Larson Jewelers an authorized dealer of the Triton Rings line, a division of Frederick Goldman, has just announced they now carry 4 mm and 5 mm wide Triton rings made of tungsten carbide. 4 mm and 5 mm wide tungsten rings are ideal for women or men who prefer narrow bands.

The debut of this long anticipated narrower tungsten wedding bands line is happening just in time for the Valentine’s Day shopping season. For years Triton has focused only on 6 mm to 9 mm wide rings, which are the widths men traditionally wear. Now, couples who wish to have matching Triton branded wedding bands can finally do so, and Larson Jewelers is one of the few jewelers who have full authorization to carry this reputable jewelry line.

Triton is starting off with 6 great styles; 3 styles in 4 mm and 3 styles in 5 mm. Styles range from classic plain polished domed rings to beautifully carved designs. “When we first started carrying the Triton line last year, we asked if they will have a 4 mm or 5 mm line for women and they said they would, but we didn’t think they would come out with it this fast.” says Thomas Larson, co-founder of Larson Jewelers.

As mentioned, this line is not specifically geared towards women. Many men who are not used to wearing rings will also prefer to have a narrower band because it will not feel as bulky. Make no mistake these rings are narrower, but they are by no means weaker. Triton’s renowned toughness is engineered into this line as well. As with all tungsten ring brands Larson Jewelers carry, Triton Rings, come with a manufacturer’s lifetime warranty, which covers size exchanges for life, and repair or replacement in case of accidental damage. It is part of their policy to only carry brands from manufacturers that stand behind their products.

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Australia - Strategic Elements has kicked off rock chip and pan concentrate sampling at the Mt Rangitoto prospect on the West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand.

The company is targeting intrusion related gold, silver and rare metals around the historic Mt Rangitoto gold-silver mine.

The focus on intrusions is due to the large-scale nature of this style of deposit.

Mt Rangitoto, which forms part of the West Coast " Hohonu Project, comprises a high grade historic gold-silver mine and streams draining the mountain that contain high grade tungsten, tin, tantalum and niobium.

High grade gold samples of 21 grams per tonne (g/t), 29g/t and 32g/t have been reported from the Mt Rangitoto Mine.

High grade silver samples of 43g/t, 79g/t, 110g/t and 1,400g/t have also been discovered.

In previous pan concentrate sampling of the streams draining the mountain, grades of 1% tin and 1% tungsten have been returned.

The Mt Rangitoto Mine is believed to host gold in granite, with samples of 0.62g/t gold and 0.55g/t gold returned from previous exploration.

There is strong potential for metal to be sourced from a buried intrusion. Potential buried granite may preserve rare and precious metals.

Veins and silver in the mine increased with depth towards a granite.

Strategic Elements controls a large strategic area of over 1,350 square kilometres of highly prospective ground on the South Island.

The Hohonu Project covers over 10 separate intrusions with several primary areas of rare metal "rare earths, tungsten and tin " mineralisation.

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New U.S. reporting requirements on sourcing “conflict minerals” create challenges and opportunities for companies.

You paid $100 for an organic heirloom turkey for your holiday table. Your fair trade coffee costs $16 per pound. And the hand-crocheted organic cotton blanket from a Peruvian co-op for your new baby niece? As much as $220 plus shipping.

Sustainable merchants have established strong niche markets for luxuries and incidentals. But what about an essential tool like your smart phone? Would you pay more if you could be sure its materials weren’t indirectly bankrolling human rights abuses in a distant frontier like the Democratic Republic of Congo?

New Reporting Requirements For Conflict Minerals

Creating a new economic framework amid anarchy is just one dilemma facing companies in the U.S. subject to new reporting requirements for “conflict minerals” by the Securities and Exchange Commission. These minerals are crucial to electronics and widely used in many products.

Other challenges: understanding and complying with the new federal reporting requirements, untangling complex global supply chains and quelling fears of both suppliers and customers.

As the DRC government and rebels consider a new round of ceasefire talks, companies are now determining whether to keep sourcing materials from the DRC under the new regulations, or source from other nations.

“It would be easier to just stay out of it,” said Michael Loch, director of supply-chain corporate responsibility for Schaumburg, IL.-based Motorola Solutions.

“But from a CSR standpoint, you don’t want to make a bad situation worse, “Loch said. “If there is enough momentum and people stay engaged, you can see how a legitimate pipeline can be established and eventually we will see this as a normal way of business.”

Companies See Compliance Challenges 

Other companies say the conflict minerals regulations penalize them for circumstances far beyond conflict mineralstheir influence. More than a year before the first conflict minerals report is due to the SEC in 2014, they are feeling the pinch from customers asking them to certify that their products are conflict-free.  Yet, they can’t see clearly down their supply chains back to the materials’ origins – often small “artisan” mines under the control of warlords.

“We do not want to purchase any components where the manufacturer purchases raw materials from the DRC region, “ said Michael Goeringer, president of Arc-Tronics, an Illinois-based circuit board manufacturer. “However, we have no mechanism to determine if they are doing that or not.”

Four materials – tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold – are covered by the new regulation, which was required in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. A percentage of the world’s supply comes from mines on the eastern frontier of the DRC, where millions have been killed or uprooted in a civil war that has persisted for more than a decade.

Next year, U.S. public companies will be required to report their use of “conflict minerals” exported from this tropical twilight zone in a new effort by policymakers to choke off the outlaws’ financing and establish a legitimate economy. They must report their audited findings to the SEC.

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In this ‘insights from industry’ interview, Dr Yuri Zhuk, Technical Director at Hardide Coatings Ltd., talks to AZoM regarding the importance of seal reliability, especially in adverse conditions.

GT: Could you please provide a brief overview of Hardide and some of the new coatings that Hardide is producing?

YZ: Hardide Coatings Ltd, an advanced surface coating company, is a leading innovator in the development and production of metal surface coatings based on Tungsten Carbide. The company is currently producing the Hardide range of chemical vapour deposition (CVD) tungsten carbide / tungsten hard coatings, which have exciting and wide-ranging applications in industries including oil and gas, valves, pumps, aerospace and advanced engineering..

GT: What are the primary applications of these coatings?

YZ: Applications where wear, erosion, corrosion or chemically aggressive media cause component and tool or equipment downtime, failure or loss of performance. The coatings are hard, tough, flexible, ductile and impact resistant and can coat internal surfaces and complex geometries so can be used in many applications where traditional hard coatings are not suitable.

An important application of these CVD coatings is their use on mechanical seals for heavy-duty rotating equipment.

Rotating equipment, including turbines, compressors and pumps, use mechanical face seals to prevent leakage, whilst also excluding any abrasive media and lubricating the mechanical assemblies. The importance of seal reliability cannot be overstated when looking at overall equipment reliability, because seal failure results in the damage of costly equipment, and would also cause higher downtime costs.

GT: Which industries benefit from these coatings?

YZ: Primarily the oil, gas and chemical processing industries will benefit from Hardide’s CVD coatings for mechanical face seals. However, any industry that employs heavy-duty mechanical face seals will benefit, especially if these are employed in adverse conditions.. In particular, these coatings are used to make the ‘primary’ sealing surface durable and capable of resisting three-body abrasion, erosion and corrosion.

 GT: What materials are traditionally used on mechanical seals and what are the limitations of these?

YZ: Solid hard materials, such as ceramic, silicon carbide, or sintered tungsten carbide are frequently used. However, these materials have several significant limitations and disadvantages, which are listed below:

    They are brittle
    They are expensive and difficult to produce (especially if there are finer features included in the seal design)
    The thermal expansion properties of these materials can differ significantly from steel, leading to jamming with a change in temperature.

HVOF, plasma spray coatings (such as WC/Co), DLC and other PVD coatings are already used on mechanical seals. However, these are often not effective for heavy-duty seal applications. For example, WC/Co HVOF and plasma spray coatings contain hard WC grains in a soft cobalt binder. These coatings can become very rough in abrasive/corrosive environments due to the selective leaching or abrasion of the binder.

GT: How do the Hardide coatings address these common problems?

YZ: An even wear pattern is ensured by the uniform structure of Hardide coatings, so an optimum finish can last for longer without hard asperities forming. Both tungsten carbide and tungsten have excellent resistance to chemically aggressive/corrosive media, particularly acids. The coating might be further alloyed with small amounts of Fluorine or Fluorocarbons (as disclosed in Hardide patents), which can further enhance its mechanical properties.

An alternative approach is to manufacture the mechanical seal components out of steel and then coat with a hard coating. Using steel is beneficial for the following reasons:

    It is tough
    It is inexpensive
    It can lead to improved and larger ranges of seal design
    It is relatively easy to machine

GT: How does using CVD tungsten carbide coatings effect the lifespan of machinery?

YZ: It has been shown that the coatings can triple the operational life of critical parts in abrasive conditions. Mechanical face seals display similar, long-lasting results.

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