[ExI] A possible X Prize

[Kelly Anderson]

On Thu, May 26, 2011 at 1:45 PM, Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org> wrote:
> On Thu, May 26, 2011 at 01:36:22PM -0600, Kelly Anderson wrote:
>
>> It seems like it would be possible to synthesize Cattierite since the
>> elemental components are relatively cheap and available. Would
>
> Cobalt is not particularly cheap or abundant. Several other
> elements and minerals share that trait
> http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/5239

I don't get the relevance of the link, but I believe you so I did some research.

So according to Wikipedia, Cobalt consists of 0.0029% of the Earth's
crust. Compare to Nickel at 0.019%. Still pretty common compared to
Gold.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elemental_abundances.svg

So I suppose it would be fair then to say that given it's very useful
nature, there isn't enough of it. And somewhere around half of the
Cobalt mined in the world comes from the Congo. That sucks.

>> synthesis of artificial Cattierite suitable for use in electronics be
>> a good candidate for an X-Prize type competition?
>
> It's not the mineral, it's the element. Apart from enrichment
> from dilute sources your only other option is transmutation.

I guess there's always asteroid mining... :-)

In the end, my idea sucks completely. Thanks for helping me understand why.

-Kelly