Metals to be most impacted by new technologies according to Rio...

Metals to be most impacted by new technologies according to Rio Tinto and MIT.In recent months, there has been a report from a Chinese university explaining how adding tin can improve solar cell output, and other research showing how the metal can improve performance of lithium-ion batteries and water treatment technologies.Tinplate linings of cans containing food and drinks (and other uses of tinplate) now account for just 13% of the metal’s consumption.Solder (in electronics and electrical products, particularly) consumes 48% of tin being produced, followed by chemicals at 17%. Lead acid batteries and copper alloys are also important.Demand for tin for use as solder may be about to increase just as mine supply tightens further.Miniaturisation in electronics is slowing while batteries in electric vehicles need tin and that sector is expected to grow substantially over the next decade.Tin, the often-overlooked member of the base metals complex, is back on analysts’ agenda.London-based Capital Economics has just issued a client note entitled A minor star called tin.Reuters has just dubbed it “the most resilient base metal so far this year”, having bounced from US$12,700 per tonne in March when the markets were buffeted by the strongest of the COVID-19 gales to US$17,010/t at the end of last week.That last figure may sound good, but in March 2011 tin reached US$31,800/t, the price on that one day rising by US$1,200/t.And many new potential players would be looking for at least a US$20,000/t price to make their projects financially viable.Roskill, the long-established British metals research firm, pointed out the bottom line: that is, annual refined tin demand is expected to rise by up to 100,000t — that figure equalling about a third of present world production — over the next decade while annual global mine production is expected to rise by only 20,000t.Tin has come a long way since 25 August 1810, when Peter Durand was granted British patent no 3,372 for coming up with tinplate containers as a means of preserving animal and vegetable food products.Now many tin explorers include in their presentation a chart put together by Rio Tinto and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showing that, of all the metals, tin is the one most impacted by new technology — more than lithium, cobalt, silver and graphite.


Australian prospects are limited to a few companiesMetals X (ASX: MLX) is Australia’s largest tin producer and last week revealed plans to expand its Renison mine in Tasmania.The mine’s life has been extended to 10 years, production increasing from between 8,500t per annum and 9,000tpa in the first two years, to more than 10,000tpa from fiscal 2025. That means about 98,000t of tin concentrate over the 10-year plan.In addition, existing mineral resources and exploration may allow for the mine to be extended further beyond those 10 years.