Estimated Average Concentration - 1 part per billion (rarest element in Earth's crust)
Melting Point - 3186 deg C (third highest of any element)
Boiling Point - 5630 deg C (highest of any element)
By-product of extraction and refinement of Molybdenum element and Copper element
Pricing - US $85.53 / troy ounce (31.1g) as of April 2015
Use -
Critical strategic military importance, used in military jet engines and rocket engines, 3% in 2nd Generation alloys, 6% in single crystal 3rd Generation alloys.
[In 4th and 5th generation Super-alloys, Ruthenium is used owing to issues with Rhenium in 2nd and 3rd generation Super-alloys, but its melting point is 2334 deg C.]
Source of Mining
- Chile as largest reserves, mixed in with Copper, followed by United States, Peru and Poland
- Russia's Kuril Islands, on a volcano vent as a mineral 'Rhenium di-sulfide'
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhenium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superalloy
When space travel becomes more common, an alternative method such as artificial manufacturing or a element with the required elements will be needed as well as the use of fully reusable space craft.
