Carbide USA

(607) 331-9353

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Pick-AxWhen you think of the mining industry, you think of dynamite, dark tunnels, shovels, mining carts, dust, darkness and danger.  The mining industry requires a variety of strong and reliable tools as they work their way through the rock in their search for the ore, alloy, or other material they are mining.

Original tools were the shovel and pickax…which gave way to the use of steel tools, drill bits, cutters, blades, and other strong metal based tools.  Steel tools were the mining industry standard for many years, and it became common and expected that these tools would break and need regular replacement at an alarmingly high rate.  Steel was cheap and it was just considered the cost of doing business.

As the mining industry advanced, other material began to be noticed for their hardness, and next to the absolute hardness of diamond tools, tungsten carbide is the mining industry’s tool metal of choice.  The hardness, resistance to oxidation, high melting point, and overall reliability has made this alloy the best tool base for many industries including the mining, road paving, medical, and jewelry industries.

Before Carbide Tools

Mining operations relied upon a wide array of tools to accomplish their mining projects.  Being that they were using steel tools that broke and wore down regularly, delays occurred constantly and even small projects could take a lengthy amount of time to complete.  The industry as a whole was constantly barraged by the “cost of doing business” in the loss, breakage, and breakdown of their steel tools.

As the industry advanced, technology advanced and research into alloys that could produce stronger and more reliable tools, tungsten carbide became an affordable tool metal that could withstand far more rigorous usage in the mining industry.

The Use of Carbide in The Mining Industry

Carbide has become the alloy of choice for many industries, but none so much as that of the mining industry.  Carbide — or tungsten carbide to be exact – is typically imported from China which is a country rich in this metal ore.  China supplies most of the world’s market in carbide, which once again puts our country in the position to rely on another country for resources that we don’t currently have.

Carbide tools are not indestructible, so the question comes to the forefront of how to deal with, what to do with, and where to process scrap carbide.  Scrap carbide can be anything from broken blades, damaged drill bits, worn out milling equipment, all the way to the scrap carbide that is left behind after minor repairs or sharpening are made to the tools to prolong their use.

The Value in Carbide Recycling

pic_bits9Carbide recyclers like Carbide-USA can take solid carbide metals right down to the carbide dust produced in the workshop.  Due to the demand in carbide tools and equipment, and the desire to use products made here in the United States, carbide recycling has found a niche within these industries.  Selling your used, broken carbide tools and shavings can provide your company with a decent compensation with which to perhaps purchase new carbide tools.

Carbide recycling takes the old carbide pieces and processes them, re manufactures them into new tools and equipment.  Just one small step in recycling and reusing a hard-to-obtain material and returning it to the field for further use.

The mining industry produces a large amount of used, damaged, and broken carbide material. Before there were carbide recycling facilities, this precious and valuable metal was thrown away or sold to steel recyclers who paid “Steel” price for the material.

Carbide recyclers are aware of the current value both monetary and industry wise, and are seeking to process used materials and make them into new products and tools.  Carbide-USA, located in Elmira, NY, can process up to a ton of carbide material a day.  Their central location makes it easy for you to bring in your carbide scrap, or ship it to their facilities either by postal mail or through a verified shipper.  Call Carbide-USA at (607)-331-9353 for current scarp carbide pricing.

Remember, carbide is a heavier metal than steel.  A coffee can full of scrap and shavings of steel will only weigh 25 pounds while that same can filled with carbide will weigh twice as much.  Don’t be fooled into sending your carbide scrap to a steel recycler.  Contact Carbide-USA carbide recycling facilities for the latest scrap carbide pricing and to handle your processing needs.

March 17th, 2014