Alcoa Inc. AAA, a light-metal giant, has inaugurated its metal powder factory at the Alcoa Technology center. It will make metal powders in Titanium, Nickel, and aluminum powders, optimized for use in 3D printing.

The company with be engaged in producing material that has special properties required to make inks used to manufacture 3D print components. It has developed high-quality alloys that are used in the manufacture of parts in the aerospace industry, attributed to its supremacy in metal-alloy development. This plant will be a part of Arconic, a new segment of Alcoa that merged after separation from the parent company in 2016. It runs its units in California, Pennsylvania, Texas, Michigan, and Georgia.

Alcoa has introduced a new Ampliforge process, a technique that combines 3D printing with conventional methods of manufacturing. In this method, the company produces a part through 3D printing and then treats it with a traditional manufacturing method called forging. This increases the durability and toughness of a product and enhances the strength of a component which is made using 3D printing methods. Alcoa is engaged in this technique in Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

Alcoa has been into 3D printing since last two decades. It runs one of the largest Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) areas in aerospace. Airbus has selected the company to supply 3D-printed titanium fuselage and engine pylon parts for commercial planes. These additive manufactured parts are expected to be ready for delivery by the end of 2016.

Some of the companies in space mining are Coeur Mining, Inc. CDE, Royal Gold, Inc. RGLD and Sandstorm Gold Ltd. SAND which are better ranked than Alcoa and has a Zank Rank #1, as compared to the Zank Rank of Alcoa which stands at #3.

Source: finance.yahoo.com