The Elements of Innovation Discovered

Articles from the April 1, 2020 edition


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  • Rio Tinto autonomous mining haul truck sensors allow for predictive maintenance

    Predictive maintenance dodges downtime

    A.J. Roan, For Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 10, 2022

    Advanced wireless sensors are being developed to accompany automated vehicles in next-generation artificial intelligence-operated heavy machinery in mining and other sectors, to help predict malfunctions before they arise. With a fleet of futuristic self-driving equipment being set up to operate standalone, a system for maintenance of these vehicles is necessary to circumvent untimely failures. Typically, standard preventative maintenance is applied, which is just routine...

  • Solar photovoltaic PV 40% of United States electricity installation 2019

    Solar future looks bright for society

    A.J. Roan, For Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 10, 2022

    Solar energy accounted for nearly 40% of all new electricity generation added in the U.S. in 2019, the largest annual share in the industry's history. According to the most recent quarterly report, the U.S. Solar Market Insight, presented by Wood McKenzie and the Solar Energies Industries Association (SIEA). The growth of solar photovoltaic (PV) shows signs of outstripping other energy competitors. According to the report, PV accounted for 39.8% of new electricity generating...

  • First Cobalt Canada refinery for North America source of battery metal

    First Cobalt advances Canada refinery

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 10, 2022

    First Cobalt Corp. has taken another step on its path to becoming a North American producer of cobalt sulfate for the electric vehicle industry. An important ingredient in the lithium-ion batteries that power EVs, cobalt has been maligned due to concerns over human rights abuses, including dangerous working conditions and child labor. These worries are primarily due to the fact that 60% of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country...

  • Ucore Rare Metals Bokan Mountain Dotson Ridge REE deposit Alaska

    COVID-19 underscores rare earth exposure

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jun 27, 2020

    Ucore Rare Metals Inc. says the COVID-19 pandemic shines a spotlight on the need for a domestic supply of rare earth elements and other critical minerals and the company continues to make headway toward helping to fill that supply with its mine-to-metal-to-market "M3" strategy. "The current crisis underscores the extremely vulnerable nature of critical materials supply chains in the U.S. globalization and single-source foreign dependencies are not mitigating this risk – t...

  • CdTe cadmium thin film photovoltaic PV solar panels critical byproduct metals

    Mining refinery waste for solar energy

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jun 27, 2020

    Solar accounted for nearly 40% of the new electricity generating capacity added in the United States during 2019. With sun-fueled electricity expected to continue growing with more residents installing panels on their roofs and utilities commissioning large solar electricity generating facilities, a group of metals that typically lurk in the shadows are now seeing the light of day. Many of the metals needed to build out America's solar generating capacity are fairly common...