From v04.n297 Sat Jan 10 10:10:11 1998 From: John Fosgett Date: Thu, 08 Jan 1998 13:07:09 -0800 Subject: Re: R&D in GURPS Status: RO X-Status: At 07:36 PM 1/5/98 -0500, HAL wrote: >Another thought if you kind people of GURPS-L can help me ... > > Anyone have an idea of what Steel, Iron, Copper, etc go for retail per >pound? I have noted that the rules for economics in TRAVELLER need to be >modified to an extent. Based upon that observation, I would like to come >up with something that might mirror what Traveller had in it's original >book, but be a tad more realistic in prices... > > Hal > You asked for it. I compiled this listing off of some stock market quotes for mineral prices. These are some of the minerals that investors think are important enough, so they should be ideal for your purposes. For simplicity, these are listed with price per ton, mass per ton, and include the annual consumption for the US. This should give a good benchmark for any world in increments of 1/4 billion populations. Under "Uses" are some of the common uses for these minerals which will give a good idea of what industries require them. Mineral Tons/CY $/ton Annual Demand Uses Aluminum 3 $1,500 12.5M tons Alloys/Aerospace Antimony 7.35 $3,500 30K tons Batteries/Tank Linings Arsenic 6.3 $1,440 40k tons Beryllium 2 $320k 200 tons Electronics/Aerospace Bismuth 10.78 $7,400 (low) Pharmaceuticals(Pepto) Cadmium 9.5 $3,680 14k tons Batt/Plastics/Plating Cesium 2 $81,600 20 tons Elect/Photo-Electronics Chromium 7.9 $76,000 300k tons Alloys/Plating Cobalt 9.79 $56,000 7k tons Turbines/Carbides/Catalysts Copper 9.85 $2,600 Electronics/Alloys Gallium 6.5 $360k 51k tons OptoElect/IC's Germanium 5.85 $450k 25k tons Optics/Fiber Optics/Semiconductor Gold 21.23 $9.6M 3k tons Electronics/Jewelry Lead 12.54 $500 5.4M tons Rad Shielding Magnesium 1.9 $3,600 300k tons Alloys/Aluminum Alloys Manganese 8.173 $2.40 400k tons Steel/Batteries Mercury 14.88 $6,500 Batteries/Electronics Molybdenum 11.22 $14,000 50k tons Steel Alloys Nickel 9.79 $7,000 875k tons Alloys/Chrome Plating(primer) Platinum 23.54 $10.8M 200 tons Catalysts/Jewelry Palladium 13.2 $4.8M 250 tons Elect/Catalysts/Automotive Rhodium 13.64 $8.4M 19 tons Electronics/Thermocouples Iridium 24.75 $144k ? Chemicals (linings) Ruthenium 13.42 $650k ? Chlorine Prod/Titanium Alloys Columbium 12.3 $80,000 2,300 tons Aerospace Alloys Tantalum 18.26 $55,000 500 tons Capacitors Selenium 5.28 $10,000 500 tons Alloys/Electronics Silver 11.55 $120k 29k tons Electronics/Jewelry Steel* 8.6 $1,000 96M tons Just about everything Tellurium 6.86 $54k 27 tons Steel/Catalysts/Photo Receptors Tin 8 $5,800 5,000 tons Alloys (Brass and Bronze) Titanium 4.95 $8,000 20k tons Aerospace Alloys Tungsten 21.23 $60 16k tons Hardened Alloys Uranium 20.8 $22,000 12.5k tons Reactors/Ammunition Vanadium 6.38 $9,000 20k tons Steel Alloys/Aerospace Zinc 7.85 $960 720k tons Nutrients/Coatings Zircon 7.14 $278 50k tons Nuclear Fuel Cladding/Foundries Other Stuff By way of camparison, food products generally mass around 1/2 to 1 ton per CY and wholesale at about $1,000 to $5,000 per ton. Raw wheat and live stock are at the bottom end with prepared or luxury foodstuffs at the top end. For Electronics prices, use the stats in Vehicles. For most TL's this usually works out to about .675 tons/CY and $75,000 per ton (wholesale). Depending on the method of travel and communications, it will usually be necessary for shippers to purchase this merchandise outright. Direct purchases will run between 50% to 80% of the above listed prices. Likewise, the wholesale price can fluctuate by up to 20% in either direction. Note: These prices are for the current US economy at TL7. Historically, commodities can vary in value by up to 400%, depending on technological breakthroughs. For instance, if Tantalum should suddenly prove critical to newer high efficiency Jump Drives, the price could easily rise to $250,000/ton while the demand skyrockets to 500,000 tons/year. Hope this helps. John "A head shot means you're serious" Fosgett "Honor is irrelevant." -Ambassador Kosh, Bablyon 5