KPTRI-NATM Jointly Develops 99.995% Purity Molybdenum
Refining Technology and Equipment; Factory Demonstration in Progress
Expected to Reduce Dependence on Japan through Domestic Refining of Uzbek Raw Materials


Molybdenum is one of the essential materials for Korea's leading industries due to its excellent corrosion resistance, heat resistance, electrode properties, and stability, and is useful for semiconductors and display substrates. However, as a rare metal with extremely limited reserves, supply and demand have been unstable due to resource weaponization policies by countries possessing it.

On the 24th, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology announced that it has secured overseas supply sources for molybdenum and jointly developed 99.995% high-purity refining technology and equipment with NATM, a domestic small and medium-sized enterprise.

Even when raw materials are imported into the country, molybdenum was difficult to utilize directly due to insufficient refining technology and equipment to increase purity. Furthermore, ultra-high purity molybdenum is being fully imported at an annual scale of approximately 700 billion won, of which 60-70% comes from Japan, creating significant supply stability issues.

In June 2019, KPTRI's Korean Rare Metals Industry Technology Center concluded a supply contract with Uzbekistan, a rare metals resource-rich nation, and established a molybdenum raw material supply chain. The plan was to establish a 'Korea-Uzbekistan Rare Metals Center' in the Kirchi region of Uzbekistan to create a hub for collaborative material development, while simultaneously securing stable supply of molybdenum from Uzbekistan.

Uzbek molybdenum is a byproduct of the copper refining process with intermediate-stage purity, so it needed to be refined to 99.99% or higher for use in domestic leading industries. Accordingly, Dr. Park Kyung-tae's team at KPTRI's Korean Rare Metals Industry Technology Center embarked on localization of 'high-melting-point molybdenum refining technology and equipment' in collaboration with rare metals material company NATM, successfully achieving 99.995% molybdenum.

The research team drew inspiration from overseas leading companies' ultra-high purity molybdenum refining processes, which use 'ultra-high-temperature electron beam' that does not require catalysts such as strong alkali or strong acid.

When electron beam is applied inside a vacuum chamber, the interior temperature rises to approximately 6,000℃, and the principle of accelerated gasification of internal materials is applied. In other words, during the electron beam irradiation process, impurities with boiling points lower than molybdenum's melting point of 2,600℃ vaporize and escape, leaving only 99.995% ultra-high purity liquid molybdenum, which is then molded into ingot form.

Currently, laboratory-scale research has been successful, and pilot factory demonstration tests are underway with NATM's equipment manufacturing expertise to enable ingot production in 12cm × 1m sizes. The research team has modified and adjusted numerous process variables and has entered the optimization stage for mass production. They project that prototype production will be possible within the next year.