September 30, 2010

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing to examine the role of strategic minerals in clean energy technologies and other applications as well as legislation to address the issue, including S. 3521 the “Rare Earths Supply Technology and Resources Transformation Act of 2010”.

The witnesses were:

Panel 1:

The Honorable David Sandalow, Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs, Office of Policy and International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy and TREM10 Keynote Speaker

Panel 2:

• Dr. Roderick Eggert, Professor and Division Director, Division of Economics and Business, Colorado School of Mines
• Mr. Preston Rufe, Environmental Manager, Formation Capital Corporation
• Mr. Peter Brehm, Vice President, Business Development and Government Relations, Infinia Corporation

Video of the hearing can be seen here:

http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.LiveStream&Hearing_id=192e1208-95df-db80-4f96-b6318e73a56d

October 7, 2010

The October issue of Fleet Magazine, which focuses on maintenance issues for the maintenance of America's vehicle fleets, features an article on Electric Vehicles. In his blog, Editor David Kolman states, "TREM (Technology & Rare Earth Metals) and IAGS are essential parts of the clean technology and defense industries."

An excerpt from the interview is available on Kolmans blog:

http://www.fleetmag.com/interactive/2010/10/01/electric-vehicle-technologies/

September 26, 2010

In the wake of the China/Japan territorial dispute which brought rare earth and technology metal control into the spotlight, a new bipartisan bill has been introduced into Congress. On September 22, 2010, Representative Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA) introduced the Rare Earths and Critical Materials Revitalization Act of 2010 into the House of Representatives along with TREM10 keynote speaker Representative Mike Coffman (R-CO), Representative Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Representative Bart Gordon (D-TN) and Representative Russ Carnahan (D-MO).

The bill requires that the Department of Energy establish a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application to assure the long-term, secure, and sustainable supply of rare earth materials sufficient to satisfy the national security, economic well-being, and industrial production needs of the United States.

The bill further requires the creation of a Research and Development Information Center. This Center will serve as the repository for scientific and technical data generated by the research and development activities funded under this section. It will also assist scientists and engineers in making the fullest possible use of the Center's data holdings and seek and incorporate other information on rare earth materials to enhance the Center's utility for program participants and other users. Furthermore, the Center will provide advice to the Secretary concerning the research and development program under subsection and finally, it will host conferences, at least annually, for participants in the rare earth materials program and other interested parties to promote information sharing and encourage new collaborative activities.

The Technology and Rare Earth Metals Center, currently a division of the Insititute for the Analysis of Global Security, is proud to hold our annual conference this year on March 22-23, 2010 in Washington DC for members of the US Government, metals companies and technology OEMs, as well as members of academia.

[Ed: Thanks to Megan Moore for her assistance. yv]

September 26, 2010

Technology Metals are heading into uncharted waters. Well, the waters are charted, but ownership is in dispute. On September 7, 2010, when Japan arrested some Chinese fishermen for venturing into what they called their territory, no one guessed how far the parties would take the dispute.

On the January 13th, Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, called for Japan to release the fishing crew unconditionally, stating that there may be retaliation.

“If Japan clings to its mistake, China will take further actions and the Japanese side shall bear all the consequences that arise,” Mr Wen said.

Japan sent home the crew the next day, but is keeping the captain pending further investigation.

China has responded by arresting four Japanese citizens for allegedly illegally filming a military site in China.

But the ante is being upped even further in this international game of maritime intrigue. Enter the importance of strategic resources.

TREM10 speaker Dudley Kingsnorth (as reported in the New York Times) says he has received calls from associates in the rare earth industry who said they had been asked to halt exports to Japan.

"I was told it was an 'unofficial ban,'" Kingsnorth said. "(China) requested major companies to withhold major exports to Japan with a clear indication that if they do export, it might impact on their export quotas."

According to Associated press, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, Chen Rongkai, denied that Beijing had ordered a ban specifically on exports of rare earth elements to Japan. However, Akihiro Ohata, Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry said that "We've heard from trading firms that (the reported rare earth export suspension) is happening, so we're checking what's going on."

China also has its share of ongoing disputes with the United States as well. Aside from currency controls, the US is helping fend of China's territorial assertions over portions of the South China Sea that are currently claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

"China enjoys indisputable sovereign rights over the South China Sea islands and adjacent waters," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters today in Beijing, according to Bloomberg. "We oppose the internationalization and expansion of the South China Sea dispute because it will only make the issue more complicated." This was in response to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement that resolving territorial disputes off China's southern coast was "a leading diplomatic priority" for the US. Jiang said that Clinton's comments were "virtually an attack on China".

The dangers of leveraging strategic resources to achieve an outcome are well known in the world. In 2008, when Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi's son Hannibal was arrested and imprisoned in Geneva for beating employees, he threat ened retaliation that included the withdrawal of 7 billion dollars of government funds from Swiss banks, the cessation of multiple economic cooperation projects between the two countries, and a cutoff of Libyan oil exports to Switzerland. The charges were dropped and Gaddafi's son and daughter-in-law returned to Libya.

It may be that China will join the ranks of countries which use resource control to advance their nationalistic interests.

To protect itself, the United States and other Western countries must work together to develop secure and diverse alternate sources for technology metals, relying on neither one country or one company.