Quote from: The Sceptical Chymist on September 03, 2025, 11:37:17 PM

Quote from: jackpotmaster on September 03, 2025, 05:05:54 PM

Yeah they are the less common ones, bismuth is pharma and cosmetics I think and gallium is widely used in electronics. You could hear about it if you watch some physics shows.

Bismuth is definitely used in pharmaceuticals like bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto Bismol, the pink stuff used for upset stomach), and for some reason there's a tiny voice ringing in my head that it might also be used in nuclear medicine--but in any case, I still had no idea that demand for it had grown.

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Physics neverhas my favorite field, so I'm sorry cant contribute to this topic. But now that I've see you talking about it, I've come to realize how these elements can seem "harmless" or even secondary... like bismuth, which is more for medical use or the allium for electronics, but when we look it at global scale, we see what they are critically important. But only in very few countries, and they end become important elements for sectors that sorely lack them.

I need sayd to reinforcing the initial idea of the OP... local comunities are pressured to allow uncontrolled miner, whicht is sometimes even legalized but with ridiculously low money and will later become a resource of enormous value and strategic importance.

My question... why other countryes, more serious and honest can't join this fight too? Why don't they invest in these mining countries to build local factory that process these raw materials and generates wealth instead of practically stealing them?