Molybdenum was introduced at the London Metals Exchange on February 22, 2010.
Specific characteristics of molybdenum futures contract
Contract: Pure molybdenum between 57 and 63% with maximum permitted impurities of 0.50% Cu, 0.05% 0.05% P, Pb, 0.10% 0.10% of S, C and 0.1% moisture
Lot Size: 6 tons of molybdenum (with a tolerance of +/-5% CTMR)
Margin per Lot: $18,000
Forms: powder packed in barrels of which only 5% can understand dust particles in excess of 4 mm and 0% in excess of 10 mm.
Quote: USD
The molybdenum is the chemical element with atomic number 42. Its symbol is Mo.
Features
Molybdenum is a transition metal. In pure form it is silvery white. is a very hard metal and between elements is denoted by one of the highest melting points. In small quantities has a hardening effect on steel.
Molybdenum is important in plant nutrition and biological systems appears in some enzymes, including Xanthine oxidase.
Applications
Over two thirds of molybdenum produced are used in metal alloys. The use of molybdenum has grown considerably during the second world war, when it was necessary to find alternatives to produce tungsten steel of high hardness. Nowadays the molybdenum is used to produce high strength alloys and heat-resistant steels. Special molybdenum-containing alloys such as Hastelloy are notoriously resistant to heat and corrosion. Molybdenum is used in the production of missiles and aircraft parts as well as filaments and dentures.
Molybdenum is also used as a catalyst in petrochemical industry, especially in the catalysts used to remove sulfur from petroleum and its derivatives.
It also comes with a downhill ski waxes and gets great results.
The 99Mo isotope is used in the nuclear industry.
The molybdenum pigments have colors ranging from deep yellow and orange alive and is used in paints, inks and plastics products and rubber.
Molybdenum sulfide is a good lubricant, especially at high temperatures. Molybdenum is also used in electronic applications (thin-film transistor TFT).
History
Molybdenum (from the Greek word molybdos meaning, "lead-like") not found pure in nature, and the compounds found were confounded, until the 18th century, with carbon or lead compounds. In 1778 Carl Wilhelm Scheele realized that molybdenum was a different element from both the graphite from the lead, and was able to isolate the metal oxide from molybdenite, a mineral. In 1782 Hjelm isolated an extract of molybdenum impurity by reducing the oxide with carbon.
Molybdenum was little used and was first confined in laboratories until the late 19th century. Then a French company, Schneider and co., tried to use molybdenum as a binding agent for steel armour plates and discovered its useful properties.
Availability
the molybdenum is found in minerals as wulfenite (PbMoO4) and powellite (CaMoO4), but the main commercial source of molybdenum is molybdenite (MoS2). Molybdenum is mined as the primary ore (i.e. molybdenum mines exist) and is also recovered as a byproduct of copper mining. Molybdenum in ore is present at concentrations ranging from 0.01% to 0.5%. About half of all molybdenum retrieved in the world comes from the United States, where Phelps Dodge Corporation is the leading provider.
The Russian Luna 24 mission discovered a single granule (ÎŒm 1 x 0.6) of molybdenum in a pyroxene fragment taken from Mare Crisium on the moon.
Precautions
Dust and molybdenum compounds, such as molybdenum trioxide and water soluble molybdates, may be slightly toxic if inhaled or ingested. Laboratory manuals say that molybdenum, compared to other heavy metals, has relatively low toxicity. Difficult to observe cases of acute toxicity of molybdenum in humans, because the dose needed is exceptionally high. It is most likely a chronic poisoning from exposure to molybdenum mines, refining plants or chemical plants, but until now have never been reported similar cases. Although, as mentioned, soluble compounds of molybdenum are considered slightly toxic, insoluble ones (such as molybdenum disulfide used to lubricate) are considered non-toxic.
In any case, chains of events related to molybdenum can cause serious health consequences. In 1996 in Sweden increased acid rain near Uppsala caused a die-off of plants they ate reindeer of the surrounding countryside; This led the reindeer starving to venture into the fields planted with oats to eat. Unfortunately, farmers to repair the soil by acid rain, had poured a lot of limestone on the fields, altering the content of some trace elements, such as cadmium. So oats, grown on areas rich in trace elements, had focused in its seeds large amounts of molybdenum: when the reindeer man-Eater it the relationship of their copper/molybdenum liver was severely altered, resulting in thinness, hair discoloration, ulcers, diarrhea, convulsions, blindness, osteoporosis and heart disease. The OSHA regulation specifies that the maximum exposure to molybdenum in an 8-hour workday during a 40-hour week must not be greater than 15 milligrams per cubic meter. The NIOSH instead recommend an exposure limit of 5000 mg per cubic meter.