Rhenium mineral resources: A global assessment

摘要: Rhenium (Re) is essential to modern transportation because of its key role in the aerospace and petrochemical sectors and has been assessed as critical due to its complex supply chains and limited options for effective substitutes. Efforts to estimate global Re resources are complicated by its production as a ‘by-product of a by-product’ – i.e., its extraction as a by-product from molybdenum (Mo) concentrates, which in turn are commonly by-products from copper (Cu) mining, leading to very limited reporting of Re grades in mineral deposits. This has rendered past estimates of global Re resources subject to high uncertainty and variability.This study addresses this key issue using a new detailed database of mineral deposits reported to host Re that also includes deposits which are inferred to contain Re based on their Cu and Mo contents (using Re proxies). We also present an analysis of historical Re production and …