[LINK] Rare earth elements

[grove at zeta.org.au]

On Sun, 3 Jan 2010, stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:

> --===============0790304180454016303==
>
> Concern as China clamps down on rare earth exports
>
> Neodymium is one of 17 metals crucial to green technology. There’s only
> one snag – China produces 97% of the world’s supply. And they’re not
> selling.
>
> By Cahal Milmo  Saturday, 2 January 2010
> http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/concern-as-china-clamps-down-
> on-rare-earth-exports-1855387.html


Cool - one of my predictions is coming true, but a year or two late:

http://mailman.anu.edu.au/pipermail/link/2007-December/076788.html


6) Supplies of rare earths, metals and noble elements will become 
extremely scarce.  Stock prices for these will skyrocket, tech drivers
will be put on hold and commodity tech goods will inflate or become 
impossible to get.   An IT equipment demand will emerge and vendors will
be forced to use what they have.  Business will innovate and extend 
lifetime of existing systems until the new tech becomes affordable again.
The second hand IT market rockets up and Linux finds a new market in 
these areas.


> Britain and other Western countries risk running out of supplies of
> certain highly sought-after rare metals that are vital to a host of green
> technologies, amid growing evidence that China, which has a monopoly on
> global production, is set to choke off exports of valuable compounds.


....


rachel

-- 
Rachel Polanskis                 Kingswood, Greater Western Sydney, Australia
grove at zeta.org.au                http://www.zeta.org.au/~grove/grove.html
    "The perversity of the Universe tends towards a maximum." - Finagle's Law