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China's Rare Earth Metals Monopoly Could Surpass America
I can describe America's impending decline as a world power in one word -- Alvin.
No, not the squeaky chipmunk.
This is no laughing matter. America's mounting deficits and lack of political leadership have allowed a once-great nation to fall steadily behind China -- the country that holds more than $1 trillion of our debt.
And nowhere is this shifting balance of power more apparent than in the global geopolitical showdown over rare earth metals.
You may recall that China controls roughly 97% of all rare earths produced in the world. These metals remain critical for the high-powered magnets essential to U.S. military superiority. Think missile guidance systems.
Rare earths also serve as the backbone for a wide range of civilian technology. We're talking fiber optics, wind turbines and smartphones. The world is on the verge of what I see as a rare-earth buying panic.
No wonder that at American Wealth Underground, our rare-earth holdings are doing so well. We recently took combined gains of 250% on several positions.
That kind of action is why we recently entered a stake in Europe's largest rare-earth deposit. We also have a position in the leading publicly traded rare-earth processor. Half its sales come from China.
Meantime, my analysis of the rare earths markets shows that within the next three years China will need all the rare earths it produces.
China has until now used its rare-earth monopoly to good effect. The government has pressured U.S. and other firms to locate factories in China to gain rare-earth access.
More than jobs are at stake as American firms head overseas.
The Chinese have a well-documented history of stealing intellectual property from anybody they can.
Now comes the Alvin. It illustrates how America is losing its technological superiority to China with grave consequences for our future.
Don't worry if you don't immediately recall the Alvin.
It's a craft U.S. scientists used to make a critical undersea discovery in 1979. At that time, the Alvin ruled the deep seas -- a submersible that could dive deeper than any other craft.
Our team found vents spewing superheated fluids from the ocean floor off the coast of Mexico. These were no ordinary updrafts. They contained a mixture of important metals: gold, silver, lead, copper and zinc.
Since that time, our nation's ability to explore the deep oceans for metals has steadily declined. You'll never guess who is the new deep-sea diving champion...
China, with Japan right on its tail.
Just last week, the Chinese were set to launch a craft known as the Jialong. It can dive to a depth of 16,400 feet -- more than three miles.
That puts huge swaths of valuable minerals within the craft's range.
Here's where the interplay between China and Japan gets tricky. The Pentagon buys critical components containing rare earths from Japan. In turn that country gets its rare earths directly from China.
Just a few weeks ago, the Japanese made a critical rare-earth find. They discovered a massive deposit at depths of two to 3 3/4 miles below the ocean's surface.
This was reported in the British journal Nature Geoscience. The publication didn't delve into global politics.
So allow me.
The Japanese found the deep-sea rare earths near Hawaii, which helps explain why China wants to curtail the U.S. Navy's Pacific operations.
China has strong international backing for the Jialong's mission. It can explore the space between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. All thanks to the International Seabed Authority, a unit of our "friends" at the United Nations.
These developments underscore key themes in what we call the Era of Gold 3.0, the term used to describe how planet Earth has passed the natural resources tipping point.
All the easy, affordable natural resources have been discovered. From here on out it's tough slogging in remote and expensive regions of the world.
Global population growth and surging technology demand will continue to put pressure on natural resources across the board. Rare earths remain at the top of the list.
Ironically, Alaska's Arctic region holds vast deposits of oil, gas, precious metals and rare earths. Other nations are investing in the Arctic.
But U.S. leaders are sitting on their hands... as usual.
From here it gets even worse. China will in all likelihood win the rare-earth ocean race. The implications are more profound than I have enumerated so far.
Here's why.
We have abandoned our Moon program and space exploration. But China's deep-sea program has enormous space implications.
You see, underwater mining will rely heavily on robotics. So will mining in outer space.
Don't laugh.
Apollo astronauts brought back lunar soil samples that proved the Moon is chock-full of rare earths.
Scientists also believe thousands of asteroids cheaper to land on than the Moon may also contain rare-earth deposits. Here in the U.S. we lack the political will to connect the dots between the ocean floor and outer space.
But you can bet the Chinese are eager to do it.
Robotic craft operating on the ocean floor face formidable challenges. The same type of hurdles they would face on what are called Near Earth Asteroids.
And to think, the U.S. once held a clear lead in the Space Race.
Now, the Apollo moon program has much in common with the Alvin. They are symbols of China's rising power and the death of American superiority.
Written by Michael Robinson for Taipan Publishing Group. Additional valuable content can be syndicated via our News RSS feed. Republish without charge. Required: Author attribution, links back to original content or www.taipanpublishinggroup.com.
About the Author
Michael Robinson is the Editor of Taipan Publishing Group's American Wealth Underground, an investment research service that focuses on safe, low-risk investment opportunities in the technology and government-contracting sectors.
Michael is a 30-year media veteran working undercover and researching the facts behind media headlines. He has worked as a staff writer for news outlets including theOakland Tribune, Investors' Business Daily, San Francisco Examiner, The New York Times, National Real Estate Investor, and The Wall Street Journal. In doing so, he has developed an extensive network of contacts and inside sources.
Michael is a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee for investigative reporting and produced an award-winning five-part series on a controversial biotech drug while writing for the Oakland Tribune. He also won an award for the series he wrote about the United Auto Workers and Detroit's corrupt workers' compensation system.
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Rare Earth and the Chronos Group
Rare Earth and the Chronos Group
The Chronos Consulting mining and resource practice is active worldwide in a variety of sectors. However, one particular area of interest to us concerns the exploitation and use of rare earths. Rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a collection of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, namely scandium, yttrium and the fifteen lanthanoids. Scandium and yttrium are considered rare earths since they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanoids and exhibit similar chemical properties.
History
The term "rare earth" arises from the minerals from which they were first isolated, which were uncommon oxide-type minerals (earths) found in Gadolinite extracted from one mine in the village of Ytterby, Sweden. However, with the exception of the highly-unstable promethium, rare earth elements are found in relatively high concentrations in the earth's crust, with cerium being the 25th most abundant element in the earth's crust at 68 parts per million. Rare earth elements became known to the world with the discovery of the black mineral ytterbite (also known as gadolinite) by Lieutenant Carl Axel Arrhenius in the year 1787, in a quarry in the village of Ytterby, Sweden. Many of the rare earths are named for the scientists who discovered or elucidated the elemental properties, or for their geographical discovery, or for Latin or Greek references, or for mythical references.
Chronos and Rare Earth
At Chronos Consulting we understand that rare earth elements are incorporated into many modern technological devices, including superconductors, samarium-cobalt and neodymium-iron-boron high-flux rare-earth magnets, electronic polishers, refining catalysts and hybrid car components (primarily batteries and magnets). Rare earth ions are used by many of our clients as the active ions in luminescent materials used in optoelectronics applications and in optical-fiber communication systems. Yttrium iron garnet (YIG) spheres have been useful as tunable microwave resonators. Rare earth oxides are mixed with tungsten to improve its high temperature properties for welding, replacing thorium, which was mildly hazardous to work with.
Rare earths are constantly being used in the nuclear power and nuclear weapons industries for both practical and experimental utilization. Chronos Consulting has been intimately involved in major nuclear projects in the UK, USA, Ukraine, China and France. Some rare earth metals have found more down to earth applications in metallurgy, ceramics, glass making, dyes, lasers, televisions and other electrical components.
Location
Chronos is well placed to benefit from the global interest in rare earths. Until 1948, most of the world's rare earths were sourced from placers and deposits in India and Brazil - see www.coberon.in and www.chronosconsulting.com.br Through the 1950s, South Africa took the status as the world's rare earth source, after large rare earth bearing veins were discovered in Monazite. Please see www.chronosafrica.com for our African ventures. Today, those Indian and South African deposits still produce some rare earth concentrates, but they are dwarfed by the scale of Chinese production. China now produces over 95% of the world's rare earth supply. Chronos China is able to assist in this area of expertise - please see www.chronos.hk for further detail.
The use of rare earth elements in modern technology has increased dramatically over the past years. Unfortunately, this new demand has strained supply, and there is growing concern that the world may soon face a shortage of the materials. In several years, worldwide demand for rare earth elements is expected to exceed supply by 40,000 tonnes annually unless major new sources are developed and Chronos research is involved in the search for alternative sources.
All of the world's heavy rare earths (such as dysprosium) are sourced from Chinese rare earth sources such as the Bayan Obo deposit. Illegal rare earth mines are common in rural China and are often known to release toxic wastes into the general water supply. In the USA a rare earth element mine in California is set to reopen by 2012. A site at Thor Lake in Canada is also under development. Locations in Vietnam have also been considered. Great Western Minerals Group, Rare Element Resources, Avalon Rare Metals and Neo Material Technologies are among the Canadian companies exploring for resources outside China. Chronos believes it is essential to explore for, research and develop new sources of the rare earths and recruit in this area. We set up the Canadian Resources Group to help in this area.
Chinese export quotas have also resulted in a dramatic shift in the world's rare earth knowledge base. For example, the division of General Motors which deals with miniaturized magnet research shut down its US office and moved all of its staff to China.. Also green technology depends on rare earths, elements with magnetic properties and high conductivity, which are the key to new green technologies such as wind turbines and hybrid cars. Demand for rare-earth metals is likely to increase between 10 percent and 20 percent each year, analysts say, thanks to growing demand for elements like neodymium, which is used in making hybrid electric vehicles and generators for wind turbines.
In conclusion if we are searching for rare earths in India, China, Brazil or the USA a division of Chronos Consulting is well positioned to assist. For more details please contacts us on www.chronosconsulting.com. Dr Simon Harding
www.chronosconsulting.com
www.coberongreen.com
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