Competition set to heat up over Australian gemstone used in hypersonic weapons

by Admin
December 14, 2024

Zircon from Australia could become fiercely contested by China and the United States, a geologist who works with the Chinese military has warned.

While zircon is commonly valued as a gemstone, inside, it contains the metal zirconium.

The metal can withstand very high temperatures, enabling ceramics, for example, to be heated to above 3,000 degrees Celsius (5,432 degrees Fahrenheit) and providing indispensable protection for hypersonic aircraft.

China has the world’s largest demand for zirconium, but its reserves only account for 0.7 per cent of the global total. The US, another major consumer of zirconium, also has few reserves.

The country with the world’s largest reserves of zirconium is Australia, with over 74 per cent of the global total, according to data from the US Geological Survey.

“Global demand for zirconium resources is continuously growing due to their enormous potential in military applications,” a research team, led by senior engineer Kong Fanjin with the China Geological Survey, wrote in a peer-reviewed paper published in the Chinese journal Geological Reviews on November 29.