Editing Base metal

{{Short description|Common and inexpensive metal}}
A '''base metal''' is a common and inexpensive [[metal]], as opposed to a [[precious metal]] such as [[gold]] or [[silver]].<ref>[https://archive.today/20120910151604/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0063360;jsessionid=B74162BDEAF5815E9B2D2C0212C25ED5%23m_en_gb0063360 Oxford dictionary definition of "base metal"] ''oxforddictionaries.com''.</ref>  In [[numismatics]], coins often derived their value  from the precious metal content; however, base metals have also been used in coins in the past and today.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://numismatics.org/seminar/termsmethods/|title=Introduction to Numismatic Terms and Methods|website=numismatics.org|access-date=20 October 2021|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020140437/http://numismatics.org/seminar/termsmethods/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Specific definitions==
In contrast to [[noble metal]]s, base metals may be distinguished by [[oxidation|oxidizing]] or [[corrosion|corroding]] relatively easily and reacting variably with diluted [[hydrochloric acid]] (HCl) to form [[hydrogen]]. Examples include  [[iron]], [[nickel]], [[lead]] and [[zinc]]. [[Copper]] is also considered a base metal because it oxidizes relatively easily, although it does not react with HCl.

In [[mining]] and [[economics]], the term base metals refers to industrial [[non-ferrous metals]] excluding [[precious metals]]. These include copper, lead, nickel and zinc.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://responsiblemining.net/pubs/WB_BaseMetalAndIronJul98.pdf |title=''Base Metal and Iron Ore Mining,'' Pollution Prevention and Abatement Handbook. WORLD BANK GROUP 1998 |access-date=2010-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909112854/http://www.responsiblemining.net/pubs/WB_BaseMetalAndIronJul98.pdf |archive-date=2016-09-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[U.S. Customs and Border Protection]] agency is more inclusive in its definition of commercial base metals. Its list includes—in addition to copper, lead, nickel, and zinc—the following metals: [[iron]] and [[steel]] (an alloy), [[aluminium]], [[tin]], [[tungsten]], [[molybdenum]], [[tantalum]], [[cobalt]], [[bismuth]], [[cadmium]], [[titanium]], [[zirconium]], [[antimony]], [[manganese]], [[beryllium]], [[chromium]], [[germanium]], [[vanadium]], [[gallium]], [[hafnium]], [[indium]], [[niobium]], [[rhenium]], and [[thallium]], and their alloys.<ref>[https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/icp079_3.pdf What Every Member of the Trade Community Should Know About: Household Articles of Base Metal, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.  Jan. 2010]</ref>

==Other uses==
In the context of [[electroplating|plated]] metal products, the base metal underlies the plating metal, as copper underlies silver in [[Sheffield plate]].

==See also==
*[[London Metal Exchange]]
*[[Philosopher's stone]]
*[[Pot metal]]
*[[Reactivity series]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110724030853/http://www.steelonthenet.com/charts.html Non-ferrous metal price charts]

{{Jewellery}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Base Metal}}
[[Category:Currency production]]
[[Category:Metals]]