Science des matériaux
Tungstène – Le métal high-tech secret
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Le métal stratégique oublié
Investing in commodities tends to be centered around the largest ones by volume and total value: oil, gas, foodstuffs, iron, copper, etc., or around “trendy” commodities important for new technologies like battery metals (lithium, cobalt, nickel) and rare earth elements.
Malgré leur importance capitale pour la société industrielle moderne, certaines parties importantes du tableau périodique des éléments sont hors des feux de la rampe.
Un bon exemple est le tungstène – un métal requis pour la fabrication de semi-conducteurs, de moteurs de fusée et d’armes. Il est de plus en plus utilisé dans les batteries et pourrait même bientôt être employé pour les moteurs de fusion nucléaire.
Cela en fait un métal très stratégique. Avec près de 90 % de son approvisionnement provenant de Chine et de Russie, il est important dans le contexte des tensions croissantes entre l’Occident et les deux grandes puissances eurasiennes.
Au moment de la rédaction, la Chine représente 85 % de l’approvisionnement mondial, suivie du Vietnam et de la Russie.
Source: Almonty
Le métal le plus résistant sur Terre
Tungsten is exceptional for its strength. Its melting point is the highest of all known elements, at 3,422 °C (6,192 °F). It also has a very high density, similar to that of much heavier elements like uranium.
En plus de sa résistance mécanique, le tungstène n’est pas très réactif chimiquement. Cela signifie qu’il ne s’oxyde ni ne corrode généralement lorsqu’il est exposé à des conditions défavorables. Il ne réagit pas avec l’eau, est immunisé contre la plupart des acides et des bases, et ne réagit pas avec l’oxygène à des températures normales.
Il possède également la plus grande résistance à la traction de tous les métaux, le double de celle de l’acier inoxydable.
Lorsqu’il est combiné avec du carbone, le carbure de tungstène forme le seul matériau naturel capable de rayer le diamant.
Source: Chemistry Learner
Approvisionnement en tungstène
Tungsten was first discovered in the 1750s. The main resource for tungsten is wolframite (FeMnWO4), from which tungsten derives its W symbol in the periodic table. It is also found in scheelite (CaWO4). The name Tungsten comes from Swedish, meaning “heavy stone.”
C’est un minéral modérément rare, présent à 1,25 g pour 1 000 kg de croûte terrestre, et les gisements fortement concentrés sont quelque peu rares, rendant l’exploitation commerciale difficile.
The toughness of the metal makes it hard and energy-intensive to purify from ore and process into useful metal, increasing production costs further.
Applications du tungstène
Tungsten’s profile makes it useful in many industrial applications whenever its costs are justified by its extreme resistance.
This creates a diversified demand for tungsten, with many newer sectors growing quickly in addition to traditional industrial applications.
Source: Almonty
Cependant, le tungstène pourrait bientôt voir davantage d’applications dans des versions améliorées d’alliages (métaux mélangés) appelés alliages réfractaires. Ceux-ci sont extrêmement résistants à la chaleur et sont fabriqués en combinant des métaux des cinquième et sixième périodes du tableau périodique des éléments : le molybdène, le niobium, le tungstène, le tantale et le rhénium.
Des scientifiques ont récemment découvert que l’on peut rendre ces alliages plus flexibles et moins fragiles, les rendant ainsi plus utiles (bien qu’ils aient utilisé un alliage niobium-molybdène-tantale-hafnium sans tungstène).
Construction, exploitation minière et industrie
Tungsten and tungsten carbide are commonly used to manufacture ultra-hard drill bits and other tools that are able to cut through steel, concrete, etc.
Il est particulièrement utile pour percer la roche dans les mines grâce à sa résistance thermique et mécanique, ainsi que pour le traitement du métal dans les processus industriels.
La demande de ce segment est relativement stable et suit principalement l’activité économique mondiale globale.
Source: Planetary.org
Défense
Tungsten is used to armor various military hardware, including tanks. Its density is also used for armor-piercing ammunition, from small arms calibers to ammunition for air defense, tanks, artillery, and missiles.
En raison de ce rôle important, le métal a longtemps été classé comme métal stratégique et était l’une des ressources stockées par le US Defense Logistics Agency. Cette agence pourrait jouer un rôle important à l’avenir, car elle est depuis longtemps devenue une source de tungstène pour le marché, réduisant ainsi ses stocks.
En 2022, le gouvernement américain a décidé d’inverser la tendance et de reconstituer les réserves stratégiques de « minéraux essentiels aux chaînes d’approvisionnement de la défense, tels que le titane, le tungstène et le cobalt ».
Ces ventes ont inclus 3 000 tonnes courtes de titane, utilisées dans la construction de structures aéronautiques militaires, et 76 millions de livres de minerais et concentrés de tungstène, utilisés dans les moteurs à turbine militaires et les munitions perforantes.
“Congress and Pentagon seek to shore up strategic mineral stockpile dominated by China”
Aérospatiale
Tungsten’s extreme heat resistance has made it a material of choice for rocket nuzzles, both for space rockets and missiles. So far, this has represented only 8% of tungsten’s global demand, but this might quickly rise with a new space race to the Moon and the growing demand to launch and maintain satellite constellations for space-based Internet like Starlink.
Le tourisme spatial, l’exploitation future d’astéroïdes et le transport hypersonique point à point via des vols suborbitaux sont également susceptibles d’augmenter la demande de tungstène.
Tungsten is also used in planes’ rotor blades, propellers, inertial systems, etc.
Semi-conducteurs
An often overlooked role of tungsten is in semiconductor manufacturing. Tungsten can be turned into a gas, tungsten hexafluoride, which is the densest known gas, 11 times heavier than air.
This gas allows for the depositing of tungsten in a 10-15 nm thin layer, using a process called “chemical vapor deposition”. The tungsten reacts with the silicon substrate and protects the silicon layer.
Tungsten microscopic needle probes are also used to test semiconductor devices. Tungsten might be useful in new types of computing systems like redox gates, using Tungsten (VI) oxide (WO3) and Vanadium (IV) oxide (VO2).
So, overall, tungsten demand for semiconductor manufacturing tends to follow the industry’s (growing) overall production volume.
Automobile
A new segment for tungsten demand is in battery manufacturing. This is causing a strong growth in demand for automotive applications, which was confined to high-performance crankshafts, pistons, gears, and other mechanical parts before the development of EVs.
2kg of tungsten goes into every EV, used in the cathode and anode of the battery, as well as the semiconductors.
Tungsten might also benefit from the demand for hybrids beyond the battery component, thanks to hybrids being more demanding for high-resistance gearing systems.
“The major automakers seem to be pulling back from EVs and hybrids seem like a bigger bet over the short term at least. And tungsten is even more vital for hybrids because of its importance in the gearing system.
Tungsten is crucial here because its extraordinary strength and heat resistance can stand up to the vehicle’s constant changing between its electric and gasoline or diesel-powered modes.”
Lewis Black, directeur, président et PDG d’Almonty Industries (ALM )
Énergie
Hydrogène
Besides batteries, tungsten might also be used for low-carbon energy generation.
One application is using it as a catalyst to produce hydrogen. Recently, researchers have found that an alloy of ruthenium, silicon, and tungsten (RuSiW) could be used to produce hydrogen.
In this method, tungsten stabilizes and makes the active part (ruthenium) more durable. This method could replace much more expensive and environmentally damaging catalysts for hydrogen production, like platinum or iridium.
Fusion
Another application of tungsten could be in nuclear fusion, the holy grail of sustainable energy generation. This follows a new record of a 6-minute-long fusion reaction established by the WEST (tungsten (W) Environment in Steady-state Tokamak).
“We need to deliver a new source of energy, and the source should be continuous and permanent. These are beautiful results. We have reached a stationary regime despite being in a challenging environment due to this tungsten wall.”
This shows that while advanced physics and magnetic field will be key to unlocking fusion, leveraging advanced materials like tungsten might contribute a great deal as well.
Autres
Tungsten has several other niche applications, some old and some emerging, which are less relevant to the overall demand.
It is, for example, used in:
- New lenses for virtual reality.
- X-ray machines.
- Electron microscopy.
- Surgery tools.
- Jewelry.
- Lamp filament.
- Consumers goods (golf clubs, )
Entreprises du tungstène
1. Almonty Industries (AII.TO)
Almonty is a tungsten miner which is currently mostly producing from a mine in Portugal, in operation for the last 125 years.
The company has been working on expanding the Portuguese mine and owns undeveloped deposits in Spain.
Source: Almonty
The company’s most important project is the ongoing development of a new mine in Sangdong, South Korea.
The mine contains more inferred resources than all of its other deposits combined.
Source: Almonty
As one of the only active and producing tungsten miners in Western countries, Almonty is a key strategic supplier for the defense industry.
So it is an important company for reducing dependence on Chinese supply.
While China prepares to open a huge tungsten mine in Kazakhstan, Almonty is poised to “substantially shift the politics involved with securing tungsten” when the Almonty Korea Tungsten Project’s Sangdong mine comes online within a few months. When it begins production, it will be one of the world’s largest tungsten mines, accounting for 30% of the non-Chinese supply.
Lewis Black, directeur, président et PDG d’Almonty Industries
The Sangdong mine’s location makes it a perfect supplier to the defense industry, with South Korea a new giant in mass production of “low tech” military gear like tanks, artillery, and ammunition (compared to fighter jets, aircraft carriers, etc.).
Because of its strategic position as essentially the sole large supplier in the West, Almonty was offered a guaranteed price by Plansee. Plansee is a high-performance metal manufacturer and one of Almonty’s larger clients, as well as the owner of 15% of the company.
The minimum guaranteed price was $235/MTU (metric ton unit), with no upper threshold. As Sangdong Mine is aiming for cash costs of $110/mtu, this should virtually ensure a high profit margin for the project.
2. China Molybdenum / CMOC Group (603993.SS)
The reason why Almonty is one of the only non-Chinese tungsten manufacturers is that China has for a long time been the lowest-cost producer of this metal, with virtually only Almonty surviving this competition without subsidies. In addition, tungsten production was heavily subsidized by the state for strategic reasons.
China Molybdenum has molybdenum and tungsten mines in China, copper and cobalt mines in Congo, and niobium and phosphate mines in Brazil.
The cobalt operations make CMOC the second-largest cobalt producer in the world.
The Brazilian operations are the country’s second-largest producer of phosphate fertilizers, making CMOC the second-largest producer of niobium in the world.
Source: CMOC
The company also owns IXM, a global base metal trader with 300 employees and more than 5 million metric tons of metal traded.
The company is looking to innovate to keep production costs low, notably thanks to the Chinese mines being “the first in the world to introduce 5G technology to autonomous mining equipment and a pioneer in deploying electric mining trucks”.
While not purely a tungsten company, the company has evolved to become a world-leading producer of “niche” metal. This position will be reinforced with an expansion into lithium in Bolivia through a partnership with battery giant CATL (CATL owns 25% of CMOC since 2022).
