From Archimedes’ principle to mass spectrometry, there are plenty of ways to test the purity of gold.
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Articles on precious metals
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Contracts for exploring the deep sea are due to expire before a safe mining code can be agreed.
Within the growing mountains of electronic waste, precious metals lie waiting to be recovered.
This week, our experts are looking at the major trends in post-crisis globalisation.
Electronic waste is accumulating and is a resource to be exploited. Microfluidic devices allow the development of recycling, including the recycling of rare earths – a precious resource.
The most sustainable phone is the one you already own. But if you’re in the market for a new handset, consider choosing one with replaceable parts to avoid having to replace the whole thing again.
The precious metal is literally extra-terrestrial, produced in the heart of the stars. How and under what conditions? Scientists know more thanks to a double astrophysical observation.
iPhones, Boeing 787s, Teslas and a whole host of other technologies all rely on rare metals – so much so that a new era beckons.
There are precious, and toxic, minerals in our old mobile phones. Far better to recycle them than dump them in the trash.
Metals are generally abundant throughout the Earth’s crust, but not always at the right cost in the right place at the right time.
Fears over China’s ability to cope with its debt crisis and renewed doubts over recovery in the US have sent investors running back to old faithful: gold. But markets look as if they are favouring tradition…
Top contributors
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Professor emeritus, University of Technology Sydney
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Senior Lecturer, Industrial Design, UNSW Sydney
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Chair Professor in Finance, Newcastle University
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Senior Lecturer in Applied Geology, University of Leicester
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Lecturer in Applied and Environmental Geology, University of Leicester
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Lecturer in Applied and Environmental Geology, University of Leicester
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Principal Research Fellow - Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland
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Doctoral Candidate in Responsible Mining, University of Exeter
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Senior Programme Manager Pact Mines to Markets, University of Exeter
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Chercheur en astrophysique nucléaire, University of Washington
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Reader of Law, Newcastle University
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Directeur de Recherche au CEA (IRAMIS/NIMBE de Saclay) et Professeur invité à NTU/ERI@N (Singapour), Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)
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Professor of Bio-innovation and Enterprise, Coventry University
