THE NCM EDGE
NCM will have several distinct advantages over mined PMs such as:
COST OF THE PRODUCT
While it will be impossible to establish the cost of NCM’s product today, our production process eliminates five expensive operations involved in producing mined rare earth PMs such as:
- Mining
- Refining the Ore to high levels of purity
- Pulverizing the refined particles
- Making an alloy at a temperature of 1750C
- Subsequent sintering at 1000C
NCM’s production process does not involve any mining, refining, pulverizing, melting metal alloys or sintering. Its chemical synthesis process involves raw material readily available in the market, and is highly energy efficient since it operates at a temperature of 80C. Subsequent bonding of nano-magnets to create solid forms and shapes will occur at much lower temperatures compared to sintering for rare earth magnets. NCM’s final cost will be significantly lower than that of any mined magnet.
SCIENTIFICALLY MEASURABLE SPECS
The product being sold is a highly sophisticated piece of metal. However, there are no moving parts or electronic, electrical or mechanical systems involved. The performance of this metal part can be established with great scientific precision. Hence, there is virtually no branding advantage for an incumbent supplier.
PRICE AND PRODUCT SPECS WILL LARGELY DRIVE THE SALE BUT THREE OTHER FACTORS WILL BE DECISIVE
THE GEO-POLITICAL DRIVE TO GET AWAY FROM CHINESE SUPPLIERS
While this may not be a global phenomenon, major buyers in America, Western Europe, Japan, India and Australia are uncomfortable about dependence on China.
INSIGNIFICANT POLLUTION COMPARED TO RARE EARTH MAGNETS
According to an August 12, 2021 issue of Harvard International Review, "For every ton of rare earth produced, the mining process yields 13kg of dust, 9,600-12,000 cubic meters of waste gas, 75 cubic meters of wastewater, and one ton of radioactive residue .... Most worrying is that rare earth ores are often laced with radioactive thorium and uranium, which result in especially detrimental health effects. Overall, for every ton of rare earth 2,000 tons of toxic waste are produced.” Multi-billion dollar companies are now very averse to environmentally hazardous practices on the part of their suppliers.
OUR PMs OPERATE AT MUCH HIGHER TEMPERATURES COMPARED TO RARE EARTH PMs
Rare earth PMs decline in performance at operating tempertatures above 250C. Our PMs can continue aperating even at temperatures as high as 400C. This high temperature performance is critical in numerous defense applications.