From mine to manufacturing line: How to deliver consistently high-quality cell phone materials

Once a luxury, cell phones are now indispensable. And behind every device are dozens of specialized raw materials: plastics for casing, rare-earth metals for vibrant displays, smash-proof glass with a conductive layer for touchscreens, and high-strength ceramics.

The performance, safety, and compliance of any phone depend on the quality of these materials. Without sufficient quality, phones fail faster, batteries lose efficiency, and safety risks escalate.

But delivering consistent quality and purity is easier said than done. The quality of critical mineral ores is declining across the globe. Geopolitical instability further restricts supply. And regulations tighten each year.

Tackling these challenges requires ultra-precise quality control from mine to manufacturing line. This blog shares how the right analytical instruments help your raw materials meet the strictest manufacturing standards – and why you need multiple technologies for truly optimized mining operations.

The critical raw materials inside every cell phone

Every smartphone combines a diverse range of materials – primarily plastic, metals, and glass. On average, plastics make up around 40% of a device’s mass, metals 35%, and ceramics (including glass) 25%.

The table below highlights the main materials used in each core component. Others, such as tin, copper, and gold, play an essential role in smaller amounts.

Wherever these materials are used, purity is non-negotiable: it’s the difference between a device that functions well and one that fails.

Component	Raw material(s)	Key properties
Touchscreen	– Aluminosilicate glass – Indium tin oxide	Aluminosilicate glass is ultra-strong; indium tin oxide is transparent and highly conductive, enabling touch-screen control
Display	– Lanthanum – Praseodymium – Europium – Gadolinium – Terbium – Dysprosium – Yttrium – Cerium	Unique electron structures emit vivid display colors
Sound system and vibration unit	-Nickel – Neodymium – Praseodymium – Gadolinium – Terbium – Dysprosium	High magnetic strength powers speakers, microphones, and haptics
Electronics	– Nickel – Gallium – Tantalum – Silicon	High electrical conductivity enables miniaturization; stability drives consistent long-term performance
Battery, usually a lithium-ion battery	– Lithium – Cobalt – Nickel	High energy density supports a long battery cycle life
Casing	– Nickel – Magnesium	Strength, low weight, and corrosion resistance allow for lightweight yet durable casing; nickel reduces electromagnetic interference

The obstacles to mining high-performance minerals

Even trace contaminants in cell phone materials can derail performance. That means lower conductivity, shorter battery life, and a weaker structure.

To prevent this from happening, you need to tackle these contaminants from the mining stage. But that’s no easy feat.

One major challenge is that ore quality is highly variable. In fact, critical mineral ore grades are declining in many regions, making it more difficult and costly to mine them.

Increasingly, you have to mine critical raw materials from remote locations – and geopolitical instability makes it even harder to access some of these areas.

And mineral quality isn’t just essential for smartphone performance: you also need it to comply with regulations like RoHS, REACH, and conflict minerals regulations.

All this means one thing: control and trace quality at every step, or risk falling behind.

Why a multi-sensor approach is the only way to prevent process challenges

The solution is precision analysis. Modern analytical technologies can give you the insights you need for reliable quality control. But for the best results, you need a multi-sensor approach. Here’s what we recommend:

Swap slow, manual elemental assays with rapid in-field tools like XRF.

The shorter your feedback loop, the faster you can respond to impurities. Of course, for some applications, impurities are harder to detect – in which case a slower but more precise and automatable instrument like Zetium can be the best choice.

Complement XRF grade control with X-ray diffraction (XRD) mineralogical analysis

Integrate on-line and in-line analysis to get real-time data

Integrating on-line and in-line analysis gives you real-time data across the production chain: all the way from ore sorting during mining to leaching, electrolysis, and smelting during refining.

For instance, on-line analysis like our CNA³ elemental cross-belt analyzer or Epsilon Xflow provide continuous, real-time data on your materials’ composition and homogeneity. This enables operators to make immediate, data-driven decisions to adjust ore sorting and beneficiation processes.

This way, you can make immediate process adjustments, boosting consistency with less waste.

A case from the field: Mining battery-grade cobalt

Cobalt, nickel, and manganese ratios in ore are notoriously inconsistent. Left unchecked, they can make cell-phone batteries unstable, and even unsafe.

You can prevent this at the mining stage by using XRF to analyze the elements in your raw materials, followed by XRD to assess their structural integrity.

This locks in the right ratios before production – with significant results:

• Consistent battery capacity
• Improved safety
• Reduced scrap and stabilized supply chains

Get the precision your processes need, and the quality your customers deserve

High-performance smartphone production starts long before the assembly line: it starts in the mine, with high-quality raw materials. If these materials aren’t high-quality, the phone never will be.

XRD and XRF empower manufacturers, engineers, and researchers with the precise insights they need to deliver reliable, regulatory-compliant devices.

And, as AI becomes a bigger part of analytical workflows, it’ll soon be even easier to integrate these insights into your processes. The result: smoother workflows, and a faster, smarter path from mine to market.

Don’t let trace contaminants compromise your materials, your compliance, or your customers’ trust. For more on optimizing your mining operations for smartphone manufacturing, contact our experts today.

Further reads:

• From mine to manufacturing line: How to deliver consistently high-quality cell phone materials
• How to achieve rapid elemental QC in critical minerals mining
• From underground deposits to global food security: How to deliver consistently high-quality potash
• Why mineralogical analysis is at the heart of effective critical minerals mining
• How strong quality control can supercharge your critical mineral mining operations