February 6, 2001

FEATURE

Bronze Age Secrets Power the Hi-Tech Economy

Reproduced with the permission of Reuters News Service

LONDON, February 6 (Reuters) -- They gave us the Bronze Age, the Industrial Revolution, and now, the "new" economy.

Without metals, personal computers and mobile phones would cease to function and car, rail and train transport would grind to a halt. And, despite mining's poor reputation, metals are also at work softening mankind's impact on the environment.

For base and precious metals, long seen as a pillar of the old economy, are also at the heart of the new one.

Often vilified for what are seen as messy, dangerous and environmentally hazardous mining operations and energy-intensive processing, metals from copper to cobalt are seen increasingly as providing solutions to some of our most pressing concerns.

They are the raw materials that will boost memory and processing power in high-tech gizmos, convert air and sunlight into energy, slash weight and noxious exhaust in cars, and safeguard us from radioactive waste.

COPPER SMARTENS UP DUMB HOMES, STORES NUCLEAR WASTE

Take copper, the earliest metal known to man, discovered 5,000 years before gold and smelted as early as 3,500 BC.

It is estimated that some 80 percent of the copper ever produced by humanity is still in use in some new guise -- and some in the original: The remaining copper water plumbing system at the Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt, for example, still works.

But copper, corrosion-resistant and an excellent conductor of electricity, is now finding a new lease of life storing sunlight or nuclear waste, firing up intelligent homes, and rendering speech recognition and wireless video possible.

Sweden, which is phasing out nuclear power, has selected oxygen-free copper canisters to bury its radioactive uranium waste, which remains dangerously radioactive for 100,000 years.

The most efficient conductor of electricity and heat among non-precious metals, copper wiring in cars has bounded out to a kilometre (0.6 miles) per family car from 45 metres (147 feet) 50 years ago.

In smart-wired homes, copper lies behind sprinklers, computers, electronically operated curtains and security systems.

LIGHT ALUMINIUM FOR HI-TECH TRANSPORT, BATTERY BATTLEGROUND

The other major industrial metal, aluminium, finds favour for its lightness and strength, which makes it beloved of car, ferry and plane manufacturers eager to cut fuel use and exhaust pollutants.

In 2001, aluminium will surpass plastic to become the third most-used material in vehicles as 20 percent less weight can save some 12 to 16 percent in fuel.

The aluminium industry also sees potential in the sky.

"The development of larger passenger aircraft (1,000 passengers) is a major opportunity for aluminium," the British-based Aluminium Federation said in a paper on future uses published last November.

The industry is also looking to expand its horizons in the packaging industry with resealable cans, smart cans that can change colour with temperature and self-chill cans.

PRECIOUS AND BASE METALS POWER BATTERIES TO ENGINES

Meanwhile, nickel, lead and zinc are vying to dominate the new generation electric vehicle battery technology expected to dominate cars of the 21st century.

In separate technology, researchers are looking to zinc-air batteries, where zinc reacts with oxygen to create energy, to power mobile phones and provide double to four times as much energy as traditional nickel-lithium powered devices.

In aircraft, the latest generation of jet propulsion engines use increasing amounts of rare metals rhenium and tantalum, as well as cobalt, because of their resistance to high temperatures, to get better performance and thrust from fuel.

Or take tin, where industry researchers are exploring some niche environmental and health benefits. They are looking into tin shot to replace lead shot in hunting and gun sports to protect the food chain from lead poisoning.

Story by Sharman Esarey

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Contact: Michael Hennelly,
Tel: 212-251-7259,
E-mail: mhennelly@copper.org

260 Madison Avenue, 16th floor,
New York, NY 10016-2401.
Tel: (212) 251-7240
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