QuesTek Executive Vice President Jason Sebastion expects fresh possibilities for U.S. manufacturing with announcements of new domestic mining projects of critical elements. In an article for Industry Week, Jason leans on decades of experience in engineering alloys to explain how the projects will reduce risk for manufacturers and unlock innovation.
He outlines the connection with examples in this excerpt:
A Change in Supply Changes the Materials Conversation
Anyone who works with advanced materials knows how cautious manufacturers can be. If a key element is expensive, volatile or largely controlled by a single country, that alone can shut down the conversation, no matter how promising a material looks on paper.
Domestic mining changes this calculation. With more reliable access to elements like cobalt, copper or scandium, manufacturers can revisit alloy families they once considered off-limits. It becomes easier to think beyond the “safe” choices and explore materials that might offer better performance but were previously too risky from a business perspective.
There’s a useful parallel in Brazil, where a major niobium producer has sponsored alloy-development programs simply to broaden the market for the element. Their goal is to create demand. If new U.S. mines spur greater use of cobalt, copper or scandium, we could see similar partnerships emerge here, linking miners, material developers and manufacturers in new ways.
Why Cobalt and Copper Matter More Than You Might Think
The Alaska project is expected to produce several elements, but for anyone working in structural materials, cobalt and copper are the headliners.
Cobalt is a workhorse of high-temperature alloys used in aerospace engines and industrial turbines. It’s also important in anti-galling alloys, the materials that prevent valves and sliding components from locking up under stress. Additive manufacturing enables printing of parts with complex shapes from cobalt-based alloys that would be difficult or impossible to make through traditional manufacturing.
The problem, historically, has been cost and supply instability. If domestic mining helps stabilize both, it suddenly becomes much more realistic for manufacturers to consider cobalt-rich alloys for applications where they bring real advantages.
Copper presents a similar story. Most people know it for its conductivity, but copper alloys show up in aircraft landing-gear bushings, marine components and mechanical systems where friction and corrosion are constant threats. There’s also growing interest in printable copper alloys, particularly for rocket engine applications, something that could expand quickly if supply becomes cheaper and more reliable.
Read the full article in Industry Week.