6 Varieties of Minerals and Metals Discovered in Your Mobile Device
Our mobile phones are utilized on a daily basis, yet have you ever wondered about the various minerals and metals present within them?
In today's world, mobile phones are everywhere. Each person owns and constantly uses one. However, have you ever considered the components that make up a cell phone, particularly the valuable minerals, and metals involved? Mobile phones consist of numerous scarce materials, which are typically extracted from various countries globally. Thus, what exactly is inside your mobile phone? Here are the metals and minerals that accompany you daily.
Copper, one of the earliest metals extracted by humans, has been in use for over millennia. Exhibiting a reddish-brown hue and greater malleability than other metals, copper is employed in phone circuitry due to its excellent electrical conductivity. In fact, it is the most crucial component in a phone's electronics as it forms the connectors and wires. The majority of copper is sourced from porphyry copper deposits within the Earth's crust's massive molten rock sections. Chile holds the title of the leading global copper producer, accounting for 28 percent of the valuable metal's mining.
Lithium, a soft and lightweight metal, provides energy for mobile phones. It is a key component in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, contributing to their power, density, faster charging, and extended lifespan. Rather than being found in its elemental form, lithium is obtained from lithium-bearing rocks and lithium chloride salts. Chile, similar to its copper production, leads the world in lithium output, primarily sourcing it from the Atacama Salt Flat. Argentina follows as the second-largest global lithium producer.
Silica, an element present in quartz, is utilized in creating the chips and microprocessors found in mobile phones. Additionally, silica is a component of the Earth's crust. The specific silica variant employed in manufacturing mobile phone chips consists of extremely purified and intrinsically fragile silicon dioxide particles. Significant silica sand deposits can be discovered in locations such as Queensland, Australia, and the Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, including North Carolina and Virginia.
Germanium is employed in the creation of semiconductors for mobile phones. This fragile, silvery-white element is frequently utilized in numerous electronic gadgets. This uncommon mineral can be discovered in germanite and argyrodite rock formations, as well as in zinc deposits. Although the U.S. possesses germanite, the country still depends significantly on China, which generates over 70% of the mineral in areas such as Yunnan Province. Additionally, Inner Mongolia is recognized for its production of minerals.
Bauxite serves as the primary source of the mineral gallium, which is utilized in the creation of LED backlighting, enabling our phones to emit bright light during nighttime. The majority of the planet's bauxite can be found in tropical and subtropical areas, with the largest "blanket deposits" located in regions such as West Africa, South America, Australia, and India. Australia holds the title of the world's largest producer of this mineral. The extraction of this material from surface and underground deposits results in the production of the mineral gallium as a byproduct.
Potassium is derived from a component known as orthoclase, which is utilized in the production of touch screens for mobile phones. This element is obtained from a potassium salt, sylvite, which is primarily located in countries such as Canada, Russia, and Belarus. To enhance their toughness and withstand everyday wear and tear, cell phone screens undergo a final treatment with potassium salts.
A selection of the numerous valuable minerals and metals that go into manufacturing our daily-use cell phones is presented here. Regardless of the production location, manufacturers rely on resources from a minimum of twelve nations to ensure your device has a bright display, conducts electric current, retains power, captures audio, snaps photos, and performs countless other tasks we often overlook.
Girish Linganna
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FIDE Women's World Cup final: Humpy draws with Divya in first game
Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.
The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.
Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.
What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.
"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,
which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.
"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.
"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.
"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.
In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.
The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.
With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.
Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).
