EU Parliament Agrees to Exclude Harmful Chemicals from Toys

Factiva: "The list of chemicals to be controlled by the legislation includes 55 allergenic fragrances, along with the heavy metals cadmium, hexavelant chromium, lead, organic tin compounds, and mercury. 

Traces of the heavy metals 'that cannot be avoided with good manufacturing practices' would be permitted up to a threshold of 5% of the recognized daily maximum safe intake. Limits for aluminum, arsenic, copper, nickel and tin were also been agreed. 

Additionally, MEPs have agreed to introduce new system under which EU countries will be required to monitor the chemical content of toys in the market. Cases of toxic or dangerous toys being placed on the market, such as those sold by toy company Mattel in 2007, 'have shown the need for tighter safety rules,' the European parliament says. The legislation agreed by the parliament is primarily aimed at protecting the region from chemicals in Chinese toys: About 80% of toys in the EU are imported from China."

Cement patent including chromium reduction

Factiva: "A cement admixture of a low environmental load type, capable of reducing hexavalent chromium, having a small slump loss or heat of hydration, hardly neutralized and capable of suppressing autogenous shrinkage to a low level; a cement composition;"

The cement admixture comprises a slowly cooled slag powder which contains melilite as the main component and which has a carbon dioxide absorption of at least 2%, has a carbon dioxide absorption of at least 2 percent, has a loss on ignition of at most 5 percent, contains at least 0.5 percent of sulfur present as non-sulfuric acid form sulfur and/or has a concentration of non-sulfuric acid form sulfur to elute, of at least 100 milligram per litre, and further, preferably, has a degree of vitrification of at most 30%, a melilite lattice constant a of from 7.73 to 7.82 and/or a Blaine specific surface area of at least 4,000 centimeter square per gram."

The inventors were issued U.S. Patent No. 7,459,020 on Dec. 2.

Study on the realization of tin point

Scopus: "Tin-point cells were fabricated using high grade tin samples purchased from some different metal sources. 

Temperature measurements during the solid-liquid equilibrium condition, under which the tin point is defined, were conducted for evaluating the quality of the cells. Different methods for the realization of tin point were compared by means of the fabricated cells."

Yunnan Tin halts production

Factiva: "China's top tin producer, Yunnan Tin Co Ltd halted production at its only smelting facility on Dec. 8 due to low prices and a lack of tin concentrates, sources reported, citing a director at its trade department on Tuesday. 

This facility in Yunnan province boast production capacity of 70,000 tons of tin, and the total tin output for 2008 is expected to be around 60,000 tons, according to the source. In November, the company announced the plan to cut its output by 30% in the fourth quarter due to the sliding tin prices and the sharp decrease in sales amid the global financial crisis. 

Last week, the Chinese government is reportedly considering buying all types of base metals as reserves to help boost domestic demands metals. The smelting facility is likely to reopen after February if the local government would buy its tin products under the stimulus plan, said the source."

Structural, dynamic, and electronic properties of liquid tin: An ab initio molecular dynamics study

Scopus: "We report on a study of several structural, dynamic, and electronic properties of liquid Sn at a thermodynamic state close to the triple point (573 K) and another one at a higher temperature (1273 K)."

Study on the microstructure and electrochemical properties of lead-calcium-tin-aluminum alloys

Scopus: "A detailed investigation of the effects on the microstructure and electrochemical properties of lead-calcium-tin-aluminum alloys of adding tin and calcium was undertaken. 

The experimental results show that the grains gradually became smaller as the content of calcium increased, and the content of tin decreased, in the alloy. The size and shape of grains were related to the ratio of tin to calcium content in the alloys. The linear sweep voltammetry and AC impedance measurements suggested that the preferred ratio of tin to calcium content, r, is between 9 and 15, and the optimum range of tin content in the alloys is 0.8-1.1%."

Researchers Measure the Nuclei of Tin, Cadmium and Indium

Azonano.com: "The discoveries, made at MSU's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory using an isotope purification device, will help to refine theoretical models about how elements are created in the cosmos. Until now, this was beyond the technical reach of nearly all of the world's nuclear science facilities.

To be published December 12 in Physical Review Letters, the paper details how the researchers were able to measure the nuclei of tin, cadmium and indium.

'Tin-100, in particular, has been sort of a holy grail of experimental nuclear physics,' said NSCL senior physicist Daniel Bazin of one of the isotopes, with 50 protons and 50 neutrons, described in the paper.

Within nuclear science, 50 is considered 'magic' because it's one of a handful of numbers associated with extra stability."

Analysis of tin additions to aluminum base foams

Scopus: "The main drawback of the powder metallurgy foaming process is the mismatch between the melting point of Al and gas-release temperature of the blowing agent (lower for TiH2), which can lead to cracking and hydrogen loss prior to foaming. To overcome this problem, the current study is investigating the addition of an immiscible element (Sn) that creates a link between the aluminum powders during hot compaction and foaming."

It was found that the best cell structures are obtained before the maximum expansion and they are maintained for a longer period of time since foaming is carried out at lower temperatures.

New High-Tin Copper Alloys for Springs

Factiva: "Copper alloys with high strength and high conductivity are an important functional material with full of potential applications. In the present investigation, a bronze with higher tin content (Cu-13.5 wt pct Sn) was prepared successfully by spray forming, the feasibility of cold rolling this alloy was investigated, and the cold rolling characteristics of this alloy have also been discussed.'

'The results indicate that the spray-formed Cu-13.5 wt pct Sn alloy, compared with the as-cast ingot, shows a quite fine and homogeneous single-phase structure, and, therefore shows an excellent workability. It can be cold-rolled with nearly 15% reduction in the thickness per pass and the total reduction can reach 80%. The classical border between the wrought and cast alloys is shifted to considerably higher tin contents by spray forming. After proper thermo-mechanical treatment, spray-formed Cu-13.5 wt pct Sn alloy exhibits excellent comprehensive mechanical properties. Particularly, it shows a low elastic modulus (similar to 88 GPa) and a high flow stress (over 800 MPa) after cold forming,' wrote X.F. Wang and colleagues.

The researchers concluded: 'This combination of properties is unique in the domain of metallic materials and could open new possibilities in spring technology field.'"

Cold-sprayed tin-bronze-based composite coatings

Scopus: "In this paper, tin-bronze/TiN and tin-bronze/quasicrystal (AlCuFeB) composite coatings were fabricated by cold spray process. 

Microstructure and microhardness of the prepared coatings were investigated. Ball-on-disc dry sliding wear tests were conducted in an ambient condition to examine the tribological behavior of the composite coatings. 

The results show that the microhardness and the density of composite coatings increase significantly compared to the pure tin-bronze coating. The friction coefficient of composite coating decreases when reinforcing particles were introduced. 

Furthermore, the bronze/quasicrystal composite coating has a lower friction coefficient and wear rate than the bronze/TiN coating. Tribological mechanisms of the composite coatings were discussed"

Nanocomposites and Nanoporous Materials VIII

Factiva: Selected, peer reviewed papers from the 8th International Symposium on Nanocomposites and Nanoporous Materials (ISNNM8), February 22-24, 2007, Jeju, Korea

The recent utilization of nano-sized powders and porous materials has led to the expectation that it will lead to basic breakthrough solutions for prospective nanomaterial products offering high performance and multi-functionalism. For this reason, many industrial countries have financially supported nanostructured materials development and their use in technical innovation.

Packaging on YouTube

packagingnews.co.uk: "Michaela Watson of Charapak responded to our call to let us know your favourite packaging videos from YouTube. Here is her choice, a video featuring one of her company's shelf-ready packaging products."

Can triniobium tin shrink accelerators?

Nature News: "The superconducting cavities that drive most of the world's particle accelerators are running out of room for improvement. But new theoretical work suggests that overlooked superconducting ma terials could be used to make cavities that accelerate particles to higher energies over shorter distances ? thereby doing the job more cheaply.

Still, it would take years to develop and test new accelerator components made of materials such as triniobium tin"

"The excuse has been, 'We've worked so hard on niobium, why try these other materials?'" says Sethna. "All of a sudden, we're telling them, 'you've been listening to the wrong theorists'."

Hasan Padamsee, a superconductivity expert at Cornell University, is excited by Sethna's work. In the late 1990s he made a test cavity out of triniobium tin, and it performed less well than niobium alone. But the new work gives Padamsee confidence that the result was due to a problem with the particular sample rather than a fundamental quality of the material.

Peter Kneisel, a senior staff scientist at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Virginia, is less optimistic. He would prefer to wring incremental advances out of niobium cavities, and accept their limitations.

"The grass on the other side of the fence is always greener," says Kneisel, who has spent 40 years working to improve niobium. "It will take, I don't know, 40 years again to bring it to some practical use in accelerators."

New Report on World Catalyst Markets

Reportlinker: World catalyst demand will expand at a 6.3 percent annual pace to $16.5 billion in 2012, with volume demand growing at a 1.9 percent annual pace to 5.3 million metric tons. Growth will be strong across all market segments as high energy prices help support increased catalyst demand as a means of improving productivity. Average prices will also continue to advance due to a combination of underlying support from strong demand, and a shifting product mix toward higher cost/ more efficient products.

Rapidly rising energy prices over the 2002 to 2007 time period have dramatically increased raw material and production costs throughout the chemical, re- fining and polymer industries. Companies have responded by looking to increase both energy efficiency and productivity in their processes and operations, which in turn has boosted demand for catalysts.

Tin soars 10 percent on China stockpile plans

Reuters: "London Metal Exchange tin prices leapt 9.8 percent on Monday after news that China's Yunnan province would build a 1 million tonne stockpile of base metals, including 100,000 tonnes of tin."

EU vetos move to mitigate climate change impact on energy price

Euometaux: A key part of the EU’s climate change policy – the Emission Trading System (ETS) – could destroy the economic viability of Europe’s non-ferrous metals industries. The European Parliament’s Environment Committee recognized the impact of CO2 costs passed into electricity prices (indirect effects) as one of the criteria for carbon leakage, as it has a large negative effect on the competitiveness of energy intensive industries. Therefore, it is inexplicable that the Committee vetoed provisions for a legal mechanism to address this problem.

“By vetoing solutions to the large electricity price increases caused by the ETS, Europe will export jobs and import energy intensive products with a higher greenhouse gas content. Today’s vote opens the door to a significant delocalisation of energy intensive industries, like ours, to regions without restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions”, says Guy Thiran, Secretary General of Eurometaux, the trade association for the non-ferrous metals industries in Europe with 450 000 employees.

The ETS has both direct and indirect effects on the energy intensive industries, such as the production of metals like aluminium, zinc, copper or nickel. The direct effects relate to the emissions of greenhouse gases from the production process for making the non-ferrous metals. Eurometaux welcomes the wide support in the European Parliament to give free allocation of emission allowances for direct emissions to trade-exposed, energy intensive industries.

Ni compounds added to EU dnagerous substances list

Danish PR: After 10 years of hard work Denmark has succeeded in getting 117 carcinogenic nickel compounds added to the EU list of dangerous substances.

Thereby the compounds may no longer be sold to consumers. The compounds are now also covered by severe working environment limitations, including demands for substitution. The new regulation is the result of a risk assessment of nickel and nickel compounds that Denmark has carried through on behalf of EU and which has documented that the compounds are carcinogenic.

This is a reality after the Member States today have granted the Commission a mandate to add a long list of dangerous compounds to the list of dangerous substances in directive on dangerous substances.

“I am extremely happy that we have succeeded in convincing the EU that these nickel compounds are carcinogenic and should be banned. This is a good day. We must work together to limit the use of dangerous chemicals”, says Danish Minister of Environment Troels Lund Poulsen (Liberal).

----------------------------

Nickel Institute response: The Nickel Institute believes the conclusion reached by the EU to classify certain nickel substances using read-across and based solely on solubility in water, is not scientifically sound. 

Stephen Barnett, president of the Nickel Institute, commented: “A simple example of why the methodology used is incorrect would be to compare sodium chloride and sodium cyanide. They are both water-soluble substances with similar chemical structures. People deliberately add sodium chloride (table salt) to their food, but sodium cyanide is a deadly poison and even in the tiniest quantities will kill you. Classifying both substances equally is clearly nonsense”.

He continued: “Because of the complexity, in March of this year, our industry convened an independent panel of international experts to look at the criteria and methodology used to produce the nickel classifications. The panel members concluded, on the basis of their professional and expert examination, that the criteria and methodology used in this case was not sufficient for a regulatory decision.”

---------------------

Eurometaux comment: Paola also identified a press release from DEPA (see below), which raises further concerns. In particular, it should be noted that, although DG ENV has stated that “the nickel classification entries would only trigger a change of labelling and certainly no ban”, the press release demonstrates the opposite. The reaction of DEPA is,  furthermore, in clear opposition to the main aim of REACH, namely science (risk) based decision making. 

Please note that this situation sets a very dangerous precedent for the metals industry at large. 

PT Timah invests in solders and tin chemicals production

Jakarta Post: State mining company PT Timah, the world's second largest tin producer, may produce tin derivative products next year and sell them directly to industries, anticipating a continued drop in tin prices.

"Anticipating low tin prices next year, we will sell our tin products to end-users instead of traders. We will also boost selling of derivative downstream value-added products like tin solders," said Timah Corporate Secretary Abrun Abubakar.

Timah has begun to limit selling its basic product to traders since the last quarter of the year, he added.

In a bid to help boost production of higher priced tin products, Timah will go ahead with construction of two downstream factories.

Timah will complete building a tin solder factory in Kundur island, Riau Province, in December this year, he said. Timah plans to spend up to Rp 40 billion to build the factory with a production capacity of 2,100 tons of solder wires a year.

Abrun added the company has just completed the design of a factory for tin chemical, which is used mostly in the plastics industry. "We will begin the construction of this factory next year and we expect to finish it within less than one year." The tin chemical factory is designed to have a 30,000 ton capacity, but in early phases of production, the company would only aim for 10,000 tons, he added. Timah has allocated about Rp 300 billion for this factory.

Turkish Distributor Looks for Tin Sulphate for Cement

Fatih Altuner, Soda Sanayi, Turkey: We are a chrome chemicals and soda ash producer company in Turkey. You can find detailed information about us at www.sodakrom.com, or at our group of companies' website www.sisecam.com. 

We are enquiring for lead-free stannous sulphate (Tin II Sulphate). We would like to use it as a substitute for iron 2 sulphate which we consume around 5.500 tons a year.

I would like to ask you for an offer CIF Mersin /Turkey, and I would like to kindly ask you to send us a small sample around 1 kg.

Investigation of characteristics of tin-based white metals as a bearing material

Scopus: "The microstructure of tin-based white metals consists of a soft solid solution matrix and two intermetallic compounds (Cu6Sn5, SbSn) that are harder than the matrix. This special microstructure qualifies these alloys as a bearing material. In the present study the effect of solidification rate and heating on microstructure and hardness of tin-based white metals is investigated. The results show that rapid cooling suppresses formation and growth of SbSn cuboids and increases hardness."

Shiraz University, Iran

Advancement in liquid tin anode - Solid oxide fuel cell technology

Scopus: "The first Liquid Tin Anode Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (LTA-SOFC) was tested in 1998. Since 1998 the LTA-SOFC has been operated on a range of carbonaceous fuels in the form of gases, liquids and solids. Over this time, several design revisions at the cell, stack and system levels have resulted in multiple technical, performance and commercial milestones, increasing the volumetric and gravimetric power densities."

The Gen 3.0 cell and stack (2005-2006) achieved a power density of 40 mW/cm2 by direct JP-8 conversion to electricity.

CellTech, US

In air synthesis of SnS2 nanoplates from tin, sulfur and ammonium chloride powders

Scopus : "SnS2 nanoplates were synthesized via the liquid-solid phase reactions of tin (Sn), sulfur (S) and ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) powders in air at 250 'C, combined with a subsequent washing treatment using distilled water."

Experimental results revealed that the additive NH4Cl played important roles in the synthesis of pure SnS2 under the current mild conditions. 

Synthesis and aggregation study of tin nanoparticles and colloids obtained by chemical liquid deposition

Scopus: "Tin colloids (Sn-Colls) and nanoparticles were synthesized by a chemical liquid deposition method (CLD). Sn0 was evaporated and codeposited with acetone, 2-propanol, and tetrahydrofurane vapors at 77'K to obtain colloidal dispersions."

Electrophoresis measurement indicated a significant tendency of particle aggregation along time, which was verified by light scattering studies. The diffraction patterns revealed phases corresponding to metallic tin and FTIR studies showed the interaction Sn-solvent in the metal surface by Sn-O bonds, indicating a solvatation of metallic clusters. Thermal analysis revealed a good thermal stability of Sn-Nps. The mechanism of tin nanoparticles formation was also examined.

Universidad de Concepción, Concepcion, Chile

Universitat de Barcelona, Spain

Materials Eco-Refining to Expand Metal Recycling Business

Factiva: "Mitsubishi Materials' wholly owned subsidiary, Materials Eco-Refining expands recycling of indium tin oxide, which is used for transparent electrode of liquid crystal panel. The firm already expanded the output capacity of electrolytic tin by 25% at Hyogo plant 2 years ago and established annual 120 tonnes of indium oxide production in Fukushima in 2007. The firm tries to expand recycling business to recover precious metals, copper, lead and zinc.

The Japanese sole tin refiner makes electrolytic tin with 99.998% or more purity. The Hyogo plant with 900 tonnes of annual output capacity operates at full capacity. The high grade tin is used by Mitsubishi Materials to make ITO and high grade solder."

Novosibirsk Company Factsheet

Factiva: Novosibirsk Tin Integrated Works Open Joint-Stock Company
Short name NOK
INN 5403101667"

Lead in lead-bronze bearing shells RoHS exemption to go

Oeko Institut, which has been contracted by the Commission to review RoHS exemptions, has issued its draft recommendations on exemption No. 9b "Lead in lead-bronze bearing shells and bushes" and 13 "Lead and cadmium in optical and filter glass." These draft recommendations were already sent to the Commission with the Draft Report of the RoHS Annex Revision. The contractor supports the extension of exemption 13, but not of exemption 9b

Timah drops plans to buy mines and goes for dredges instead

Factiva: "Indonesia's PT Timah has dropped plans to acquire new mines and is focusing on developing its offshore mining capacity, a company spokesman told MB. 'Funds are quite tight now,' company secretary Abrun Abubakar said. The company, which is one of the world's largest tin producers, was previously trying to find new mining locations at home and abroad in places such as China, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar (MB Sep 18). But Timah has changed its focus. It is preparing seven cutter suction dredges to double its offshore mining capacity by in 2009."

Tin-cobalt-phosphorus alloy electrodes for lithium-ion batteries

Scopus: "Porous Sn-Co-P alloy with reticular structure were prepared by electroplating using copper foam as current collector. The structure and electrochemical performance of the electroplated porous Sn-Co-P alloy electrodes were investigated in detail"

Auto-cleaning of deposited tin debris in a laser-produced plasma extreme ultraviolet source by using a

Scopus: "We have demonstrated auto-cleaning of deposited tin debris produced in a laser-plasma extreme ultraviolet (EUV) source by using a liquid jet target containing tin chloride solution.

The use of double laser pulse irradiation improved the EUV conversion efficiency of 1.1%, which was 3.3 times as large as that obtained with single laser pulse irradiation. At an appropriate concentration of tin chloride, the amount of deposited debris was balanced out with that of sputtered and/or etched debris, resulting in a thickness of deposited debris less than 1 nm after 40∈000 laser pulse irradiations"

Concentration and persistence of tin in rat brain and blood followin

Scopus: "Dibutyltin (DBT), a widely used plastic stabilizer, has been detected in the environment as well as human tissues. Although teratological and developmental effects are well documented, there are no published reports of DBT effects on the developing nervous system."

At all ages, brain Sn levels were higher than blood. At culling, in the directly dosed pups at weaning, and in dams at weaning, Sn levels in both tissues were linearly related to dose. Weanling pups without direct dosing showed lower levels than either culled pups or dams, indicating that lactational exposure was minimal or negligible even while maternal exposure is ongoing. In the adults, Sn levels persisted in brains of directly dosed rats, and the high-dose females had higher levels than did high-dose males. No Sn was detected in adult blood. Thus, during maternal exposure to DBT in drinking water, Sn is placentally transferred to the offspring, but lactational transfer is minimal, if any. Furthermore, Sn is concentrated in brain compared to blood, and its elimination is protracted, on the order of days to months after exposure ends.

A rush for tin, a catastrophe for the Congo

International Herald Tribune: "Tin has replaced lead in the solder used to make many electronics. But as the price shot upward in recent years, to a high of $25,000 a ton in May, Matumo and his men staked out a whole ridge of the mine as their personal property. Senior commanders of the brigade have built large houses and opened businesses, like hotels and bars, with the proceeds of the mine.

A company called Mining and Processing Congo bought the rights to search for tin ore at the mine in 2006. But the militia has effectively barred the company, which is owned by a consortium of South African and British investors, from the premises, shooting at its helicopter and chasing away its representatives.

When the company started working on a road to link the mine to the main road, local officials barred the route. When they began working on a campsite for their geologists to begin prospecting, soldiers opened fire on the company's workers, injuring several of them, according to company officials."

Vietnam rejects Posco steel mill project

AFP: "Vietnam has rejected a proposal by South Korea’s Posco Group to build a 5.4-billion-dollar steel mill near a coastal resort, citing environmental concerns, state media reported on Friday.

The hot-rolled steel mill proposed for south-central Nha Trang’s Van Phong Bay would have breached environmental protection rules, said a decision from Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, according to the Tien Phong (Pioneer) daily.

The newspaper, and other media reports, said another reason the government scrapped the project was that it would have clashed with the planned development of a major container port in Van Phong Bay."

Ultrathin tin oxide films were deposited on SiO2 nanoparticles

Science Letter: "Ultrathin tin oxide films were deposited on SiO2 nanoparticles using atomic layer deposition (ALD) techniques with SnCl4 and H2O2 as the reactants. These SnOx films were then exposed to 02 and CO gas pressure at 300 degrees C to measure and understand their ability to serve as CO gas sensors,' researchers in the United States report."

Research from S.N. Zhevnenko et al broadens understanding of metals research

Science Letter: "According to a study from Russia, 'The surface tensions of pure copper and its alloys with antimony, tin, and indium have been measured for free surfaces and grain boundaries. The measurements have been conducted at 1000 degrees C in a hydrogen atmosphere by the zero-creep method in combination with the thermal-grooving method.'

'The surface-tension isotherms satisfy the Szyszkowski's equation. Based on the data obtained, the values of adsorptive capacity of free surface and grain boundaries (z(FS) and z(GB)), constants of adsorption equilibrium (b(FS) and b(GB)), occupancies (fraction of occupied sites theta), and free energies of binding of impurity atoms with the surface (Delta F) have been calculated,' wrote S.N. Zhevnenko and colleagues."

Congo Unrest Disrupts Critical Mine Reforms

Wall Street Journal: "As rebel fighting in eastern Congo threatens to escalate into a regional conflict, government officials in Kinshasa have put on hold important decisions affecting the mining industry, a delay that likely pushes back international investment plans and undercuts the country's efforts to rebuild its shattered economy."

Illegal mining fuels DR Congo war

BBC NEWS: "Rebel groups, as well as the Congolese army, trade in the minerals and that provides the money to enable them to keep fighting."

For some armed groups the war has become little more than a private racket with the minerals themselves providing the motive for carrying on the fighting, according to Carina Tertsakian of the international campaign organisation Global Witness.

Some end-users of tin are unaware of where the product comes from  

The region accounts for 5% of the global supply of cassiterite, the primary ore of tin and a crucial element of all kinds of electronic circuitry, and is worth $70 million a year.

"To reach the world market the ore is flown to the regional capital of Goma and then, via Rwanda and Uganda, it reaches to east African ports of Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania," says Harrison Mitchell of the Resource Consulting Services.

The ore is then shipped to smelters who buy tin on the open market. Located predominantly in India, China, Malaysia and Thailand, these smelters sell tin to component manufacturers.

Provenance required

Public pressure has forced the diamond trade to monitor sources and Mr Mitchell says the same should now apply to the trade in cassiterite.

There is a system in place to prove the provenance of diamonds "We talked to some high profile electronic companies and we found that the final end-users of tin were generally unaware of where the product was coming from," he says.

There are many legal mining operations within the Democratic Republic of Congo but in the contested Eastern region, there are now proposals to limit the illegal trade.

These range from calls for a total ban, to the idea of chemically identifying the varieties of tin coming out of each area, which would allow exporters to filter out the worst sources.

Campaigners say that any indiscriminate ban will severely hurt the long-suffering and impoverished local population. The programme relating to this issue can be heard on the 

Business Daily podcast dated 11 Nov 08

Cadmium Contained in Sludge Fertilizers under Closer Scrutiny

Factiva: "The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' commission to review the nation's regulations concerning sludge fertilizers has convened its first meeting, resulting in an agreement that the commission further discusses how to better control the amount of cadmium contained in these fertilizers."

Sludge fertilizers were previously categorized as specially designated fertilizers in Japan, but a 1999 amendment to the Fertilizer Control Law changed their classification to ordinary commercial fertilizers. This means that fertilizer makers need to gain approval from the relevant authorities to make sludge fertilizers by demonstrating that the contents of arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel, chromium and lead in their products are within stipulated ranges

Innovative materials for energy technology

Scopus: "High performance materials are indispensable for economical and environmentally acceptable operation of fusion power and innovative fission reactor systems."

Finally, the corrosion behaviour of zirconium-1.5 wt.% tin alloy, a well established cladding material for nuclear fuel rods, will be shown in different environments.

Lubricities of metal disulfides resulted from their oxidative and structural properties

Scopus: "The lubrication properties (friction, antiwear, and antigalling) of tungsten disulfide (WS2), molybdenum disulfide (MOS2), and a newly synthetic tin disulfide (SnS2) having a layered crystal structure were investigated using a Falex tester, where they were added to lithium stearate soap grease."

It was found that the lubrication properties of these metal disulfides related well to their thermal characteristics. From X-ray diffraction results, WS2 and MoS2 showed large c/na values, indicating a wide van der Waals gap between layers, but SnS2 did not have a large c/na value, although it had good lubricity

The effect of surface modification and stannate concentration on the corrosion protection performance of mag

Scopus: "Increasing stannate concentration was found to have an adverse effect on the corrosion resistance. Results showed that a simple immersion in a dilute stannate solution is very effective for improving the corrosion resistance of Mg alloys."

Enhanced lifetime in porous silicon light-emitting diodes with fluorine doped tin oxide electrodes

Scopus: "This result indicates that the well known beneficial effects of fluorinated species in the improvement of resistance to irradiation and carrier injection degradation in metal-oxide-semiconductor devices might be also observed in PS devices"

Tin Makes a Comeback - Seeking Alpha

Seeking Alpha: "'The reason people are bullish on tin is not a demand story; it's a supply story,' said Catherine Virga, an analyst with CPM Group in New York and one of the participants on the Inside Commodities base metals panel.

And that supply story has been building for years. The top two producers of tin are China and Indonesia, which combined in 2007 to produce 70% of the world's mined tin, and actions in those two countries are starting to limit the long-term supply picture.

But even with this expected deficit, there's no sign of supply catching up, which does point to an eventual opportunity.

Virga is quick to point out this isn't an immediate get-rich-quick opportunity. "No large surge in price is expected anytime soon because of the economy," she says.

Still, the fact remains that tin is living in an extremely rare fundamentals position: dwindling supply, steady-state demand and an extremely suppressed price. Maybe no jump is imminent should the global economy continue to flounder, but the fundamentals are in place for a price jump when the recovery starts."

KML Withdraws from Riverside Alluvial Mine Contract

Kangaroo Metals Limited (ASX: KML), a diversified exploration and mining company,

has wound back the purchase agreement for the Riverside Alluvial Tin Mine. Acquisition

of the South Mount Cameron Assets was targeted as a test bed for larger operations,

such as that at California Creek, with potential in its own right to generate income in the

short to medium term. A combination of environmental factors, limited additional

inventory, thefts and operational issues have shown ongoing operations at the Riverside

Alluvial Tin Mine to be unsustainable during an economic and commodities crisis. As

such, KML has reached agreement with the vendor to wind back the contract to limit

any further outgoings. KML will divest all assets in Tasmania as part of the company’s

reevaluation of operations.

A new EU directive to improve the safety of toys

GozoNews.Com: "The Internal Market Committee also tightened up the restrictions on substances that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMR), saying these should be almost completely banned. The conditions for exemption were clarified and made stricter. The committee also banned the use of heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium (VI), lead, mercury and organic tin in the manufacture of toys."

A new route to self-assembled tin dioxide nanospheres: Fabrication and characterization

Scopus: "Nearly monodispersed self-assembled tin dioxide (SnO2) nanospheres with intense photoluminescence (PL) were synthesized using a new wet chemistry technique. Instead of coprecipitating stannous salts, bulk tin (Sn) metal was oxidized at room temperature in a solution of hydrogen peroxide and deionized water containing polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and ethylenediamine (EDA). SnO2 nanocrystals were produced with diameters of ∼3.8 nm that spontaneously self-assembled into uniform SnO2 nanospheres with diameters of ∼30 nm."

MSC says to expect lower performance this year

Factiva: "Malaysia Smelting Corporation Bhd (MSC) warned yesterday that its overall performance for its financial year ending Dec 31, 2008 (FY08) is expected to be lower than that of FY07, due to the drastic decline of tin prices.

MSC said tin prices had fallen substantially with the drastic slowdown in the global economy as a result of the financial crisis. This, coupled with the delay in the resumption of its small scale tin mining operations, would have an adverse impact on its performance."

Oscillatory co-electrodeposition of copper and tin

Scopus : "It is investigated in the present contribution the oscillatory co-electrodeposition of CuSn on a polycrystalline gold surface in the presence of Triton X-100 surfactant and citric acid as additive, in acidic media.

The experiments were conducted under potentiostatic control and the system dynamics characterized in terms of the morphology and stability of the current oscillations. Besides modulations in the frequency and amplitude of the current oscillations, several patterned states were observed, including relaxation-like and mixed mode oscillations. The oscillations were found to be very robust and some time series presented regular motions up to about two hour"

University of Sao Paulo, Brazil 

Congo N Kivu Tin Traders Flee Capital, Exports Hurt - Dealers

Factiva: "A majority of tin traders in Congo's leading producing region of North Kivu have fled the provincial capital Goma due to escalating fighting between government troops and rebels loyal to renegade general Laurent Nkunda, a mineral dealer told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday."

Stonehenge suspends Heemskirk tin plant

Factiva: "Australia's Stonehenge Metals said it has suspended production of tin concentrate at its Heemskirk gravity separation mill in Tasmania on low tin prices and uncertainty in capital markets. The mill is capable of handling about 100 tpd of high-grade tin ore but was still commissioning when it was suspended, company executive Bruce Lane told MB."

Novosibirsk Tin Integrated Works fails to redeem bonds

Factiva: "On November 5, 2008 Chairman of the Board of Directors of Novosibirsk Tin Integrated Works (NOK ) Vladimir Sherstov said that the plant failed to accumulate RUR347mln to redeem 02 series bond issue. 

A technical default which started on October 2, 2008, has developed into a real default. The five-year bond issue was to be redeemed in Sept 2011, but bond holders made a decision to sell bonds ahead of time, by October 2, 2008. The plant did not manage to pay off the debt by selling non-core assets (Seversksteklo, 91.8%- owned by the plant and wholly-owned Vostokolovo OOO), and a stake in NOK up to a controlling interest. The plant will continue talks on the sale of assets and will try to invite a large investor, Kommersan"

SnCl2 Catalyts for Oil Sands

Todd Hofer, Mason, 05/11/08: Do you happen to have any information on the use of SnCl2 in the oil sands application?   We have sold some for this application but the couple of people that we have sent it to are reluctant to give much information as they want to protect their business.   I had a lengthy conversation with a company out of Canada that focuses on doing petroleum removal in the most environmentally friendly manner.   He feels that SnCl2 can benefit their process but is looking to get as much information as he can on the subject.

Paul Cusack reply: I don't know very much about this other than the fact that Shell Canada are certainly doing a lot of work in this area. Apparently, Alberta's oil sands are recognised as the second largest oil reserves in the world and Shell are extracting bitumen and converting it to synthetic crude oil by hydrocracking processes. Tin compounds, particularly SnCl2, have long been known as very effective catalysts for coal liquefaction and there have been a number of papers published in this field. Regarding the oil sands project specifically, I attach a recent paper from the Energy Research Labs in Ottawa, in which they study tin-based catalysts (starting from SnCl2) for the hydrorefining of Athabasca oil sand bitumen.

Global Tin Market to Reach 516.9 Thousand Metric Tons by 2012

PRWeb: "The report titled 'Tin: A Global Strategic Business Report' published by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., provides a comprehensive review of market trends, industry dynamics, product overview, and recent industry activity. The study also analyzes market data and analytics in volume sales for the period 2001-2015 by the following segments - Tinplate, Solders, Tin Chemicals and Alloys/Babbitt. Regions covered in the report include US, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Asia-Pacific and Latin America."

Interfacial Reactions in Model NiTi Shape Memory Alloy

Scopus : "In this article, the microstructure properties of a novel Pb-free solder composite were examined. A binary nickel-titanium shape memory alloy (SMA) fiber was used to reinforce the Sn-rich matrix, to take advantage of the superelastic properties of the fiber. The objective of this study was to understand long-term, high-temperature interfacial growth in a model NiTi fiber-reinforced Sn matrix composite solder system."

Paper

Arizona State University, US

Intel, US

The 2008 Tin Market Review Features Major Tin Producers, Prices, Supply and Demand Conditions

Factiva: "Research and Markets has announced the addition of the 'Tin Market Review' report to their offering.

This report focuses on the study of the global tin markets. It provides region analysis on tin production. It features major tin producers, prices, supply and demand conditions, international trade, etc. The review also includes future outlook of the world tin market."

Timah net profit rose 18%

Factiva: "PT Timah Tbk up to quarter III/ 2008 recorded IDR1.49 trillion net profit or rose 18 percent as from IDR1.26 trillion last year.

In official statement, the net profit swelling up due to the soaring tin production average sale price."

Missouri plant makes lead-free ammunition for U.S. military

McClatchy Washington Bureau: "On a recent day in Independence, a below-the-radar event occurred at the factory that's the largest producer of small-arms ammunition used by the U.S. military.

The Lake City Army Ammunition Plant produced cartridges without lead projectiles. The slugs, instead of being made of lead _ a metal used for centuries _ now are being manufactured with a bismuth alloy, which has a density roughly equivalent to lead but without lead’s toxicity.

The lead-free cartridges assembled in October were part of an initial 600,000-round test sample. This month, Lake City employees will begin producing the first order of 20 million rounds of lead-free cartridges. After testing, they could be delivered by January to U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Ban on tin compounds in ship antifouling paints.

Factiva: "On 17 Sep 2008 an international covenant came into force which imposed a ban on all use of organic tin compounds, including tributyl tin, in antifouling paints for ships. Ships continuing to use such surface treatments must be coated in a layer that prevents leakage into the surrounding water, otherwise the surface treatment must be removed. The covenant covers half the tonnage of the world's commercial fleets."

China's Yunnan Tin to cut Q4 output by about 30 pct amid falling prices

Factiva: "Yunnan Tin Co Ltd (SZA 000960), the world's largest tin producer, said it plans to cut output by about 30 pct in the fourth quarter due to falling market prices and lower sales. The company said the economic crisis has dampened consumption of metals as industries lower their output. The fall in tin prices has accelerated since October, leading to a significant decline in sales, Yunnan Tin said"

Effect of Ag, Fe, Au and Ni on the growth kinetics of Sn-Cu intermetallic compound layers

Scopus: "The effect of Ag, Fe, Au and Ni on the interfacial reactions between Sn-based solder and Cu substrate has been investigated in this paper. Based on the solubility of the alloying elements in the Sn-Cu intermetallic compound (IMC) layers these elements can be divided into two categories: (i) alloying elements that do not dissolve significantly in either Cu6Sn5 or Cu3Sn and (ii) elements that exhibit significant solubility in Cu6Sn5 and also to Cu3Sn. It is shown that the latter group of elements have stronger effect on the growth behaviour of IMC's in the Sn-Cu system than those belonging to the first group. Of the investigated elements Ni had the most prominent effect on the growth kinetics. It reduced greatly the thickness of Cu3Sn and consequently also the total IMC layer thickness"

Japanese Inventor Develops Solid Acid Catalyst Containing Tin

Factiva: "An object is to provide a sulfated tin oxide catalyst with strong catalytic activity, and a method for preparation thereof. It was discovered that in the preparation of a solid acid catalyst containing tin, stronger solid acid properties than before could be achieved by preparing a support comprising a crystalline tin oxide, preferably metastannic acid, bringing this support into contact with organic acid ions, then bringing it into contact with a sulfate group-containing compound, and then calcining it. The solid acid catalyst of the present invention has a tin content of 30% or more by weight as metal in the catalyst, a sulfate group supported thereon and an argon adsorption heat of more than 30 kJ/mol, and is used in acid-catalytic reactions.'

The inventor was issued U.S. Patent No. 7,442,668 on Oct. 28.

The patent has been assigned to Japan Energy Corp., Tokyo"

From tin oxalate to (Fe, Co, Nb)-doped SnO2

Scopus: "Highly reactive SnO2-doped nanocrystalline powders with average particle size of 20 nm and specific surface areas above 30 m2/g were obtained through the polymeric precursor method with tin oxalate (SnC2O4) as a chloride-free precursor for SnO2."

INTEMA, Argentina

UNESP, Brazil

Consolidated Tin reports strong results from Mt Garnet

Factiva: "Consolidated Tin Mines Ltd has announced that the first results from its latest drilling program at the flagship Mt Garnet tin project area in north Queensland have continued to confirm the strong tin and iron potential of the project."

Mitsui Mining & Smelting to Expand Metals Recycling Business

Factiva: "Mitsui Mining & Smelting's wholly owned subsidiary, Kamioka Mining & Smelting expands the metal recycling business. The Gifu based subsidiary doubles the cobalt recover from lithium ion battery in 2 years while the firm increases generation of valve regulated lead acid battery to recover more for lead refinery. The firm starts tin recovery from waste electronic substrate after lead refining."

Tin Nanowires in CNT's

Factiva: "According to recent research published in the journal Nano Letters, 'The charge transport properties of single superconducting tin nanowires encapsulated by multiwalled carbon nanotubes have been investigated by multiprobe measurements.'

'The multiwalled carbon nanotube protects the tin nanowire from oxidation and shape fragmentation and therefore allows us to investigate the electronic properties of stable wires with diameters as small as 25 nm. The transparency of the contact between the Ti/Au electrode and nanowire can be tuned by argon ion etching the multiwalled nanotube,' wrote N. Tombros and colleagues, University of Groningen."

Lithium-Tin target for EUV

Factiva: "According to recent research from Osaka, Japan, 'This paper deals with a lithium/tin combined target to increase the conversion efficiency of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) of 13.5 nm emission from laser-produced plasma.'

'The bilayer target of glass/lithium (20 nm)/tin (50 nm) exhibits a sharp and strong emission in comparison with a Sn bulk target. The reverse coating of glass/tin/lithium was unstable and EUV could not be observed,' wrote K. Nagai and colleagues, Osaka University.

The researchers concluded: 'By using nano-porous SnO2 and an electrochemical deposition of lithium. nano-structured lithium/tin composite was prepared, and was stable without deliquescence of lithium.'"

(AECSD) Consolidated Tin gets test results from Gillian

Factiva: "Consolidated Tin Mines (ASX:CSD) has results of metallurgical test work at the Gillian project in north Queensland which confirm the strong tin and iron potential of the project area.

The Gillian project is part of Consolidated Tin's wider Mt Garnet project area."

Timah cuts tin output further, by as much as 23%

Factiva: "PT Timah, the world's second largest tin producer, said it may further cut 2008 tin production to 45,000-48,000 tonnes on low tin prices. This would reduce the Indonesian company's tin output by as much as 23% from last year, and follows Timah's warning in August that its tin output might fall to 50,000 tonnes (MB Aug 26). 'We can produce more if we want to. We still have tin ore stocked up,' said Timah spokesman Abrun Abubakar. But falling tin prices make it not very profitable to produce very much, he said"

TIN EXPLORATION: Final holes at Mount Pleasant reach 1.11% Sn and 242 g/t In

Factiva: "Final assays have been received from the Mount Pleasant mine property 80 km south of Fredericton, reported owner-operator ADEX MINING of Toronto. The company says the results confirm that both the Deep Tin and North Adit sub-zones of the North zone remain open laterally in several directions.

The best assay was 1.11% Sn"

Laos to revoke licenses of Vietnam miners

Intellasia: "COECO Minerals Development Co will have two mining project certificates revoked after the company failed to find any minerals at a tin and zinc mine in Houaphan Province and a lead mine in Bolikhamsai Province, said the Lao government."

Indonesia`s tin islands pay the price for centuries of unregulated mining

Mineweb: "Indonesia's government has said it will set an annual tin production quota of 100,000 tonnes from next year in a bid to reduce environmental degradation in the main tin-mining areas. But the situation on the ground is often murky"

The scale of the environmental damage on the Bangka-Belitung islands can be most clearly seen from the air, revealing a lunar landscape of craters and hundreds of highly acidic, turquoise lakes created by centuries of largely unregulated tin mining.

Efforts in recent years to control illegal mining on the islands have reverberated thousands of miles away by spooking world markets for tin in global financial centres such as London.

"We will continue to clamp down as long as there are violations," said Iskandar Hasan, Bangka-Belitung's police chief, adding that mining was still going on in prohibited areas such as protected forests in the province of about 1 million people

Indonesia small tin smelters to shut down

Factiva: "Indonesia's tin-producing Bangka-Belitung islands have asked small smelters to stop operating as falling prices have cut margins of smelters and small miners, the governor of the islands said on Tuesday."

When asked about an acceptable tin price level for smelters to resume operations, Ali said between $14,000-$15,000 a tonne.

About 40 percent of the islands' workforce is involved in tin mining. Twelve small smelters with export permits have agreed to shut operations at least until January 2009, Ali said. There are 19 smelters that are allowed to export the metal, including PT Timah and PT Koba Tin.

Atomic pen achieves invisible victory

Engadget: "Putting the world's tiniest book to shame -- not to mention the Torah-inscribed grain of rice -- a research team at Osaka University has 'written' the letters 'Si' using an atomic pen that interchanges silicon and tin atoms, enabling those who have the time, resources, and patience to manipulate said atoms one by one. The results are a diminutive 2 x 2 nm (or 40,000 times smaller than a strand of hair) which took about an hour and a half to complete.

Tributyl Tin May be Added to UN PIC List

Factiva: "Ministers and officials from over 120 governments will meet in Rome next week to decide whether to add two pesticides - endosulfan and tributyl tin compounds - and the industrial chemical chrysotile asbestos to a trade watch list that already contains 39 hazardous substances."

Indonesian tin consortium stops production

Factiva: "An Indonesia tin consortium producing a combined 3,000-4,000 tpm of tin has stopped production on low tin prices. 'We stopped getting tin ore supply for smelting activities at the beginning of the month,' said Patris Lumumba, director of the consortium, Bangka-Belitung Timah Sejahtera (BBTS) in Bangka-Belitung province, the country's tin-producing base. All seven BBTS smelters have closed down, after using up their ore stocks, he said. 'Prices are simply unprofitable at the moment,' he added."

Indonesia's 2009 tin output may fall below 90,000T

Factiva: "World's largest tin exporter Indonesia may restrict tin output next year to below 90,000 tonnes, more than 11% below 2007's output of 102,000 tpy. This is to prevent tin prices from sliding further and to ensure a more sustainable mine development, said the energy and minerals ministry's director for coal and mineral industry and development, Bambang Gatot Ariyono. 'We have sent requests to local government in Bangka and Belitung to find out the level of mining they are comfortable with,'"

Smelting CEO says Asian tin output may fall 20% on lower price

Intellasia: "Tin output in Asia may drop a fifth should the price fall 13% to US$13,000 a metric tonne and discourage producers from operating at full capacity, according to Malaysia Smelting Corp., the country's largest supplier.

A slump to that level will mean ``lower ore grade projects will be suspended,'' hurting global tin supply, Chief Executive Officer Mohammad Ajib Anuar said in an interview,"

The price slide ``is just temporary,'' Anuar said, adding that the metal must rise to between US$18,000 and US$20,000 a tonne for the mining of tin ore to be viable and to get mining companies to resume production at full capacity.

Tin Oxide for Solar Wind Collector

ResearchGATE: "The problem of Self Shadowing by collection grids creates the dual state of conductive and insulative states. Free electrons must pass through the shadow area to find the metal collection grid and the circuit. One strategy is with the Verticle Junction Photovoltaic Cell that has been invented by a NASA Scientist. It is ideal for higher concentration for intensits (a factor understood by Einstein) and is presently a item of stludy by Russian Scientists. Other strategies exist to address the self shadowing problem. One such is transparent collection grids as was funded by the DOD SDIO with SPIRE doing the work. Tin Oxide was considered. The invention by a NASA Scientist with Verticle Junction Photovoltaic Cells is currently (2008) being investigated at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute by Dr. Igor Tyukhov. Edit and updated, to be continued."

Van Dieman Mines held back by flaws.

Factiva: "Production at Van Dieman Mines' tin operation starts in two months

Planning delays plus 'significant flaws in the mining and processing plan' have held back Van Dieman Mines' tin and sapphire mining operations on the north east coast of Tasmania. Previous operational management has paid the price for putting in place mining equipment that used conveyors when the ground was much wetter than expected"

PT Timah Delay Tin Projects Due to Financial Crisis

Factiva: "New tin projects will be delayed given the current financial environment and project investment canceled this year until troubles in the global economy improve and demand recovers, the president director PT Timah (TINS.JK), Indonesia's largest tin producer, said Wednesday.

'We will wait until next year,' Wachid Usman told Dow Jones Newswires. 'We are not trying to boost production. We will boost production when the price is higher"

DJ China To Cut Export Quotas Of Minor Metals

Factiva: "China's Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday it is cutting export quotas for tungsten, tin and antimony for a second consecutive year, in a move that will help safeguard domestic supply of strategic metals." Export quotas for tin and antimony as well as their products will be cut to 23,300 tons and 58,700 tons, from 33,300 tons and 59,900 tons this year, respectively

Peru's Brescia to buy Brazil tin mine

Factiva: "Peru's Brescia group, which owns the country's only tin producer, will buy the Brazilian tin mine Pitinga for about $467 million, Peruvian officials said last week. 'The purchase is in the framework of a growth plan and assures access to bigger reserves,' the officials said in a statement. The tin reserves at Taboca assure a bigger horizon for a metal that is difficult to find and for which there is high demand"

European tin premiums hold steady

Factiva: "As volatility continued to rock the financial markets last week, with a knock-on effect to the base metals, European tin premiums managed to avoid the cyclone and remained unchanged. The Platts assessment for 99.9% tin remained steady at $360-400/mt plus LME cash, in-warehouse Rotterdam, with 99.85% stuck at $250-300/mt, same basis. 'We are hearing lots of offers out of Malaysia and Indonesia at the moment,' said one London-based trader with an LME ring dealer."

Egyptian tin mine on track

Factiva: "Australian miner Gippsland said last week it remained on track to develop its Abu Dabbab tantalum-tin project in Egypt, despite the global economic slump, and reassured investors that its US bank ties are minimal. The company said it was in negotiations with the German government-owned KfW Bankengruppe to bankroll development of the 44.5 million mt Egyptian mine,"

Guangxi tin, lead, zinc smelters shut

Factiva: "Several smelters in Guangxi province, are the latest to be shut down by Chinese authorities as a result of an arsenic poisoning incident, sources said.

The smelters—located in Hechi city, one of China's top tin and lead producing regions—were ordered to shut Wednesday, the sources said, estimating that some 20,000 tonnes per month of zinc, lead, and tin production could be affected. The shutdowns were ordered after 200 people reportedly were affected by pollutants discharged into local rivers.

A tin and lead operation affiliated with major producer Liuzhou China Tin Group Co. Ltd. is among the smelters ordered to shut, according to a report by China Dail"

Congo government to ban exports of tin ore

Factiva: "The Democratic Republic of Congo is to extend the current ban on exporting copper ore from Katanga province to the tin-rich provinces of North and South Kivu in Jan 2009. The aim is to have further processing within the country. The two provinces account for almost all the country's tin production, but a lack of processing facilities means the metal is exported in ore form. Under the new law, tin can only be exported in concentrated form."

Preparation and gas sensitivity of SnO2 nanopowder homogenously doped with Pt nanoparticles

Scopus : "Platinum (Pt)-doped SnO2 nanopowders were prepared by a new doping method which controls the surface charge by controlling the pH. Individual Pt particles were homogenously doped on the surface of the SnO2 nanoparticles at pH 6."

Bolivian government to tag $155 M for mining projects in 2009

Factiva: "Bolivian state company Comibol intends to invest $155 M in the mining sector in 2009, three times more than what the government is expecting to place in the sector in 2008. Projects lined up for 2008 include the reactivation of the Telamayu foundry and Buen Retiro processing plant at Potosi; completion of the upgrading of the company's grinding, crushing and chemical leach facility that treats copper oxide ore from the Corocoro mine in the La Paz department; and expansion and development of the Huanuni tin mine at Oruro, where a new 3000 tonne/day factory is planned to be built."

Novosibirsk Tin Pledges to Honor Put Option in a Month

Factiva: "Novosibirsk Tin Combine  said it intended to honor its liabilities under a second series of bonds within a month. NOK failed to fulfill a put option on its series-2 bond issue on October 2, in the first technical default among Russian metals companies.  NOK attributed this to 'temporary difficulties with liquidity.' 'Management is carrying out a set of measures to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and to honor the put option within a month,' the company said on October 6.  NOK had been preparing to sell a number of non-core enterprises in order to honor its commitments to bondholders. 'But the general financial crisis has set this process back and the transaction has not yet been completed,' NOK said."

Tin Dioxide Nanobelts

Scopus: The role of surface oxygen vacancies in the optical properties of tin dioxide nanobelts is investigated in this paper.

Tin dioxide nanobelts could be used as gas sensors - using photoluminescence or electrical conductance as the signal.

Zhong Wang at Georgia University works in this field.

Tin alloy may face supply snag

Factiva: "Tin alloy may face supply snag: Concerns that the European Union's new REACH regulations will disrupt supplies of metals like tin alloys could be realized by the year's end, if companies don't take steps to comply with the rules, tin research body ITRI said last week.