Molybdenum

No other mineral mined in the U.S. rolls off the tongue like molybdenum. And the idea of this shiny metal on your tongue is one you should keep in mind. Molybdenum is one of the dietary elements needed by the body to survive. A fact that speaks volumes to its functionality and versatility in our lives. Nitrogenase containing molybdenum, is the enzyme that reduces the nitrogen-nitrogen bond allowing for nitrogen fixation and the beginning of the nitrogen cycle. The understanding of this process, and molybdenum’s key role in it, allowed food production to sustain our growing population. On the industrial side, where molybdenum is hopefully not being ingested, the metal is capable of withstanding extreme heat without expansion. This property, along with its resistance to corrosion, is what makes it so common in creating alloys, and for military applications.

Molybdenum has been most commonly mined in the U.S. until China leaped ahead in 2006. Mountain states such as Colorado and Utah lead the production in the U.S. in part due to the metal’s presence as a by-product in copper mining. Molybdenum mining still carries many of the same dangers that can be imagined from mining other elements. As much as I tout molybdenum’s importance for life, overexposure will lead to death.