Sept 2, 2010

What happens on the political stage is critically important to the resource world. Earlier this summer, Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK) introduced the Senate RESTART Act (Rare Earth Supply Technology and Resources Transformation Act).

After the results of the Aug. 24, 2010 primary race in Alaska, Murkowski conceded to her Tea Party backed rival Joe Miller, who was supported by Alaskan Governor and former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

What does this mean for the RESTART Act? It was cosponsored by

• John Barrasso [R-WY]
• Michael Crapo [R-ID]
• Michael Enzi [R-WY]
• James Risch [R-ID]
• David Vitter [R-LA]

Sept 8, 2010

According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the following legislation has been introduced into the current 111th Congress. The CRS also suggests a few possible additional policies options:

• Authorize and appropriate additional funds for a USGS Assessment
• Support and encourage greater exploration for rare earth elements
• Challenge China on its export policies
• Establish a stockpile

Sept. 1, 2010

The 4Q2010 edition of Joint Forces Quarterly features TREM10 presenter, Lt.Cmdr. Cindy A. Hurst,  a Research Analyst in the Foreign Military Studies Office at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

In a powerful opening statement, Hurst highlights the link between resources and national security:

"On February 4, 2010, nearly 2 weeks after the Obama administration unveiled a $6.4 billion arms deal with Taiwan, a Chinese article posted on an online Chinese Communist Party–connected daily newspaper site, as well as on many Chinese blogs and military news sources, suggested banning the sale of rare earth elements (REEs) to U.S. companies as retribution."

How important are rare earth elements? Hurst reports that in Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Alexander Portnov, a professor specializing in geological and mineral sciences, wrote, “There can be no talk of developing nanotechnology if the country does not produce and use rare elements.” Portnov argues that a country’s extraction, production, and use of rare metals needed for technological innovation are “a precise indicator of its scientific and technical development.”

Read the full report:

http://www.ndu.edu/press/lib/images/jfq-59/JFQ59_121-126_Hurst.pdf

August 27, 2010

The Wall Street Journal (as reported in "The Australian") boldly states in an opening paragraph to an article: "THE world will belong to the countries who control the resources, such as rare earth metals, which power the 21st century."

Of course, this is why Evo Morales is visiting South Korea. Technology producing countries around the world desperately need access to resources. In some countries, like Japan and Korea, the state both directly and indirectly invests in securing the resources of the technology future. They understand that without the raw materials of technology, clean technologies will remain a dream, and national security will become a nightmare.

And so, a landmark Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the state-owned Korea Resources Corporation and the Bolivian national mining company, Comibol. The countries will collaborate on developing and industrializing Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni lithium reserve. Other participants in the program include Korean firms Posco, LG International Corporation, GS Caltex and Daewoo International.

This follows another recent resources deal in which Korea Resources Corporation and Posco acquired a controlling stake in a Chinese rare earth mining company, Yongxin Rare Earth Metals.

At the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, we have been working to illustrate the link between geopolitical stability and resources. This is why IAGS Executive Director and TREM Center Advisor Gal Luft is quoted in the Wall Street Journal:

The Japanese foreign minister, Katsuya Okada put it best. He said, "Until recently, the government took the attitude that this was something best left to market forces ... but the world has changed dramatically and the Government cannot just sit back any more."