From locating water supplies in Africa to advising the Canadian Government on nuclear waste management, Dr Anthony Hodge’s career has spanned the full environmental gammit. Now, as President of the International Council on Mining and Metals in London, UK, he hopes to bring his message of sustainability and cooperation to the mining industry. Meagan Ellis reports
In the commercial world, sustainable performance is rapidly becoming a prerequisite for doing business. While it is widely accepted that today’s packaging must make a positive contribution to sustainability, it does not always follow that a new solution is needed for new priorities. Steel cans may be over 100 years old, but there are few materials that can challenge its sustainability credentials.
The European automobile industry is facing legislation to achieve significant reductions in CO2 levels for new vehicles by 2012. In the meantime, the industry is introducing new technologies to offer lower CO2 products. There are three fundamental ways to improve economy and emissions. In order of effectiveness, these are to improve powertrain efficiency, reduce weight and increase aerodynamic efficiency.
Techniques to teach steelmaking and steel processing within an undergraduate curriculum can be problematic. However, there is an alternative in the form of steeluniversity.org, which aims to provide e-learning resources covering all aspects of iron and steelmaking, including applications and recycling.
This year’s Premier Awards Dinner for recipients of the Institute’s 2007 Medals and Prizes was held in early July at the Institute’s London headquarters.Iron & steel, 04 Mar 2008
Cathodic methods are being used to prevent corrosion in steel-reinforced concrete. The process involves the use of sprayed zinc anodes, a recently developed alloy of zinc, aluminium and indium to give up to 20 years of protection, and this coating needs little maintenance and upkeep.
A lightweight, metallic, diffusion bonded, sandwich sheet material can be prepared by evenly depositing a layer of melt-spun 304 stainless steel onto a sheet of this stainless steel, placing a second sheet on top of the metallic fibre layer and diffusion bonding the assembly under vacuum. The material is being evaluated for crash resistance in automotive and defence applications.
Exploration drilling at the Spinifex Ridge project has identified measured resources of 187 Mt at 0.07% Mo, 0.1% Cu and 1.8 g/t Ag and a bankable feasibility study is being completed. The prospects are discussed in relation to increasing demand for Mo in stainless and other steels.
