Metal Country (3) Trivia Quiz

Answer: Romania

Sodium chloride is a common form in which sodium is found. Most people will come across it as table salt. Some of the largest salt mines in Europe are in Romania. At least five mines are now open to the public as tourist attractions or as a health venue for any benefits derived from breathing the air of the mines. The image clue is a reference to Count Dracula who is said to come from Transylvania, a region of Romania. Bran Castle, marketed as Dracula's castle, is not that far away from some of these salt mines.

Sodium the metal is normally extracted from concentrated brines and one of the notable uses is in fast breeder reactors where molten sodium is used as a coolant and heat exchange medium.

Answer: Myanmar

Mandalay was one-time capital of Burma, then part of British India. Published in 1890, the poem mentions the "old Moulmein pagoda". Kachin state is the source of a number of rare earth elements including dysprosium. The civil war in Myanmar has resulted in a significant increase in Chinese-extracted rare earths from the region, perhaps helping to fuel the conflict. Dysprosium is obtained as a by-product of extracting yttrium and is used in permanent magnets and lasers amongst other specialist applications.

Answer: Turkey

Used to provide corrosion resistance and hardness to stainless steel, alloying and chrome plating accounts for about 85% of chromium's commercial use. It was first used in Europe in pigments due to the intensely coloured compounds chromium forms. Chromite deposits are mostly concentrated in South Africa and Kazakhstan and these two countries are leading exporters of the metal, along with Turkey. Turkey has a number of sizeable ore deposits.

The image shows some Turkish delight on an Anatolian (or Turkish) carpet, both products for which Turkey is well-known.

Answer: Philippines

Making the salt is a dying art kept alive to some extent by tourists as it is far cheaper to import salt as a commodity, however the calamansi fruit is ubiquitous in traditional Filipino recipes while ube is commonly used in desserts. Nickel in the Philippines comes from laterite ore.

Most nickel is used in stainless steel and other alloys, although the best known use is probably as coins such as the US nickel. The current version is the five-cent coin which has 25% nickel with the balance in copper. At one point in 2007, the value of the metal in a nickel was nearly double the face value, leading to people melting the coins for the metal. Between 1922 and 1981 (excluding 1942-1945) the Canadian version was 99.9% nickel.

Answer: Norway

The molybdenum mine at Knaben in Norway opened in 1885. Molybdenum proved its worth in the First World War with 25 mm (1 in) molybdenum steel plating replacing 75 mm (3 in) manganese steel plating on British tanks, resulting in higher speeds, more manoeuvrability and better protection.

When Germany invaded Norway in 1940, they stationed around 1,000 men and anti-aircraft guns at the molybdenum mines. The Allies bombed them twice in 1943.

Answer: Vietnam

With a density similar to gold, 'tungsten' means 'heavy stone' in Swedish. It also has high hardness and heat resistance. Wolfram, the German name for the metal, gives rise to its chemical symbol W. Around half of tungsten is used in the form of tungsten carbide as a wear-resistant material such as used in cutting tools. For Vietnam, the water buffalo and Buddha belly bamboo are considered by some to be national icons.

Answer: Greenland

The most northerly place marked on ancient Greek and Roman maps or mentioned in literature, Thule is often identified with northern islands such as the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland. Knud Rasmussen, a Greenlandic-Danish explorer established a trading post in north-western Greenland in 1910 with the name Thule. The air base was named Thule, although it was located at Pituffik (meaning 'the place the dogs are tied').

Thulium is the second rarest of the rare earths and Greenland is one of the places where thulium-bearing ore occurs. Thulium has various specialist uses such as doping laser materials for military use or for medical laser-based surgery.

Answer: France

Hafnium is found with zirconium. Most zirconium is obtained from the heavy mineral ores ilmenite and rutile, mined for the titanium they contain. Zirconium is good for cladding nuclear fuel-rods however any hafnium impurities would make it far less suitable. Because of its needs for pure zirconium, France therefore produces a significant amount of hafnium as a by-product. Used in high-temperature alloys and ceramics, hafnium has applications in the aerospace, energy and nuclear sectors.

The image clue hints at one of the foods that France is known for, namely the escargot (or edible snail).

Answer: Switzerland

In mineral circles, Lengenbach Quarry is well-known for its unusual sulfosalt minerals. It is the type locality, namely the site where a mineral is first identified, for over 40 mineral species. Some 33 different thallium minerals have been found there, of which 23 were type minerals.

Water soluble and toxic, thallium was once used as a rat poison however it earned the name "the poisoner's poison" and "inheritance powder" after a spate of murders followed. Prussian blue can be used as a treatment. More conventional uses of thallium include infrared optics, in photoresistors and high-temperature superconductors.

The alphorns shown in the image are found in various regions of the Alps, including Switzerland.

Answer: Slovakia

Gallium is found in trace amounts in bauxite and zinc ores with most gallium produced by China during the processing of bauxite to extract aluminium. The gallium produced needs purification before it can be used in the electronics sector. Slovakia has been one of the main producers of high-purity refined gallium and gallium arsenide, starting with either the Chinese product or recycling materials. Chinese export restrictions are leading other countries to start their own recycling and refining facilities.