Materials World Tackles New Materials Developments Around the World

Materials World is the monthly publication of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) presenting the latest findings in research from around the world.

This month’s issue focuses on light metals, and includes:

• Grinding them down: A report from The Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organisation into grinding technologies available to the minerals industry. Covering the advantages and limitations of IsaMills, Tower and Detritor mills in depth, along with their ability to produce fine grain particles.
• Melting moments: Rheoforming melt processing technologies under development at the Brunel Centre for Advanced Solidification Technology. This group of techniques can be used for aluminium and magnesium alloys. The article discusses twin-screw melt-conditioning devices and the potential advantages of developing these new technologies.
• Titanium – 21st century metal in transition: High strength, lightweight titanium may soon become a commodity metal. In order to meet government targets to reduce carbon emissions, titanium could be the material of choice for aircraft and car components as it is lighter than steel. The current status in terms of production methods and their capacity to meet demand is also discussed.

The mining feature in May’s issue presents the findings of laboratory and real life experiments into the use of bone meal for the remediation of old mines. Dr Eva Valsami-Jones from the Natural History Museum in London, UK, discusses the environmental impact of mining and the lack of incentives to clean contaminated land. Bone meal could provide an environmentally friendly solution and test results have proved successful in the remediation of land contaminated with a number of metals, including zinc, aluminium, lead and copper.