![]() Cost (Bulk) |
Cost (bulk) gives the price in U.S. dollars of an element purchased in bulk quantities on the open market for industrial use. The bulk cost is listed for a nearly pure form of the element rather than for mixture forms such as alloys. To compare prices of the elements it may be more useful to use Cost (pure), since that category contains prices for more different elements than does Cost (bulk). For practical problems in which you need to know how much an element would cost in an industrial application Cost (bulk) is better. Data were obtained from reports published by the US Geological Survery. Most of the data were reported in the US Geological Survey's 2002 Mineral Commodity Summaries, and reflect average year-end prices for 2001. The prices quoted for Calcium, Osmium, Iridium, and all of the Lanthanides were obtained from the US Geological Survery publication METAL PRICES IN THE UNITED STATES THROUGH 1998. All of the US Geological Survery publications were viewed online at: http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/ (accessed July, 2002) These are market prices and will change with the market climate. Current prices may be obtained on a weekly basis from trade journals such as American Metal Market, and from the financial pages of the New York Times. |