Nonferrous Metals

What Are Non-Ferrous Metals?

In the narrow sense, the nonferrous metals refer to all metals except iron, manganese, and chromium. In a broad sense, non-ferrous metals also include non-ferrous alloys. Non-ferrous alloys are composed mainly of non-ferrous metal (usually greater than 50%) and contain one or more other elements.
Nonferrous metals are valued for their unique properties that outperform those of ferrous metals in many industrial applications.

Key Characteristics of Nonferrous Metals:

• Corrosion resistant
• Excellent conductivity (heat & electricity)
• Lightweight (for some types)
• Non-magnetic
• Malleable and ductile

Classification of Nonferrous Metals

In practical applications, non-ferrous metals are usually divided into five categories:

• Light Metals (Density < 4.5g/cm³): Aluminum, magnesium, potassium, sodium, calcium, strontium, barium, and the like.
• Heavy Metals (Density > 4.5g/cm³): Copper, nickel, cobalt, lead, zinc, tin, antimony, bismuth, cadmium, mercury, and the like.
• Precious Metals: The price is higher than that of common metals, the abundance of the crust is low, the purification is difficult, and the chemical properties are stable, such as gold, silver, and platinum group metals.
• Semi-metal: The property is between metal and non-metal, such as silicon, selenium, tellurium, arsenic, boron, and the like.
• Rare Metals: Including rare light metals such as lithium, strontium, barium, etc. Rare refractory metals such as titanium, zirconium, molybdenum, tungsten, etc.; Rarely dispersed metals such as gallium, indium, antimony, etc. Rare earth metals such as lanthanum, cerium, and lanthanide metals. Radioactive metals such as radium, francium, polonium, uranium, thorium, and the like.

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Nonferrous Metals List

China listed iron, chromium, and manganese as ferrous metals in 1958.

Nonferrous metals (except black metal 64 kinds of metal) include: aluminum, magnesium, potassium, sodium, calcium, strontium, barium, copper, lead, zinc, tin, cobalt, nickel, antimony, mercury, cadmium, bismuth, gold, silver, platinum, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, beryllium, lithium, rubidium, cesium, titanium, zirconium, hafnium and vanadium, niobium, tantalum, tungsten, molybdenum, gallium, indium, thallium, germanium, rhenium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium and lutetium, scandium, yttrium and thorium.

Nonferrous Alloys: Enhanced Performance

When nonferrous metals combine with other elements (>50% base metal), they form superior alloys with:

• Higher strength & hardness
• Improved temperature resistance

Common Alloys Include:

• Aluminum alloys (aircraft components)
• Copper alloys (brass, bronze)
• Nickel superalloys (turbine blades)

The strength and hardness of non-ferrous alloys are generally higher than those of pure metals; the electrical resistance is larger than that of pure metals, the temperature coefficient of resistance is small, and it has good comprehensive mechanical properties.

Commonly used non-ferrous alloys are aluminum alloys, copper alloys, magnesium alloys, nickel alloys, tin alloys, niobium alloys, titanium alloys, zinc alloys, molybdenum alloys, zirconium alloys, and the like.

Critical Applications Across Industries

Because rare metals are important in the modern industry, they are sometimes separated from non-ferrous metals and become a single class. And juxtaposed with ferrous metals and non-ferrous metals, it becomes the three major categories of metals.

Non-ferrous metals are not only the basic materials for the development of the national economy & people’s daily life, but also are essential materials and important strategic materials for the national defense industry and the development of science & technology. Agricultural modernization, industrial modernization, national defense, and the modernization of science and technology are all inseparable from non-ferrous metals. For example, cutting-edge weapons such as airplanes, missiles, rockets, satellites, nuclear submarines, and the components or components required for cutting-edge technologies such as atomic energy, television, communications, radar, and electronic computers are mostly made of light metals and rare metals in non-ferrous metals; There are no non-ferrous metals such as nickel, cobalt, tungsten, molybdenum, vanadium and niobium, and there is no production of alloy steel.

Today’s non-ferrous metals have become an important material basis for determining the development of a country’s economy, science and technology, and national defense construction. It is a key strategic resource for enhancing the country’s comprehensive strength and safeguarding national security. Especially in industrialized countries, they are competing to develop the non-ferrous metals industry and increase strategic reserves of non-ferrous metals.

At JXSC Mining Solutions (since 1985), we provide cutting-edge mineral processing technologies for nonferrous metals extraction. Facing mineral processing challenges? Contact our experts today.