Occurrence and Refining

Zirconium has a concentration of about 130 mg/kg within the earth’s crust and about 0.026 μg/L in sea water, though it is never found in nature as a native metal. The principal commercial source of zirconium is the zirconium silicate mineral, zircon (ZrSiO₄), which is found primarily in Australia, Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa, and the United States. 80% of zircon mining occurs in Australia and South Africa.

Zirconium also occurs in more than 140 other recognized mineral species including baddeleyite andkosnarite. This metal is commercially produced mostly by the reduction of the zirconium(IV) chloride with magnesium metal in the Kroll process. Commercial-quality zirconium for most uses still has a content of 1% to 3% hafnium.

This zircon sand is the raw material to obtain pure METAL Zr99% and the Zirconium oxide CERAMIC (ZrO2) .

Production of Pure Metal Zirconium (Zr 99%):

Crystal Bar

To obtain the pure metal, the process “Van Arkel” is used to obtain a zirconium sponge called Zirconium crystal-bar.

The “crystal-bar” can be melted to obtain the zirconium rod or ingot. The pure zirconium is mainly used in the nuclear reactors as containers for the nuclear fuel, and also to form compounds highly resistant to corrosion.

This metal is grey, shining and very resistant to corrosion. It is lighter than steel, and hardness similar to copper.