Why it matters to materials
Construction is the tonnage baseline everything else is measured against. It is also where alloying elements do their quietest work: a few hundred grams of niobium per tonne of steel lets a bridge be built with less of it.
What it is made of
All materials →| Material | What it does here | Importance |
|---|---|---|
| Cement | Concrete | Defining |
| Construction Sand & Gravel | Aggregate in concrete and asphalt | Defining |
| Copper critical | Wiring and plumbing | Defining |
| Iron & Steel | Structure, rebar and rail | Defining |
| Iron Ore | Steel | Defining |
| Manganese critical | In every tonne of steel | Defining |
| Metallurgical Coal | Blast-furnace reduction | Defining |
| Zinc critical | Galvanising | Defining |
| Aluminium critical | Facades, windows and structure | Important |
| Crude Oil | Asphalt and plastics | Important |
| Gypsum | Plasterboard | Important |
| Lime | Steel refining and soil stabilisation | Important |
| Niobium critical | High-strength low-alloy steel | Important |
| Vanadium critical | Rebar strengthening | Important |
Cement
Powdered limestone and clay cooked at 1,450 C, which sets hard when mixed with water — the glue that holds concrete…
Construction Sand & Gravel
The most-mined material on Earth by weight, and the one nobody thinks of as mining.
Copper
The reddish metal that carries electricity better than anything except silver, and which humans have been smelting…
Iron & Steel
Iron with a little carbon in it, and the most-produced manufactured material on the planet.
Iron Ore
Rust-coloured rock that is roughly one-third to two-thirds iron, and the single largest tonnage the mining industry…
Manganese
A brittle grey metal that steel cannot be made without, and that is now being used to stretch scarce nickel and…
