China Hoarding Essential Metals Western Countries Face Shortages of Mineral Resources

Suite101.com ^ | November 6, 2009 | Martye

[usalady]

Future-oriented industries, such as those manufacturing solar panels, are being held back by shortages because of China's control of essential metals.

[usalady]

While smelting companies in the West are reluctant to make substantial investments needed to obtain important minerals, which use processes that are labor and energy intensive, China, with a cheap labor force and lax environmental laws, can extract the materials at a cost that Western nations cannot meet.

[gaijin]

Great article. For proper exposure, some major daily or Fox needs to pick up this story and spread it around big time.

This is a big deal.

Good post.

[null and void]

Yeah. And we no longer mine our own tungsten. Thanks, clinton, for that and sooooooo much else...

[RayChuang88]

I’ve read this story about couple months ago, but the race is now on to find non-Chinese sources of these minerals and also substitutes, too.

[La Lydia]

Excellent post.

What happens if China decides to block access to those metals? There are signs that this may already taking place as China is no longer willing to sell is rare commodities at rock-bottom prices. Already, their government planners have begun to impose restrictions on this type of export. It could include not only some rare earth metals, but also important industrial metals such as Lithium, Cobalt, Indium, Gallium, Tantalum.

Lithium and cobalt are used in batteries, indium and gallium is used in thin-firm solar modules and tantalum is contained in the microchips used in mobile phones.

[The Comedian]

This is the supply-side flea that carries the economic Black Death of the "green" business dreams in general, and Western society in general.

Without these rare earth materials, we are right back to the mid 19th century, at best.

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