Visualization of all metals mined globally in 2019

[OnlinePoker]

I'm assuming the numbers for 2020 were lower due to Covid, but this is an excellent example of all the base metals out there that need intensive amounts of energy to mine, ship and smelt before it even goes for final products.

https://elements.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/all-of-the-metals-one-visualization.html

[Ziggysmom]

1. Thanks for sharing, amazing numbers. What will we do when our resources run out?

[eppur_se_muova]

2. *Strontium* makes the cut, but not barium ?? Why ??

Is it just fireworks ?!?

[NNadir]

3. Strontium ferrites and strontium ferrates are extremely important magnetically active materials...

...in data storage and other electromagnetic applications.

Barium ferrites also function in these settings, but the properties of strontium ferrites is superior in many settings.

Calcium and lead (II) also can have similar properties, but again, strontium is superior to others.

For example: S. Furrer et al., "317 Gb/in2 Recording Areal Density on Strontium Ferrite Tape," in IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, vol. 57, no. 7, pp. 1-11, July 2021, Art no. 3101311

Strontium titanates are also interesting materials, and have been evaluated for many applications in materials science as well certain electronic applications, for example, thermoelectric devices.

Strontium is considered a "critical element," for good reason.

Both barium and strontium are, of course, fission products, barium in essentially non-radioactive forms, the longest living neutron rich isotope, Ba-140, having a half life of less than two weeks. However the high energy to mass ratio which makes nuclear energy environmentally superior to all other forms of commercially available energy means that such a source of barium is not going to as major in comparison to ores as will, for example, rhodium, the supply of which from used nuclear fuels already outstrips that available from ores.

Fission product strontium contains the heat generating pure beta emitting Sr-90, a radioactive species that often excites paroxysms of stupidity from people who tremble at the concept of so called "nuclear waste" while not giving a rat's ass about fossil fuel waste, even as the latter kills in vast amounts and the former, um, doesn't. It is, nevertheless, an extremely valuable material, given the low neutron capture cross sections of both Sr-88 and Sr-90, the most common isotopes produced in both fast and thermal fission. In a sane world radioactive strontium would be considered an extremely important material, not just as a heat source, a minor but workable application, but also for heat transfer in the metallic state.

A chemist may wonder about the separation of barium and strontium from each other in the reprocessing of used nuclear fuels. Sometime ago, over in your science forum, I wrote about a molten carbonate electrochemical cell for CO2 reduction where the solubility of strontium oxide, but not barium oxide, was extremely low. Radioactive strontium in the Sr/Y/Zr decay chain would be an obviously ideal tool in this system, precisely because of the heat generation. Regrettably the Bateman equilibrium prevents producing enough Sr-90 to address major applications, since ultimately Sr-90 will end up decaying as fast as it is formed, but in important niche settings, it strikes me a extremely valuable.

However, again, the neutron transparency of both non-radioactive Sr-88 and radioactive Sr-90 suggest more interesting applications.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. I did not even suspect it was something like that, thanks.

I knew BaTiO3 has a ridiculously high dielectric constant, but didn't realize SrTiO3 was so interesting.

I am curious as to whether the OP was including such uses as barium sulfate mud for drilling, as that would seem to me to call for quite a quantity of barite ore. Always think of bulk uses when adding up total industrial usage. Maybe barium wasn't included because it's seldom processed and purified.