Is it a critical mineral or a Tolkien invention? Take the Guardian’s nerdiest quiz yet

When it comes to critical mineral deposits, do you know what everybody is Tolkien about? Photograph: New Line/Sportsphoto/Allstar

Do you know your ores from your orcs? Are you more familiar with rare earths or with Middle-earth?

We’re hearing a lot about critical minerals at the moment but their names all sound as though they were made up by Tolkien.

With this in mind, we recommend you take what is probably Guardian Australia’s nerdiest refresher quiz yet.

But be warned – as Gandalf once said, You Shall Not Pass!

1. OK, we’ll start with an easy one. Is ‘Mithril’:

   1. Used by dwarves and elves to make shiny magic armour and ‘ithildin alloy’.

   2. A mineral sand found in high concentrations around Busselton in WA.

   3. An ancient ring that did something complicated to do with other ancient rings.

   4. A word we just made up, sorry.

2. Who, what or where is ‘Hafnium’?

   1. He was a dwarf from the Second Age who died nobly in battle with a balrog.

   2. It is a lustrous tetravalent transition metal, obvs.

   3. This land lies far to the east, beyond the ken of mortal man.

   4. We just made this one up, I’m afraid.

3. What would I do with ‘Rhûn’?

   1. You would, hopefully, use it as an alternative to silicon dioxide gate insulators in future batteries.

   2. You would ally with him to defeat Carcharoth, of the line of Draugluin.

   3. You would hang out there with the Avari, the Ironfists, Stiffbeards and Stonefoots, and two Blue Wizards.

   4. We definitely just made this one up.

4. What is ‘Iluvatar’ made up of?

   1. The origins of Ilúvatar are a mystery known only to Eru, the omnibenevolent creator of Eä.

   2. It’s an intermediate slurry of alluvial deposits, usually containing titanium dioxide.

   3. It’s a crystalline form of manganese, discovered in the 18th century by a defrocked priest.

   4. Nothing. We made it up.

5. What about ‘Bismuth’?

   1. It is where grey shadows lie, wraiths of the line of the lords of Andúnië and kings of Arthedain, awaiting the return of the Heir of the West.

   2. Famed among the Pnictogens, sibling to Antimony, useful for treating diarrhoea.

   3. He was of the line of Durin, ally of Nain, lord of Khazad-dûm.

   4. A completely fabricated word, unless it’s the name of a town somewhere – we haven’t checked.

6. What should you avoid doing with ‘Fluorspar’?

   1. You should be careful not to contaminate local water sources as its processing can release harmful gases.

   2. You should not go with him into the Ephel Dúath, beyond the Emyn Muil and the Wetwang, for there awaits his doom.

   3. You should not use it in lenses to aid apochromatic design or lapidary.

   4. Doesn’t matter, we made it up.

7. Did we just make up ‘Yttrium’?

   1. No. It’s a rare earth, honestly it is. I could tell you the atomic number and everything, just give me a sec.

   2. No, but Christopher Tolkien did, to fill out one of the interminable ancient elf ancestries that make The Silmarillion such a slog to read.

   3. Yup.

   4. No, it’s the town where Bilbo Baggins eventually retired to in Valinor, the Blessed Realm.

8. We found this one on Wikipedia: ‘Hithlum’

   1. It’s a platinum-group mineral – hard, brittle, dense with a surprisingly high bulk modulus.

   2. It’s one of the rarest elements in the Earth’s crust. Used to make jet engines, ion gauges and as a catalyst for refining naphthas.

   3. Hithlum was a land separated from Beleriand by the Ered Wethrin. But honestly if you’re trying to get to Helcaraxë you’re better off taking the Ered Lómin, most days.

   4. No we didn’t. Just made it up.

9. OK, what about ‘Arsenic’?

   1. Genuinely, the name of a Hobbit. I know, right? Probably called ‘Nick’ for short, you’d imagine, though Tolkien doesn’t say.

   2. Oh, c’mon, everyone’s heard of arsenic.

   3. Well, smarty-pants, you may have heard of it but it’s not on the official Australian critical minerals list, which we’re using as canon.

   4. Actually, you’re just imagining you’re familiar with the word because we just invented it.

10. I am intrigued by ‘Tantalum’

    1. Yea verily but do not venture there for it is the ancient realm of Melkor, most vile of the Valar and the Ainur, born from the Ainulindalë.

    2. You’d be disappointed. It’s just a bluey-grey member of the refractory metals group, useful in quantum processing.

    3. DO NOT taste this fruit of the Olvar, picked in the orchards of Yavanna! Death awaits! Probably at the hands of a Huorn.

    4. But it’s a phonetic concoction. Honestly.

Solutions

1:A - Correct!, 2:B - Correct!, 3:C - Correct!, 4:A - Correct!, 5:B - Correct!, 6:A - Correct!, 7:A - Correct!, 8:C - Correct!, 9:B - Correct!, 10:B - Correct!

Scores

1. 4 and above.

   4-6/10 Rock steady. Maybe critical minerals were too big an ask, so go practice on some uncritical, easygoing minerals instead.

2. 7 and above.

   7-9/10 Andave laituvalmet! If you really want to nail subsequent quizzes, we recommend re-reading The Silmarillion appendices and renewing your subscription to the Journal of Materials Science and Metallurgy.

3. 0 and above.

   0-3/10. Don’t make it a hobbit. Though I’m sure you’re fun at parties. Thanks for playing.

4. 10 and above.

   10/10 Now that’s what I’m Tolkien about! Either you read way too much Lord of the Rings as an introverted teenager or you’re a chemical scientist. Either way, please join our pub quiz team.