Boron – Uses, Production, Prices, and News

This blog highlights data I have found on the Internet related to boron uses, production, prices, and news.

Uses.   Boron as an element has limited use, but compounds of boron have many uses.   These compounds include boric acid, sodium compounds of boron (e.g., borax), boron oxide, boron halides, and boron metals (e.g., silicon boride).   Many of the boron compound uses relate to the compounds’ hardness and resistance properties.  Boron ions in solution support plant life and so boron compounds are used as a fertilizer.  Boron ions also have antiseptic and insecticide properties.  The following table shows some of the major boron compound uses and an approximate percentage of the use related to total boron compound use:

uses
glass fibers containing boron	40
borosilicate glass	15
in ceramics for hardness	15
agriculture	12
in detergents and bleaches	4
other	14
total	100

Other uses include in rocket fuels; in nuclear fusion control applications; as a food and wood preservatives; in magnets; in organic compound synthesis; and as components of alloys.  Elemental boron is use in fibers, as a doping agent, and as an ignition source.  Demand growth for most boron compound uses approximate gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates except for boron uses in fiber glasses and in borosilicate glass, which exceeds GDP growth rates.

Production.  Estimated recent production of ores containing boron compounds are in the 12 to 14 million metric ton (mt) range.  Two countries (Turkey and United States) account for approximately 75% of the production (Turkey about 45% and the United States about 30%) and two companies, Eti Mine (a Turkish company) and Rio Tinto (a British registered company) account for the 75% (Eti Mine in Turkey and Rio Tinto in the United States).

Prices.   Boron-containing ores such as colemanite and ulexite in 2018 had prices in the $500 per mt range.  Based on an estimated 2018 boron-containing ores production of 12 million mt and a price of $500 per mt, the value of boron-containing ores produced is approximately $6 billion dollars.

However, boron-containing ores have little use except as a source of boron compounds.  These ores must be further processed to obtain the boron compounds.  Industry practice is to evaluate and value these ores based on likely amounts of boron oxide that can be obtained from the ores.  The four primary ores used as a source of boron compounds have varying percentages of boron oxide that can be produced from the ores.  The four ores with the approximate percentages of boron oxide that can be produced from the ores are: colemanite (51%); kernite (43%); ulexite (43%); and tincal (37%).   Using the average of these percentages (which is 43%) as the amount of boron oxide that can be produced from the estimated 12 million mt of ores produced in 2018 gives 5.2 million mt (0.43 X 12 million mt) of boron oxide.  And the value of 5.2 million mt of boron oxide is approximately $3.6 billion (5.2 million mt X $700 per mt).   $700 per mt is an approximate average 2018 sales price of boron oxide.

News.   What follows are brief summaries of 2018 news alerts about boron uses.

v  The engineering and construction company Fluor has been selected by Ioneer, Ltd to provide feasibility, engineering, procurement, and construction services for a lithium and boron mine project in Nevada.