graphite and Carbon
commodities, Cored wires and

Upstream industry system for 3T minerals, currently from central Africa

Provides extensive information on participating companies including audits

Non-ferrous metals. The Group

Globally applicable, industry supported and funded

has three major locations inhttps://www.itri.co.uk/index.php?

Luxembourg, Germany andoption=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=2192&Itemid=189

Pittsburgh and has other

CFTI conflict free tin initiativeDutch led project cooperation of companies across the supply chain todemonstrate conflict free mineral sourcing from the highest risk area of the DRC



Utilised ITSCI plus CFSP

CFTI project no longer active, although conflict free minerals continue to flow

SfH solutions for hopeUS industry led company cooperation to source minerals from lower risk areas of
DRC, with a shortened supply chainUtilised ITSCI plus CFSP

http://solutions-network.org/site-solutionsforhope/subsidiaries in India, South Africa,
Ukraine and Slovenia.

Contact: Parham Ghazi Saeedi
Email: parham.gs@fesil-sales.com
Website: www.fesil-sales.com

CTC certified trading chainsGerman BGR led effort to apply extensive standards to mines in the DRC and
Rwanda

Addressing traceability, health and safety, gender and a range of issues

Implemented at around 10 mine sites



http://www.bgr.bund.de/EN/Themen/Min_rohstoffe/CTC/Downloads/
Vortrag_Steinbach_Kigali.html

AFP analytical fingerprintingGerman BGR led effort to technically fingerprint all minerals from all mines inCould support but not replace traceability



Database still under development

http://www.bgr.bund.de/SharedDocs/Newsletter/EN/2011/Anrisse/

central Africa

nl0411_03t_mineralresourceafrica.html
List of initiatives courtesy of ITRI

9

Visit to Less
Common Metals
The Executive Team was kindly invited to MMTA
member company Less Common Metals (LCM)
just before Christmas. Ian Higgins, the Managing
Director welcomed us to their site in Ellesmere
Port, Cheshire.
LCM produces Rare Earth based alloys, supplying
the permanent magnet industry. The company
counts some of the world’s largest magnet
manufacturers as its customers; these are based
all around the world including Europe, US, Japan,
Taiwan and even into China (which dominates
Rare Earth supply) where LCM supply in nicheand specialised markets. Many of the magnets
produced are subsequently supplied into theautomotive sector.
LCM products are made to clients’ specifications
and include complex alloys and other specialised
products with tight compositional tolerances andcontrolled microstructures. Since 2008, LCM has
been a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Western
Minerals Group. The group has developed a ‘mine
to market’ model establishing a fully integrated
supply chain of rare earth alloys.
After the company presentation, including its
history and products as well as Health and Safety
rules, we were able to discuss with Ian and hiscolleagues David Murthy and Chris Hall theconcept of criticality of metals in the EU and thedominance of China in the Rare Earth supply
chain.
As you are aware from previous Crucible articles,
Rare Earths are classed as critical and/or strategic
in many jurisdictions due to their unique
technical properties and the dominance of China
in their supply, which leaves the material exposed
to price fluctuations, as seen in the past.
Building an integrated supply chain of rare earths
outside China helps to reduce risk of supply chain
disruptions. Having sustainable supply of Rare
Earth allows their exceptional technicalproperties to be fully utilised rather than focusing
on trying to substitute them out of products,
which is sometimes detrimental to productperformance.
Environmental performance and traceability arevery important considerations for end users, anda fully integrated supply chain allows end-users
to have confidence in the origin and standards oftheir material.
During the afternoon we toured the 6,200m2
building which employs 29 permanent membersof staff. There is an on-site analytical lab withproducts tested and made to customer
specifications. The facilities have ISO 9001-2008
and ISO 14001 certification.
One of the pieces of equipment we learnt about
during the tour was the 600kg Strip casting

10

melter, which was installed in 2012 when thebusiness moved to its current premises. Thisequipment produces a uniform fine grain
structure and minimises the formation of alphairon formation which is preferable for magnet
makers. A water cooled rotating copper wheel
rapidly chills the molten material which turns it
into flakes, with the size of flakes depending on
the wheel speed.
We would like to thank Ian and the LCM staff forsuch an informative and enjoyable visit.

Tamara Alliot, MMTA

Magnetocaloric Alloys
During our discussions at LCM, the subject ofmagnetocaloric alloys came into
conversation, a fascinating property of someRare Earth alloys.
A magnetocaloric alloy is one that changes
temperature when in a magnetic field.
Praseodymium alloyed with nickel (PrNi) has
such a strong magnetocaloric effect that it has
allowed scientists to approach to within one
milliKelvin (one thousandth of a degree) of
absolute zero.
Here is a video of the process for thosereading online:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=xVhAvp17xJ8
Magnetic cooling can provide a new solution
for refrigeration, reducing energy consumption
and eliminating the use of hazardous coolants
which also reduces issues with recycling. The
diagram below shows a Gadolinium alloy
heating up inside the magnetic field and losing
thermal energy to the environment, therefore
exiting the field cooler than when it entered.

Shape Memory Alloys
In the world of smart phones, smart watches and even smart
central heating, why not take a look at smart alloys? In particularshape memory alloys (SMAs). SMAs ‘remember’ their original
shape after being exposed to temperature or electromagnetic
fields. SMAs can change ‘shape, stiffness, position, natural
frequency and other mechanical characteristics.’[1]SMAs include nickel-titanium alloys, with this group’s genericname being Nitinol*, copper-aluminium-nickel, copper-zincaluminium, and iron- manganese-silicon alloys.
Nitinol was found to be a SMA back in 1961 and it ‘remembers’
its shape with structural changes on an atomic level.
Dr. Frederick E. Wang, an expert in crystal physics, found that
Nitinol has phase changes while still a solid. Nitinol is in themartensite phase while under the transition temperature (which
varies depending on the composition of the alloy). In this phase
Nitinol can be bent into different shapes. By heating the metal(to around 500C) while it is bent, which fixes the ‘parent’ shape,
the metal is then in the austenite phase where the atoms arearranged very regularly and compactly. Above the transition
temperature, Nitinol reverts from the martensite to theaustenite phase which changes it back into its parent shape. [2]There are many interesting applications of Nitinol in military,
safety and robotics with the medical sector taking a leading role:
tweezers, orthodontic wires, and glasses frames that can bebent and then return to their original shape on warming. The
last application sounds of particular use for everyday life, aslong as the glass remains intact!
Other miscellaneous applications of shape memory alloys
include use in household appliances and in clothing, from deep
fat fryers to bra underwires.
*stands for Nickel Titanium Naval Ordnance Laboratory
References:[1]Rogers, Craig. "Intelligent Materials." Scientific American Sept.
1995: 154-157.
[2] http://web.stanford.edu/~richlin1/sma/sma.html

NEW MMTA MEMBERInteralloys Trading &Business Consulting
GmbHInteralloys, founded in 1993 is a
privately funded commodity trading
company specializing in thepurchase, sale and distribution of
Steel Making Raw Materials and Non
Ferrous products to a global
customer base.
Interalloys continue to add to their
expanding portfolio of offtake anddistribution agreements. Working
hand-in-hand with mine owners weprovide a route to market;
logistics, capital and marketing.
Our Steel Raw Materials and basemetals concentrate businessprovides both mining andconsuming customers with acomplete pit to furnace supply
solution. We search for high quality
emerging producers who need apartner to provide them with theirroute to market; logistics, capital anda global customer base.
Headquartered in Europe and withsatellite operations worldwide,
Interalloys provides global coveragewith local know-how to ensure thebest cultural and strategic fit to our
suppliers and customers.
Contact : Emilie Janson
Email : info@interalloys.co.uk
Phone : +44(0)20 7002 5357
Website: www.interalloys.co.uk

Cracked Liquid
Metals Make
Cracked Castings
and Cracked
Forgings

into a bubble. Shrinkage
porosity is similarly
explained by the reducedpressure in the liquidsucking the bifilms apart togrow a pore. Hot tears andcracks are simply
explained: they are thebifilms; I always cure hot
tearing by improving thefilling system design for the
casting - the hot teardisappears like magic!
The presence of the cracks
in castings and ingots
explains their variable andsometimes unreliable
properties. In addition, they survive significant plastic
working during forging, rolling and extrusion, leading
to cracking effects of many kinds, such as forging
cracks, edge cracking during rolling, and crocodile
cracks during extrusion.

For the metallurgists and those interested in thetechnical details among us, it seems probable thatevery crack in every metal is started by a bifilm (theonly exception to this may be the formation ofratcheting cracks from slip planes in a fatigue
condition). This radical view is the outcome of
When liquid metals are poured, this innocent action
molecular dynamics studies which appear to find that
separates the liquid into splashes and droplets, andno viable lattice mechanisms to initiate cracks exist.
each new surface becomes instantly coated with an
This is contrary to traditional thinking which hasoxide film, making the surface of the splashes andassumed such mechanisms, for instance, as wedge
droplets effectively ‘dry’. In coming together again the cracks from dislocation pile-ups at inclusions. In otherdry surface films meet up with other dry surface films, words, cracks should not be able to initiate in metals.
forming double films. The double films are submerged It seems probable that the bifilm is the only crack
in the liquid metal and float around, remaining ininitiating mechanism. Possibly therefore, as
suspension. Depending on the metal or its impurities, dislocations are the explanation for plasticity, bifilms
the films are often Al2O3 or similar highly stable
are the explanation for the initiation of cracks.
ceramic. The double
Bifilms also seem to be
ceramic films cannot
involved in the initiationbond across their dryof corrosion pits andcentral interface, sointergranular corrosion,
they act as cracks in
because, if the bifilm
the liquid. Turbulent
contacts the surface of
pouring fills the liquid
the metal, liquid
metal with cracks. The
corrodants can enter thecracks are frozen into
metal by capillary
the cast metal, filling
attraction. The attack ismany of ourfurther concentrated
engineering metals
because of the interwith cracks.
metallics and otherFor the past 6000
phases which
years the presence ofpreferentially precipitate
these bifilm cracks inon the outer wetted
metals has beeninterfaces of the bifilm,
overlooked. They havecreating efficientremained undetected
corrosion couples. Stressand unsuspected
corrosion cracking andbecause they are often only a few molecules thick.
hydrogen embrittlement might also eventually be
However, they can form large and serious cracks,
found to involve bifilms, explaining the previous
some the size of newspapers. More often they are one baffling and intractable behaviour of theseor more millimetres across. However, they are often
phenomena.
present in huge numbers.
It is welcome news that some casting operations in
The presence of dense populations of bifilm cracks in the world are now tackling the problem, reducing
our liquid metals explains practically all of ourbifilm populations in their cast material withproblems with cast materials: the formation of gas
encouraging and sometimes dramatic benefits toporosity becomes easy as a result of the gas inproperties.
solution precipitating into and expanding the bifilm

John Campbell, Emeritus Professor ofCasting Technology, Department ofMetallurgy and Materials, University ofBirmingham, UK

12

Elongations to failure in Al alloys are improved by atleast 10 or 20 times, inclusions and cracking in steel
castings are reduced by a factor between 10 and 1000
times, and there is evidence that creep life of Ni
superalloys is extended by at least 10 times. There arereasons to suspect these benefits are only the start.
Furthermore, these effects are expected to beuniversal in metals which form stable oxides, or whichcontain alloys or impurities which form stable oxides.
This includes most of our engineering metals; whereas
the oxidation-resistant metals such as gold are inprinciple free of bifilm problems, the addition of only
minute traces of impurity elements ensure thepresence of these defects.
The engineering techniques required to make a starton this problem, to achieve a mere order ofmagnitude benefit, are easily implemented in current
foundries at negligible cost, merely by following
techniques already well developed and documented.
These techniques involve the pouring of metals
without the introduction and entrainment of air into
the melt. (Interestingly, vacuum melting and casting isof little use at this time because industrial vacuums
used for melting and casting are not sufficiently good:so far as the liquid metal and its reactivity areconcerned, current vacuums are equivalent merely todilute air.) The channels which convey the liquid metal
into the mold have to be designed with great care to
avoid the ingress of air at any point. This is relatively
easily attained by following simple rules. An Al alloy
foundry making parts up to 2000 kg and a steel
foundry producing castings up to 3000 kg are using
these techniques to produce extraordinarily perfectcastings. I have used the same techniques todemonstrate a uniquely defect-free 50,000 kg steel
casting.
For the future, there is every reason to believe that
there is much more to be gained from totalelimination of bifilms, which, in principle, appears to
be attainable with current technology. Foundries are
now being conceived in which the pouring of liquid
metals is completely avoided at every stage: the metal
either flows horizontally or travels uphill, against
gravity, never downwards. Naturally, such new
ventures require substantial funds, but are no morecostly than traditional casting processes. Also, ofcourse, they tend to be highly environmentally
beneficial, especially since they tend only to makecastings, not scrap. Foundries which are on thedrawing board, being built, or currently working,eliminating pouring and employing counter-gravity
filling of molds include an Al alloy foundry making
precision castings weighing only 10g, an Al alloy
foundry making automotive wheels, and a bronze
foundry making 4000 kg propeller blades for ships. A
steel foundry to make castings up to 500 kg is at theconcept stage.

MMTA Event
LAST FEW REMAINING PLACES!
Aurubis Plant Visit and Evening in
Hamburg 19th—20th March 2015
The MMTA will be joining members of the German
Metal Traders Association (VDM) minor metals
group to visit Aurubis in Hamburg on March 20th.
The event will include:

Informal drinks and dinner at BLOCKBRÄU
(www.block-braeu.de) in the harbour area ofHamburg from 7pm on Thursday 19th MarchA presentation and tour of the Aurubis
plant from 10am—12.30 on March 20th
followed by a light lunch.

Hamburg is the Aurubis HQ, as well as the largest
production site, employing over 2000 employees
producing cathodes, wire rod, continuous castshapes, precious metals and specialty products
from primary ore concentrates and secondary raw
materials. Established in 1866, the Aurubis plant is
one of the most modern and environmentallyfriendly copper smelters in the world.

Numbers for this event are limited, so don’t delay
in booking your place. The cost of this event is£40 for MMTA Members.
Go to the MMTA website to book.

These are exciting times. The discovery of the bifilm,
and the development of techniques to reduce or
eliminate it promise a new era of metallurgy andengineering. It will be a revolution!
Further reading by the author“Complete Casting Handbook” Elsevier 2011
“Stop Pouring; Start Casting” The Hoyte Lecture;
American Foundry Society 2012.

13

The Metal
from Atlantis
The Ancient Greeks spoke of a metal that could befound in the mythical city of Atlantis, and earlier thismonth this metal known as orichalcum has beenfound off the coast of Sicily where a ship sank around2600 years ago.
39 ingots at around 300mm in length of the metal
were found on the sea floor around 300m from Gelain southern Sicily. The composition of orichalcum iswidely debated, but with most agreeing on it being‘brass-like’. The ingots discovered have been analysed
and are found to be of the following composition: 7580 percent copper, 15-20 percent zinc and small
percentages of nickel, lead and iron.

Enrico Mattievich, a retired physics professor, has
written a book "Journey to the Mythological Inferno"
in which he states that the ancient Greeks had
discovered a metallic alloy "with fire-Iike reflections"similar to Plato's description. A set of metallic jaguars
matching this description exists, but these turned out
to be made of 9 percent copper, 76 percent gold and
15 percent silver ,meaning that Mattievish believes
that the ingots found recently are actually lumps oflantone metal rather than the orichalcum of myth.
*Centuries before zinc was discovered in the metallic
form, its ores were used for making brass and zinccompounds and also for healing wounds and sore
eyes.

Tamara Alliot, MMTA

Argus acquires MetalPrices.com
Argus Media has bought MetalPrices.com, one of theworld's largest providers of metals market information.
The acquisition will further increase the range of Argus
intelligence available to the metals sector following theacquisition of Metal-Pages.com in May 2014.

History of Metals
The metals below were known to the
Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks and the
Romans. Of the seven metals, five can befound in their native states, e.g., gold, silver,
copper, iron (from meteors) and mercury.
They were first discovered as follows:
Gold 6000BC, Copper 4200BC, Silver 4000BC,
Lead 3500BC, Tin 1750BC, Iron, smelted
1500BC, Mercury 750BC
The subsequent discoveries were arsenic,
then antimony followed by bismuth in 1595.

The process for making the metal in ancient times wasto react of zinc ore *, charcoal and copper metal in a
crucible.
Information on orichalcum comes from ancient texts
and a few artefacts. According to the ancient Greeks,
it was invented by Cadmus, a Greek-Phoenician
mythological character. The Greek philosopher Plato
made orichalcum a legendary metal when hementioned it in the Critias dialogue.
Plato described Atlantis as flashing "with the red lightof orichalcum," he wrote that the metal was mined in
the mythical island and was used to cover the interiorof Poseidon's temple. In ancient times this metal wascomparable to gold in value.

14

MetalPrices publishes nearly 300 metals priceassessments each week, including futures prices andother exchange data, third-party market priceassessments from around the world and proprietary
price assessments which are trusted for indexation andmarket analysis, especially in North American ferrous
and non-ferrous secondary metal markets.
Argus Media chairman and chief executive Adrian Binks
said: “MetalPrices is a natural fit for Argus’ expanding
energy and commodities portfolio. In recent years wehave increased our metals coverage to include iron ore,coking coal and metallurgical coke services as well as
coverage of the ferro-alloy, minor metals and rare earthmarkets through our purchase of Metal-Pages.com. Thisacquisition complements this and extends Argus’ global
coverage of metals markets.”
MetalPrices.com president Marc Dulin said: “We aredelighted to become part of Argus. The MetalPrices
service will go from strength to strength with the benefitof Argus’ international reputation, technical resourcesand global editorial team, which we are all excited tojoin.”

Matt Bidwell , Head of Marketing – Metal-Pages,
Argus MediaLETTER FROM NORTH AMERICA
Dear Members
Rather than dwell on just how horrible the markets have been since I last wrote you, I thought I’d have a quick look back over 2014 and see
what might be noted for going forward into 2015.
The Russia/Ukraine situation still remains very fluid, with Russia looking like heading into full-blown recession and Ukraine in desperateneed of being propped up financially. And who knows if there may not be more sanctions. If so, then potential concerns about the supply of
not only of potash and refractory magnesia, but also cobalt, nickel, niobium, titanium, tungsten and vanadium may become real.
Thinking about tungsten brings to mind China. Back on August 7th, the country lost its appeal to the WTO against an earlier adverse decision
over export quotas on rare earths, tungsten and moly. However, by the end of the year, whilst quotas for moly and tungsten had been
lifted, it took a little longer for the same to occur for rare earths. However, it appears, export taxes on all of them look set to continue, atleast for the time being, and so supplies to the rest of the world will continue to be restricted.
So, the price of oil has fallen 46% over the course of the year, the slide starting midsummer and accelerating from September on. Whatsort of effect is this going to have on the market for alternative energy solutions, in particular solar and wind, and the likes of neodymium,selenium, gallium, cadmium and tellurium? Have either, or both, solutions reached critical mass?
The latest release (on December 9th) from the U.S. national solar trade body, the Solar Energy Industries Association® (SEIA), may show“[t]he U.S. installed 1,354 megawatts MW of solar photovoltaics PV in the third quarter of 2014, to total 16.1 gigawatts (GW) installed PV
capacity, with another 1.4 GW of concentrating solar power (CSP) capacity, enough to power 3.5 million homes. ” And that the quarter was“the second largest quarter in history for solar growth”, with both the SEIA and GTM Research predicting “another record-breaking year for
2014, with total installed capacity reaching three times the size of the market just three years ago. ” But one wonders, following the fourth
quarter’s oil price woes, just whether these predictions will actually come true.
Finally, if you are still thinking of gifts for clients, or need an excellent reference book, and primer for newcomers to the business, then you
need look no further than the British Geological Survey’s excellent Critical Metals Handbook, published by Wiley earlier this year and witha fine chapter therein on rhenium by MMTA member Anthony Lipmann. (No, no contributor receives any royalties!)
I remain, from a chilly New York, with, once again, best wishes for a very happy and successful 2015 to MMTA members everywhere.

Tom Butcher, December 31st, 2014 Hard Assets Investor ©2014 Tom Butcher

Import Processes & Procedures Course
26-27th March, MMTA Office, London
Over the years, over 200 representatives have benefitted from this course, which covers

Incoterms—Customs Formalities— Methods of Shipment— Cargo
Insurance—Documentation—Methods of Payment.
As in recent years, we will be joined by members of the International Steel Trade Association. Jon
Walden MBE (Crown Agents) will again be the course presenter. This is a 2-day course.
Testimonial from previous attendee:"Excellent course, Jon Walden is a great trainer"
Click here to book or contact the MMTA Executive.
The cost will be £395 + VAT (where applicable), including a copy of INCOTERMS 201015

Beryllium Helps
European Space
Agency Mission
Soft-Land its Philae
Probe on CometRadio transmission antennae: The mission used anovel tubular boom antenna design, developed in
Poland by Marta Tokarz, Jerzy Grygorczuk, Stanisław
Jarzynka and Henryk Gut of the Space Research Centerof the Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN)
Philae Lander: Harpoon Penetrator andComponents
http://www.esmats.eu/amspapers/pastpapers/

By BeST | Published: November 18, 2014

pdfs/2014/tokarz.pdf

Beryllium helps the European Space Agency (ESA)

CBK PAN developed a miniature 6-mm diameter

Rosetta mission soft-land its Philae probe on

tubular boom antenna, made of copper beryllium 2%

comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on November alloy strip, which was more compact and lighter than
12th, 2014 – the first time in history that such an

the stainless steel versions used before (it weighs 8g

extraordinary feat has been achieved.

per 1m, while the previous booms weigh 50g – 100g
per 1m respectively). This remarkable weight saving
was made possible by the unique combination ofstrength, rigidity and stress relaxation resistance atlaunch and space temperatures provided by beryllium
alloys.

Beryllium was used in multiple applications fitted in
multiple locations of both the Rosetta satellite and thePhilae Probe vehicle. Prominent examples include thefollowing:
Connector terminals:

For the entire 10-year length

Rosetta and Philae depended upon the reliability ofcopper beryllium connector terminals of its electricaland electronic connectors. The reliability has been
proven in every satellite and space probe launched by

16

Note the coiled copper beryllium strip, which has been
pre-formed into an arced profile (like a flexible tapeof its epic journey to rendezvous with the comet,

the EU and USA.

A typical set of 3 Orthogonal Satellite Antennae:

measure) that will subsequently form the circularprofile antennae. Also, note the circular connectors
which are fitted with copper beryllium terminals toprovide high reliability connections even whensubjected to the forces and vibration of launch,coupled with the extreme cold of space.

Schematic illustration of antenna deployment mechanism:

NEW MMTA MEMBERRJR Alloys Inc
RJR Alloys Inc, based in Greenville
PA, USA, specializes in the supply of
air and vacuum alloy revert, air andvacuum master alloys, pure metals,
recycling solutions, andmetallurgical consulting. Utilizing a
global supply base, we are able toPhilae Lander – Penetrator and anchor system “Harpoon”:

supply hard to source materials inlots both large and small. We alsooffer a full range of scrap recycling
services with a focus on Rhenium
and creative solutions to maximize
the value of our clients' waste
streams. And for over 25 years, wehave been assisting melt shops,
foundries, and manufacturers with
reducing raw material costs andprocess improvement.
Main Contact: Rocky Russo
Email: rocky@rjralloysinc.com
Phone: +1 724 985 4200
Website: http://www.rjralloys.com

Beryllium Science & Technology Association

MMTA OFFICE MEETING ROOM

Screen, projector & flipchart

FREE USE FOR MEMBERS

Free Wi-fi

CENTRAL LONDON LOCATION

Tea, coffee, water provided—otherrefreshments can be arranged at cost

Library and PC resources

Flexible booking and cancellation —just email us

Click here to book the
MMTA meeting room.
17

AREC—a centre for supply
chain excellence supported
and steered by industry
51 industry and academic experts gathered in the Advanced
Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) in July 2014, exploring
supply chain challenges during a half-day workshop that also
introduced the Advanced Resource Efficiency Centre (AREC).

Professor Lenny Koh, BEng (Hons), PhD,FRSA, is a Chair Professor in Operations
Management, Founders and Directors of
the Logistics and Supply Chain
Management (LSCM) Research Centre at
the Management School, the Faculty’s
Centre for Energy, Environment andSustainability (CEES) & the Advanced
Resource Efficiency Centre (AREC) of The
University of Sheffield, UK. She has beenan Associate Dean for 5 years. She is also
the co-founder of Supply Chain
Management and Information Systems(SCMIS) Consortium, a global network ofleading academic and practitioners driving
research and knowledge exchange on
supply chain and information systems. A
world-leading mind recognised amongst
FRSs and Nobel Laureates within the
University, Professor Koh is a Senior Chair
Professor and an internationallyrenowned and established authority insupply chain especially on low carbon andsustainability, with high H-index (World
number 2) and high research income
generation in her discipline internationally.
She is a Cross-Cutting Chief of a 2022
Futures initiative for advancing supply
chain resource sustainability, with a newtranslational model for connecting
invention/basic science at lower TRL tohigher TRL.

18

AREC is a facility planned by the University of Sheffield to bring
together a number of existing research centres with new, dedicatedpeople, facilities and equipment to enable collaborative work
between academia and industry to create the supply chain of the
future.
The brainchild of Professor Lenny Koh, AREC has been ten years in
the making. It has been designed to build on the model successfully
executed by the AMRC in the manufacturing space that brings
together industry partners, relevant academic departments andfunding to create innovative research and commercial
opportunities.
Political institutions understand the risks to critical resources
and the importance of supply chainsTo achieve sustainability objectives industry cannot work in
isolation. There is a need for collaborative planning anddevelopment that sees industry, regulators, Government andacademia working together to establish and promote sustainable
innovations.
The UK Government is already committed to providing support to
the UK’s 4.8 million Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMEs),
developing an environment in which small companies can flourish(HM Treasury 2011).
However it is not just SMEs that require support. Large firms
require support to understand unsustainable processes within their
supply chains. The European Commission’s 2011 report “A Resource
Efficient Europe” highlights the importance of understanding therisks to resources such as rare earths; energy; and water(Commission of the European Union 2011). The complex nature of
supply chains, and the scale and spread across which they operaterequires co-operation at local, regional, national, and international
levels.
The 2012 “Resource Security Action Plan” from the Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) states: “Government’s objective
is to bring better resource use criteria into the mainstream, so they
are routinely included in the range of minimum and best practiceproduct standards”
The long-term vision to achieve this objective is set out, stating:“The Government is putting innovation and research at the heart ofits growth agenda through greater investment and increased
collaboration”.
Getting it right
We know from extensive research and partner feedback that there
are several capabilities that businesses want including:

Better use of evidence based decision-making andmathematical modelling.



Making a step change or breakthrough in the capability ofsupply chains to meet future needs.



Creating a comprehensively budgeted approach to the realvalue of resources.



Innovation through collaboration.

Moving beyond silos and using inter-disciplinary
approaches to generate innovation

The future is not about a supply chain competing
against another supply chain. The future is about aresource sustainable supply chain competing against
another resource sustainable supply chain. A more
effective and efficient use of resources will lead to amore sustainable future. AREC will focus on the supply
chain that delivers material and resources tomanufacturers, developing tools, methods andprocesses to map and improve the management of
supply chains.
AREC is leading in thematic areas where theUniversity of Sheffield has deep expertise
The University of Sheffield has a number of
departments, facilities, and respected andexperienced academics in key areas includingAdvanced materials and manufacturingEnergy and nuclear



Water



Agritech/food.

AREC has a very strong track record working withEngineering and understanding industry needs. AREC
partners with industry leaders such as Rolls-Royce,
TATA Steel, Sheffield Forgemasters, Panalpina, andimportant bodies such as the Minor Metals Trade
Association, The Institute of Materials, Minerals andMining, Innovate UK KTN. AREC collaborates inmaterials and manufacturing R&D across a number of
departments, notably Materials Science & Engineering,
Mechanical Engineering, Chemical & BiologicalEngineering and Electrical & Electronic Engineering.
The broad and interdisciplinary nature of our work isenriched by collaborations with science departments
such as Chemistry and Physics & Astronomy delivering
the highest quality fundamental research, whilst
development at higher technology readiness levels
includes the participation of the Advanced
Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing,
Mercury Centre, Nano Sorby Centre and the Logistics
and Supply Chain Management Research Centre.

NEW MMTA MEMBER
GMH Stachow-Metall GmbH
GMH Stachow-Metall GmbH is a familyowned business involved in theinternational trade of non-ferrous &minor metals, owned and managed byFriederike Stachow.
For the past 25 years GMH Stachow-Metall
has focused on non-ferrous scraps,
residues and raw materials from tin, zinc,lead. The increasing demand for precious,
rare and minor metals over the last years
has changed the business of GMH. Overthe years, another successful story began
and we expanded our known focus into
the minor metals business.
Since 1989, reliability and expertise havemade GMH Stachow-Metall GmbH aninternationally acknowledged partner forcustomers worldwide, particularly whenit’s a case of procuring special materials or
finding suitable uses for special scrap andresidues.

Getting involved with AREC

Contact : Friederike Stachow

AREC offers a number of benefits to partners,
including access to innovation, funding, facilities andworld class modelling capabilities. In particular, AREC
can help reduce the costs of innovating and enhancing
capability through leveraging the University’s
experience in obtaining matched funding, where theprivate sector, University and government funding
bodies all contribute to project opportunities thathave a clear business case and investment rationale,
and are expected to create innovation and commercial
opportunities.

Website: www.stachow-metall.de
Email : f.stachow@stachow-metall.de
Phone : +49 (0)5321 39594-0

Partners that join AREC will begin to design project
opportunities to address their sectoral challenges andpriorities, build partnerships with the University andother firms and agree collaborative business models.
For more information, visit www.sheffield.ac.uk/arec
and contact Professor Lenny Koh on
S.C.L.Koh@sheffield.ac.uk

19