About METALL

METALL

METALL is an international specialist journal for metallurgy, published in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Lower Saxony. Reporting mainly on the non-ferrous metals and stainless-steel industries, it covers copper, aluminum, magnesium, zinc, lead, nickel (including stainless steel), and tin — alongside composites, semiconductors, and specialty metals. First published in 1947, with the predecessor title Metall-Wirtschaft, -Wissenschaft und -Technik, the journal has accompanied the non-ferrous metals industry for nearly eight decades. Published in connection with the GDMB — the Society of Metallurgists and Miners, founded in 1912 and based in Clausthal-Zellerfeld — it serves metallurgists, plant engineers, and managers in primary and secondary metal production. In the international metallurgical press, METALL holds the position of the German-language journal of record for non-ferrous metallurgy: the bridge between industry and research.

Overview

The journal presents itself as an international journal for technology and economics in metallurgy, published in German (ISSN 0026-0746, CODEN METSA5). Its editorial program covers the primary and secondary extraction of metals, their processing, materials testing, and new developments. METALL reports on metallurgy including equipment, plants, and furnaces, and on the improvement of material properties through casting, forming, joining, thermal treatments, and powder metallurgy. Exclusive reports from metallurgical plants show the latest developments and user experiences — including from recycling facilities.

The readership is defined by the industry: metallurgists and process engineers in smelters, refineries, and semi-fabrication plants; plant builders and equipment suppliers; researchers at metallurgical institutes; and managers who need the economic background. Competently investigated background reports on international metal economics — including metal prices, the raw-material situation, metal markets, and statistics — serve as an important basis for decision-making in the international metals industry. New material developments are presented with a view to practical application, making the journal, in its own description, a bridge between industry and research.

The journal's status is recorded as active in the international journal databases, with the first year given as 1947. The Clausthal-Zellerfeld publishing base places the journal in the historic center of German mining and metallurgy — the Harz town that has hosted the GDMB's first postwar members' meeting in 1947 and remains the seat of the society. The German-language publication reaches readers in the DACH region and beyond through the society's professional networks and specialist libraries.

History

METALL's predecessor, Metall-Wirtschaft, -Wissenschaft und -Technik, belonged to the interwar German metallurgical press. The journal in its current form began in 1947 — the founding year recorded in the international databases — as the German non-ferrous metals industry rebuilt after the war. The GDMB itself, founded in 1912 in Berlin as the Gesellschaft Deutscher Metallhütten- und Bergleute, had seen its Berlin offices destroyed in the Second World War; the society was re-founded in 1947 with its first members' meeting in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, the Harz mining town that became its permanent seat.

The journal developed alongside the postwar German non-ferrous metals industry: the reconstruction of smelters and refineries, the growth of aluminum as the metal of the economic miracle, the copper industry's expansion, and the increasing importance of secondary metallurgy — recycling — as raw-material consciousness grew. The GDMB's own publishing activities, including the Erzmetall journal published by the GDMB Verlag from 1968, formed the institutional context in which METALL operated as the industry's international technology and economics journal.

Over nearly eight decades, the journal tracked the industry's structural transformations: globalization and the decline of German mining, which shifted the society's focus toward information exchange and network building; the rise of sustainability and circular-economy topics in metallurgy; and the growing importance of specialty metals, semiconductors, and composites alongside the classical non-ferrous metals. The journal's continuous publication through these shifts documents the German-language metallurgical discourse from the postwar era to the present. The economic-miracle decades brought aluminum's rise as a mass metal, copper's expansion in electrical and construction applications, and the steady professionalization of the society's conference and publishing activities.

Coverage and Content

The editorial coverage of METALL follows the metals it serves. Copper, aluminum, magnesium, zinc, lead, nickel (including stainless steel), and tin are the main metals of focus, with composites, semiconductors, and specialty metals covered alongside. Primary metallurgy — the extraction of metals from ores and concentrates — and secondary metallurgy — recycling and the recovery of metals from scrap and residues — are both standing topics, reflecting the industry's dual raw-material base.

Process and plant reporting covers equipment, plants, and furnaces: smelting and refining technologies, casting and forming processes, joining technologies, thermal treatments, and powder metallurgy. Exclusive plant reports present the latest developments and user experiences from metallurgical operations and recycling facilities, giving readers the practitioner's view of new technologies in operation. Materials-testing and new material developments are presented with a view to practical application — the journal's bridge function between research and industry.

The economics coverage distinguishes the journal from pure technology titles: background reports on international metal economics, metal prices, the raw-material situation, metal markets, and statistics provide the decision-making basis for the international metals industry. This combination of technology and economics — the "Technik und Wirtschaft" of the journal's self-description — addresses the managers and engineers who must decide both what is technically possible and what is economically sensible.

Organization and Ownership

METALL is published in Clausthal-Zellerfeld in connection with the GDMB — the Gesellschaft der Metallurgen und Bergleute e. V. (Society of Metallurgists and Miners), based at Paul-Ernst-Straße 10, 38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld. The GDMB, founded in 1912 in Berlin, is the specialist society for the promotion of scientific, technological, economic, and ecological interests in raw materials and georesources, non-ferrous metallurgy, recycling, and environmental technology. Renamed in January 1996 to Gesellschaft für Bergbau, Metallurgie, Rohstoff- und Umwelttechnik and in 2013 to GDMB Gesellschaft der Metallurgen und Bergleute e. V., the society organizes the German raw-materials and metals days and maintains specialist committees, working groups, and regional groups.

The journal's bibliographic identity is established in the international databases: ISSN 0026-0746, CODEN METSA5, first year 1947, status active, language German, short title "Metall (Heidelberg)". The Clausthal-Zellerfeld base connects the journal to the GDMB's information society (GDMB-Informationsgesellschaft mbH, founded 1992) and to the Technical University of Clausthal's metallurgical research environment.

Subscription and circulation figures for the current year are not publicly confirmed in freely available sources. The journal's commercial model is that of an international specialist journal: subscriptions from the metallurgical industry, research institutes, and university libraries, plus advertising from the plant-building, equipment, and materials industries that serve the non-ferrous metals sector.

Digital Presence

The journal's digital home is metall-online.de, where the publisher presents the title and its content offerings. The portal extends the print journal's technology and economics coverage into digital formats, serving the international metallurgical community between issues. The journal databases record free access to text PDFs and subscriber access to HTML texts, reflecting the hybrid access model of the specialist press.

The GDMB's digital infrastructure — gdmb.de with its English-language pages — provides the institutional context: the society's committees, events, and publications form the professional network in which the journal's content circulates. The journal's nearly eight decades of continuous publication, documented in the international databases with its ISSN and CODEN identifiers, give it a citable, archivable presence in the metallurgical literature — the German-language journal of record for non-ferrous metallurgy, bridging industry and research in print and online. New developments in material properties, presented with a view to practical application, keep the journal relevant to a generation of engineers who must combine technical depth with raw-material and market awareness.