The most important metals in a smartphone

VC Elements published a data visualisation of all the critical metals in a smartphone including:

• Nickel
• Gallium
• Magnesium
• Lithium
• Cobalt
• Neodymium

However, many of these metals are in short supply (I wrote about this a few years ago in “Federica Fragapane’s Periodic Table of Elements in Danger“) with gallium in “serious threat of running out in the next 100 years”, magnesium with “limited availability”, and terbium costing thousands of US dollars per kilogram. And, although not mentioned in the infographics, tungsten is sometimes used as a weight in a phone’s vibrator.