The metal pieces sounded interesting at first when they told us they had tellurium on one side and europium on the other. I don't remember exactly what Dr Taylor said that meant it could do but it sounded very sci fi. Then later on, when they speak to the metallurgist, he mentioned that they were only trace amounts. I doubt trace amounts of anything could turn a piece of metal into a super conductor.
Did they ask the man with the drill rig if the flakes could be coming off the inside of his tanker? I don't remember. But that would be my first thought. The tanker might well pick up trace amounts of very rare earth metals just by spending a lot of time holding water that has been flushed through deep underground places. So I would want to rule that out first.
The ground movements are kind of worrying. I am inclined to agree with Thomas Winterton when he thought it might be as a result of the drilling and gallons of water they pumped into the mesa.
Here's an extract from my notes on this episode: