A Blog for Browsing Mining, Mineral Processing, and Metals Info

#OAKRIDGE, Tenn. – The #US #DepartmentOfEnergy today announced a major expansion of its distinctive online crowdsourcing community for building technologies. Seeking to draw on the creativity and technical expertise of the #American public, citizens can now submit their ideas to six open calls for innovation, with the chance to partner with a #DOE national laboratory and a leading private sector partner.

Read more at: http://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/articles/doe-announces-major-expansion-crowdsourcing-initiative-building-technologies

#GeneralAtomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) announced its #Lithium-ion Fault Tolerant (LiFT™) battery has successfully undergone on-hull demonstration testing on a Special Operations Command (SOCOM) undersea vehicle. The LiFT battery, integrated on the undersea vehicle by Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, achieved Det Norske Veritas Germanischer Lloyd (DNV-GL) certification and over 60 hours of at-sea “underway under battery power” time with no failures.

Read more at: http://www.ga.com/general-atomics-lithium-ion-battery-system-successfully-completes-on-hull-demonstration-testing

The country’s biggest #Lithium #Carbonate manufacturer by output has seen its profits soar, driven by a growing demand for new-energy vehicles.

Read more at: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2016-04/12/content_24455677.htm

A team of #Chinese researchers from the #OceanUniversity of #China in #Qingdao have made a breakthrough with #Graphene and #SolarPanels. They believe that it is possible to harness power from rain via solar cells through a simple chemical reaction that would involve using sheets of graphene to separate the positively charged ions in rain, which would result in electricity generation. The study was published in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

Read more at: http://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/new-graphene-solar-panels-generate-power-rain/8528351/

Researchers with #North #Carolina State and the #US #Army Research, Development and #Engineering Center have combined multiple bullet-stopping materials into a single piece of armor. With a thickness of just 25 millimeters, the armor consists of “ceramics as the strike face, composite metal foam processed by powder metallurgy technique as a bullet kinetic energy absorber interlayer, and aluminum 7075 or #Kevlar™ panels as backplates,”  according to the 2015 study.

Read more at: http://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2016/0409/Scientists-invent-metallic-foam-that-shatters-bullets

#Indonesia is expected to have five floating #Power plants with a total capacity of 540 megawatts within the next five years.

According to Ufuk Berk, #Asia director at #Energy and #Engineering company #Karpowership, the first of the five floating power plants is currently in North #Sulawesi, after it arrived in the #Gulf of #Amurang in South #Minahasa during January.

Read more at: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/indonesia-acquire-five-floating-power-plants-next-5-years/

Researchers have developed a new and highly efficient method for #Gene transfer. The technique, which involves culturing and transfecting cells with genetic material on an array of #CarbonNanotubes, appears to overcome the limitations of other gene editing technologies.

Read more at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160406165252.htm

#Sandvik developed a controlled expansion alloy that could perform at 0.1 degrees Kelvin.

Another innovation from Sandvik Osprey is the metal powder that it pioneered 12 years ago for a process then called #RapidPrototyping, and is now the raw material used by many of Sandvik’s customers as well as Sandvik’s #AdditiveManufacturing Center (“#AMC”), just opened in #Sandviken, #Sweden, where applications for additive manufacturing are being explored (otherwise known as #3DPrinting).

Read more at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathansalembaskin/2016/04/07/sandvik-innovates-with-atoms-and-stars/#3f75dabc60c0

#Marcventures Holdings Inc, one of the #Philippines’ biggest #Nickel miners, said on Thursday it was considering building a processing plant and acquiring a mining company to boost output and exports.

If the plan to build a nickel refinery proceeded, the plant would be the country’s third.

Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/philippines-marc-nickel-idUSL3N17A0MD

#China will continue to acquire overseas #Copper mining assets to secure supply despite the uncertain outlook for commodity prices and scarcity of large projects, the vice-president of the country’s largest metal trader has said.

Read more at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6f43b13c-fbdb-11e5-8f41-df5bda8beb40.html#ixzz454CO89of