From the fall of the Roman Empire to the Revolution 2011 now spreading across the less-than-democratic Gulf and North African states, has capitalism always been on the wrong side of history?
By: Ringo Bones
Ever since mine and my friends’ “pet theory” has been further reassured by world-famous investor, hedge fund manager and philanthropist George Soros during a recent BBC interview on the apparent truism that capitalism in general has always been on the wrong side of history, I now start to wonder whether anti-capitalist anarchist – no matter how fiscally unsound their pet theories are – are right? But has this apparent truism proven time and time again?
As George Soros mused on how crude oil extraction companies that has been established in the Gulf Region and North Africa for over 40 years has been to an extent guilty of underwriting the operation of regional despots had never done anything to make the crude oil wealth trickle down to the common people of the less-than-democratic Arab and North African states. Thus, paving way for the inevitability of the Jasmine Revolution to spread from Tunisia, to Egypt and now to Libya and several other less-than-democratic Arab regions. Worse still, crude oil companies use the flimsiest of justifications to jack up crude oil prices, even the King of Saudi Arabia waking up on the wrong side of the bed is now a justified reason to jack up petrol prices.
The fact is, governments that were recently toppled were pro-Western despots and the exemplars of Western capitalism – i.e. multi-national oil companies - entrenched in these regions for over 40 years had been since recently been too busy propping them up for decades, thus the crude oil prices rising to the flimsiest sign of political instability. Worse still, in Libya in particular, the people primarily involved in the running of wheels of the Libyan national economy are now fleeing to neighbouring states as war refugees. Looks like the truism of capitalism always being on the wrong side of history might be proven yet again after all.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Will Mainland China Make Rare Earths Even Rarer?
As Beijing decides to secure their own strategic supply of rare earth metals would this result in making rare earths even rarer?
By: Ringo Bones
Even though the literal “rarity” of rare earth metals is a misnomer – the rarest one is only slightly rarer than iodine – recent geopolitical developments in Mainland China and the surrounding region might possibly make the oft-perceived rarity of rare earth metals a “literal” possibility in 2011. As of January 6, 2011, the Beijing government has decided to reduce their rare earth metal export quotas by 35% for the whole of 2011.
Beijing’s decision recently became another concern for Japan’s very rare earth metals dependent high technology manufacturing sector which provides virtually all of the world’s supply of electric motors for hybrid cars, video display panels and other newfangled systems to generate electricity in an environmentally-friendly manner. Beijing’s recent decision to curb rare earth metal export quotas has even spurred on Japan to further step-up their own on-going seabed exploration in the search for commercially viable rare earth metal ores.
Even though Mainland China currently supplies 97% of the world’s rare earth metal needs, their need to secure their own strategic supply of rare earths has recently become an inevitable necessity after recently becoming the world’s number one manufacturer of wind turbines and plans to build scores of nuclear fission power plants in order to reduce their overall greenhouse gas emissions. Looks like other countries with commercially viable rare earth ores in their territories has now got a very good reason to step-up their own rare earth metal mining and processing industry given the People's Republic of China's decision to reduce their 2011 rare earth export quotas by 35%.
By: Ringo Bones
Even though the literal “rarity” of rare earth metals is a misnomer – the rarest one is only slightly rarer than iodine – recent geopolitical developments in Mainland China and the surrounding region might possibly make the oft-perceived rarity of rare earth metals a “literal” possibility in 2011. As of January 6, 2011, the Beijing government has decided to reduce their rare earth metal export quotas by 35% for the whole of 2011.
Beijing’s decision recently became another concern for Japan’s very rare earth metals dependent high technology manufacturing sector which provides virtually all of the world’s supply of electric motors for hybrid cars, video display panels and other newfangled systems to generate electricity in an environmentally-friendly manner. Beijing’s recent decision to curb rare earth metal export quotas has even spurred on Japan to further step-up their own on-going seabed exploration in the search for commercially viable rare earth metal ores.
Even though Mainland China currently supplies 97% of the world’s rare earth metal needs, their need to secure their own strategic supply of rare earths has recently become an inevitable necessity after recently becoming the world’s number one manufacturer of wind turbines and plans to build scores of nuclear fission power plants in order to reduce their overall greenhouse gas emissions. Looks like other countries with commercially viable rare earth ores in their territories has now got a very good reason to step-up their own rare earth metal mining and processing industry given the People's Republic of China's decision to reduce their 2011 rare earth export quotas by 35%.
Can a Universal Global Currency Prevent a Global Currency War?
As the leading network news providers talk of the looming global currency war, will the implementation of a universal global currency prevent such inevitability?
By: Ringo Bones
As the world’s leading and emerging economies scramble to position themselves to gain an advantageous foothold in the global export market, many resort to the under-handed and somewhat illegal means of currency manipulation in order to make their export goods become competitively priced. Leading economists then started to ponder whether such moves will inevitably result in a global currency war that can certainly make us – the globalized capitalist consumers – the unfortunate casualty. But does a purpose-built universal global currency provide the best solution to prevent such a global currency war from ever happening that could certainly devastate the world’s already heavily globalized economy?
Back in 2009, the 1999 Nobel Economics prize Laureate and euro “inventor” Robert Mundell proposed a universal global currency that is a Special Drawing Rights-based currency immune from fluctuations unlike the speculator-plagued US dollar. This proposed universal global currency would be administered by a “global bank” modelled after the European Central Bank. Though Mundell’s proposal back in 2009 was aimed at preventing the global credit crunch from ever happening again, will such a universal global currency also work in preventing a global currency war?
Since the Bretton Woods Agreement, the US dollar was often perceived as a universal global currency based on gold, but ever since US President Richard M. Nixon took the US dollar off the Gold Standard back in August 15, 1971, many other countries followed suit. Despite being taken off the Gold Standard, the US dollar was still being perceived by almost everyone in the whole world as the world’s most dominant currency since the end of World War II. Unfortunately, the events of September 15, 2008 that led to the collapse of the Lehman Brothers that also almost brought our global economy to the brink had more-or-less tarnished the global perception of the US dollar as the world’s most dominant currency.
Despite of this, the US dollar and the euro are still widely accepted as the world’s two leading currencies based on their use by the world’s various central banks as a reserve currency to prevent external shocks against their own currencies. Believe it or not, exchange rate volatility was the main cause of the Asian Banking Crisis of 1997 primarily due to the lack of a global reserve – i.e. a universal reserve currency.
Many countries around the world still peg their various currencies with the US dollar. Unfortunately, geopolitical reality has woefully failed to keep up with global economic reality. The massive property booms and the cheap loans being offered by various banks like they are going out of fashion since 1998 was the primary instigator of the questionable economic risk taking that led up to the US economic meltdown of September 15, 2008.
From the economist’s perspective, the US dollar is merely seen as something that has filled a vacuum as the world’s de facto global reserve currency in the absence of a purpose-built, true-blue universal global currency. Many economists cite this as the reason for the encouragement of risky economic behaviour in the US that led up to the Lehman Brothers’ collapse of September 15, 2008. Worse still, an overwhelming majority of Americans hasn’t saved enough money in their own banks.
Despite of such an apparently dismal economic position of the US dollar, the People’s Republic of China still holds 2 Trillion US dollars in reserve. If and when the US dollar devalues even further, this would result in a bank run that would ruin the Mainland Chinese economy for a very long period of time. And despite of the world’s somewhat “shaky” confidence of the US dollar, America’s relatively stable government and a relatively resilient economy is all the world needs to pledge their economic allegiance to the US dollar. But will a purpose-built universal global currency be a better choice?
Believe it or not, the Beijing government is in favour of a Special Drawing Rights-based universal currency whose value is based on a basket of currencies instead of just the US dollar and the euro – at least back in 2009 before Beijing’s and every central bank governor around the world started waging currency wars in order to make their export products globally competitive. At present, Special Drawing Rights only involves the world’s top 4 currencies – i.e. the US dollar, the euro, the UK pound and the Japanese yen.
At present, the Mainland Chinese RMB or the yuan is not included in the Special Drawing Rights or SDR even though Mainland China is already the second largest economy in the world. But the number one challenge facing the implementation of a purpose-built universal global currency is the inevitable “global scale” of the monetary policy involved which inevitably results in a global-scale red tape. And despite of the difficulty of implementation, it is probably the best alternative yet devised in halting a global currency war.
By: Ringo Bones
As the world’s leading and emerging economies scramble to position themselves to gain an advantageous foothold in the global export market, many resort to the under-handed and somewhat illegal means of currency manipulation in order to make their export goods become competitively priced. Leading economists then started to ponder whether such moves will inevitably result in a global currency war that can certainly make us – the globalized capitalist consumers – the unfortunate casualty. But does a purpose-built universal global currency provide the best solution to prevent such a global currency war from ever happening that could certainly devastate the world’s already heavily globalized economy?
Back in 2009, the 1999 Nobel Economics prize Laureate and euro “inventor” Robert Mundell proposed a universal global currency that is a Special Drawing Rights-based currency immune from fluctuations unlike the speculator-plagued US dollar. This proposed universal global currency would be administered by a “global bank” modelled after the European Central Bank. Though Mundell’s proposal back in 2009 was aimed at preventing the global credit crunch from ever happening again, will such a universal global currency also work in preventing a global currency war?
Since the Bretton Woods Agreement, the US dollar was often perceived as a universal global currency based on gold, but ever since US President Richard M. Nixon took the US dollar off the Gold Standard back in August 15, 1971, many other countries followed suit. Despite being taken off the Gold Standard, the US dollar was still being perceived by almost everyone in the whole world as the world’s most dominant currency since the end of World War II. Unfortunately, the events of September 15, 2008 that led to the collapse of the Lehman Brothers that also almost brought our global economy to the brink had more-or-less tarnished the global perception of the US dollar as the world’s most dominant currency.
Despite of this, the US dollar and the euro are still widely accepted as the world’s two leading currencies based on their use by the world’s various central banks as a reserve currency to prevent external shocks against their own currencies. Believe it or not, exchange rate volatility was the main cause of the Asian Banking Crisis of 1997 primarily due to the lack of a global reserve – i.e. a universal reserve currency.
Many countries around the world still peg their various currencies with the US dollar. Unfortunately, geopolitical reality has woefully failed to keep up with global economic reality. The massive property booms and the cheap loans being offered by various banks like they are going out of fashion since 1998 was the primary instigator of the questionable economic risk taking that led up to the US economic meltdown of September 15, 2008.
From the economist’s perspective, the US dollar is merely seen as something that has filled a vacuum as the world’s de facto global reserve currency in the absence of a purpose-built, true-blue universal global currency. Many economists cite this as the reason for the encouragement of risky economic behaviour in the US that led up to the Lehman Brothers’ collapse of September 15, 2008. Worse still, an overwhelming majority of Americans hasn’t saved enough money in their own banks.
Despite of such an apparently dismal economic position of the US dollar, the People’s Republic of China still holds 2 Trillion US dollars in reserve. If and when the US dollar devalues even further, this would result in a bank run that would ruin the Mainland Chinese economy for a very long period of time. And despite of the world’s somewhat “shaky” confidence of the US dollar, America’s relatively stable government and a relatively resilient economy is all the world needs to pledge their economic allegiance to the US dollar. But will a purpose-built universal global currency be a better choice?
Believe it or not, the Beijing government is in favour of a Special Drawing Rights-based universal currency whose value is based on a basket of currencies instead of just the US dollar and the euro – at least back in 2009 before Beijing’s and every central bank governor around the world started waging currency wars in order to make their export products globally competitive. At present, Special Drawing Rights only involves the world’s top 4 currencies – i.e. the US dollar, the euro, the UK pound and the Japanese yen.
At present, the Mainland Chinese RMB or the yuan is not included in the Special Drawing Rights or SDR even though Mainland China is already the second largest economy in the world. But the number one challenge facing the implementation of a purpose-built universal global currency is the inevitable “global scale” of the monetary policy involved which inevitably results in a global-scale red tape. And despite of the difficulty of implementation, it is probably the best alternative yet devised in halting a global currency war.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Paid to Click Sites: Viable Source of Extra Income?
Given there are already who had benefited from them despite of their spam-like ability to wind up in our e-mail inboxes, are Paid to Click Sites an economically viable way to earn extra income?
By: Ringo Bones
Aside from those notorious Viagra and Cialis ads and the odd Nigerian prince or two in need of your help, Paid to Click Sites or PTC Sites are probably already well known for supplementing the income of some and the quitting of their day-jobs of the lucky few. Despite their spam-like ability to wind up in your e-mail inboxes – probably their only inconvenient quirk – the messages and adverts are replete with testimonials of early adapters who are now using PTC Sites as a source of extra money / extra income. Some of the lucky few have already quit their day-jobs to work on their work-at-home PTC Sites business schemes full time. But are PTC Sites really an economically viable source of extra cash?
Paid to Click or PTC Sites are companies that pay you for viewing their websites. These companies get paid for showing the pages to their members. Usually, these sites often pay almost 100% of that money to their members. A typical Paid to Click Site work as a method of earning money online by clicking on the “paid” link – i.e. “paid” link is a link sent along with the advertisement which pays the members money or points – which can later be redeemed for their monetary value – by clicking advertisements that are purchased by the program advertisers. The value of money and points that a member earns vary from program to program.
During the early days of PTC Sites, early adapters almost couldn’t believe the amount of money they are earning given the relatively light workload required. As the members / signees of these PTC Sites increased, a point of “diminishing returns” manifested itself to the members via reduced earnings for a given workload or online advertisements being clicked.
Back then, some members / signees even resorted to the use of botnets and related auto-click malware programs / cheating programs to “automate” their click workload and thus increasing their PTC earnings. This form of cheating / online computer fraud worked so well I the early days of PTC Sites where botnet detection programs were still in its infancy. Even today, PTC members / signees still resort to “sophisticated” botnets since they can manage to earn several hundreds, even several thousands of US dollars, before they get caught and their PTC Site accounts are terminated. Though these days, PTC Site operators will sue you for online computer fraud if they caught you resorting to using botnets on their PTC Sites – assuming that you gave them your true home address and home phone number.
Fortunately, you can also boost your PTC Site earnings in a legally acceptable manner. One of the legitimate methods often used to boost one’s PTC Site income and earnings is by visiting the forum sites. Basically, all PTC Sites have forums where you can find precious info, tips and to be able to ask questions. A PTC Site’s forum site is also a way of making sure that the PTC Site you are signing into is legit. Also, don’t forget to make sure to regularly switch your earnings between PTC sites. Withdraw your money / earnings from PTC sites that are not giving you a good earning rate or referral click ratio and send it to better sites to buy more referrals on those instead. Remember PTC Sites based work-at-home business schemes still need the same hard work and dedication as a typical CFD work-at-home business schemes.
By: Ringo Bones
Aside from those notorious Viagra and Cialis ads and the odd Nigerian prince or two in need of your help, Paid to Click Sites or PTC Sites are probably already well known for supplementing the income of some and the quitting of their day-jobs of the lucky few. Despite their spam-like ability to wind up in your e-mail inboxes – probably their only inconvenient quirk – the messages and adverts are replete with testimonials of early adapters who are now using PTC Sites as a source of extra money / extra income. Some of the lucky few have already quit their day-jobs to work on their work-at-home PTC Sites business schemes full time. But are PTC Sites really an economically viable source of extra cash?
Paid to Click or PTC Sites are companies that pay you for viewing their websites. These companies get paid for showing the pages to their members. Usually, these sites often pay almost 100% of that money to their members. A typical Paid to Click Site work as a method of earning money online by clicking on the “paid” link – i.e. “paid” link is a link sent along with the advertisement which pays the members money or points – which can later be redeemed for their monetary value – by clicking advertisements that are purchased by the program advertisers. The value of money and points that a member earns vary from program to program.
During the early days of PTC Sites, early adapters almost couldn’t believe the amount of money they are earning given the relatively light workload required. As the members / signees of these PTC Sites increased, a point of “diminishing returns” manifested itself to the members via reduced earnings for a given workload or online advertisements being clicked.
Back then, some members / signees even resorted to the use of botnets and related auto-click malware programs / cheating programs to “automate” their click workload and thus increasing their PTC earnings. This form of cheating / online computer fraud worked so well I the early days of PTC Sites where botnet detection programs were still in its infancy. Even today, PTC members / signees still resort to “sophisticated” botnets since they can manage to earn several hundreds, even several thousands of US dollars, before they get caught and their PTC Site accounts are terminated. Though these days, PTC Site operators will sue you for online computer fraud if they caught you resorting to using botnets on their PTC Sites – assuming that you gave them your true home address and home phone number.
Fortunately, you can also boost your PTC Site earnings in a legally acceptable manner. One of the legitimate methods often used to boost one’s PTC Site income and earnings is by visiting the forum sites. Basically, all PTC Sites have forums where you can find precious info, tips and to be able to ask questions. A PTC Site’s forum site is also a way of making sure that the PTC Site you are signing into is legit. Also, don’t forget to make sure to regularly switch your earnings between PTC sites. Withdraw your money / earnings from PTC sites that are not giving you a good earning rate or referral click ratio and send it to better sites to buy more referrals on those instead. Remember PTC Sites based work-at-home business schemes still need the same hard work and dedication as a typical CFD work-at-home business schemes.
Are Rare Earth Metals Mines Still Economically Viable?
Given that they tend to elude accurate valuation by conventional and established mine valuation methods, are rare earth metals mines truly economically viable?
By: Ringo Bones
Even though Mainland China had more or less resumed its import quotas to Japan and the rest of the globe back in November 24, 2010, Beijing’s current unrivaled monopoly of the commercial mining and production of rare earth metals can easily make anyone wonder why the United States or any other nation in the world can’t seem to be able to start their very own economically viable rare earth metals industry. But is the reason just down to economics or do we have to look back why in the previous 20 or so years how America and some other nations managed to make a profit in the commercial mining and production of rare earth metals.
It is no coincidence why America’s very own home-grown rare earth metals mining industry was abruptly shut down 20 years ago – right about the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the then Soviet Union. America’s rare earth metals industry was subsidized by the uranium industry – or more accurately the nuclear fission power generation and the nuclear weapons industry. It is now common knowledge that most uranium ores also contain commercially viable amounts of rare earth metals. Nuclear weapons used to safeguard the United States against the then Soviet Union so the nuclear weapons industry was the primarily subsidizing America’s rare earth metals industry before their closure around 1989 and 1990 since construction of new civilian nuclear fission power plants on American soil was frozen by the US congress after the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident of 1979.
Compared to mainland China’s relatively low labor costs, America’s rare earth metals industry looks like a losing proposition when this factor is taken into account in a typical mine valuation calculation. Typically, the ability of a mining property to earn is a measure of its value. Many factors including the natural resources and the plant and the equipment must be taken into account. Consideration must also be given to operating efficiency, labor costs, taxes, and to the critical factors of supply and demand and the purchasing power of money – i.e. the currently prevailing economic conditions. In order to determine the commercial viability of a certain mining operation, the present worth and the prospective possibilities must be determined; the risks must be recognized and evaluated. Such determinations are made to the maximum extent possible on the basis of the factual information that can be assembled as amended and weighed in the judgment and experience of the examining mining engineer.
In the final analysis, every mine valuation is a considered estimate as opposed to an exact appraisal. It would be a rare accident of coincidence if the actual outcome of operations was in accord with the predicted result of prior examination. Despite the certainty that the results of examination will be inaccurate, the greatest possible care must be exercised in making an evaluation in order to measure the degree of risk. The determination of value of a certain mine starts when the examination has been completed to provide ore-reverse data, mining costs and profits, financial requirements, and future prospects, mathematical calculations may be made to establish the present dollar-and-cents value of the ore deposits.
These computations are made on a gross basis so that the result is a single figure. This one sum represents a compounding of the capital required to equip the mine, the realization from sale of product less cost of sales, and amortization of plant as well as interest on invested capital. The remainder is the profit or true value and must be reduced to present worth by giving effect to the time period in which the profit is revealed. A variety of formulas have been developed for use in the valuation of this kind. The present value of the annual dividend to be paid out over the “estimated” 20-year life of a specified mine can be determined by use of one or the other number of mine valuation formulas.
It is somewhat evident that the 20-year lifetime assumed for a typical rare earth metals mine could be changed but a number of factors bear on establishing mining rate. These include the additional proven ore reserves that can be established – which is a little difficult since the difference of the percentage concentration of an economically viable rare earth metals mine and the one that’s not is not that large. Then there are equipment costs which increase with the size of the plant, the mechanical efficiency of the plant, the market for the product – which could be depressed by overproduction – and the security of the investment. Shares of a mine with a long life typically are more preferred by investors.
Given that there are no new nuclear fission power plants being constructed in the US since the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear fission power plant accident and the most recent Will Lyman narrated science documentary about nuclear fission power plants that mentions dysprosium and holmium nuclear poisons was probably produced between 1992 and 1995, it seems that the civilian nuclear power generation industry and the US DoD’s nuclear weapons program are no longer subsidizing America’s rare earth metals mining industry to make them economically viable enough to continue operating in the austere fiscal environment of a post Cold War world.
And given that the current main use of rare earth metals is in the consumer electronics industry and low carbon energy generation from renewable sources, it seems that the high labor costs and lack of government sourced subsidies spelled the death knell of America’s rare earth metals mining industry in the post Cold War world. Even the profitability of the Mainland China’s rare earth metals mining industry is walking on a thin line indeed when valuated using established mine valuation methods.
By: Ringo Bones
Even though Mainland China had more or less resumed its import quotas to Japan and the rest of the globe back in November 24, 2010, Beijing’s current unrivaled monopoly of the commercial mining and production of rare earth metals can easily make anyone wonder why the United States or any other nation in the world can’t seem to be able to start their very own economically viable rare earth metals industry. But is the reason just down to economics or do we have to look back why in the previous 20 or so years how America and some other nations managed to make a profit in the commercial mining and production of rare earth metals.
It is no coincidence why America’s very own home-grown rare earth metals mining industry was abruptly shut down 20 years ago – right about the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the then Soviet Union. America’s rare earth metals industry was subsidized by the uranium industry – or more accurately the nuclear fission power generation and the nuclear weapons industry. It is now common knowledge that most uranium ores also contain commercially viable amounts of rare earth metals. Nuclear weapons used to safeguard the United States against the then Soviet Union so the nuclear weapons industry was the primarily subsidizing America’s rare earth metals industry before their closure around 1989 and 1990 since construction of new civilian nuclear fission power plants on American soil was frozen by the US congress after the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident of 1979.
Compared to mainland China’s relatively low labor costs, America’s rare earth metals industry looks like a losing proposition when this factor is taken into account in a typical mine valuation calculation. Typically, the ability of a mining property to earn is a measure of its value. Many factors including the natural resources and the plant and the equipment must be taken into account. Consideration must also be given to operating efficiency, labor costs, taxes, and to the critical factors of supply and demand and the purchasing power of money – i.e. the currently prevailing economic conditions. In order to determine the commercial viability of a certain mining operation, the present worth and the prospective possibilities must be determined; the risks must be recognized and evaluated. Such determinations are made to the maximum extent possible on the basis of the factual information that can be assembled as amended and weighed in the judgment and experience of the examining mining engineer.
In the final analysis, every mine valuation is a considered estimate as opposed to an exact appraisal. It would be a rare accident of coincidence if the actual outcome of operations was in accord with the predicted result of prior examination. Despite the certainty that the results of examination will be inaccurate, the greatest possible care must be exercised in making an evaluation in order to measure the degree of risk. The determination of value of a certain mine starts when the examination has been completed to provide ore-reverse data, mining costs and profits, financial requirements, and future prospects, mathematical calculations may be made to establish the present dollar-and-cents value of the ore deposits.
These computations are made on a gross basis so that the result is a single figure. This one sum represents a compounding of the capital required to equip the mine, the realization from sale of product less cost of sales, and amortization of plant as well as interest on invested capital. The remainder is the profit or true value and must be reduced to present worth by giving effect to the time period in which the profit is revealed. A variety of formulas have been developed for use in the valuation of this kind. The present value of the annual dividend to be paid out over the “estimated” 20-year life of a specified mine can be determined by use of one or the other number of mine valuation formulas.
It is somewhat evident that the 20-year lifetime assumed for a typical rare earth metals mine could be changed but a number of factors bear on establishing mining rate. These include the additional proven ore reserves that can be established – which is a little difficult since the difference of the percentage concentration of an economically viable rare earth metals mine and the one that’s not is not that large. Then there are equipment costs which increase with the size of the plant, the mechanical efficiency of the plant, the market for the product – which could be depressed by overproduction – and the security of the investment. Shares of a mine with a long life typically are more preferred by investors.
Given that there are no new nuclear fission power plants being constructed in the US since the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear fission power plant accident and the most recent Will Lyman narrated science documentary about nuclear fission power plants that mentions dysprosium and holmium nuclear poisons was probably produced between 1992 and 1995, it seems that the civilian nuclear power generation industry and the US DoD’s nuclear weapons program are no longer subsidizing America’s rare earth metals mining industry to make them economically viable enough to continue operating in the austere fiscal environment of a post Cold War world.
And given that the current main use of rare earth metals is in the consumer electronics industry and low carbon energy generation from renewable sources, it seems that the high labor costs and lack of government sourced subsidies spelled the death knell of America’s rare earth metals mining industry in the post Cold War world. Even the profitability of the Mainland China’s rare earth metals mining industry is walking on a thin line indeed when valuated using established mine valuation methods.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Urban Mining: Economically Viable Source of Rare Earth Metals?
Ever since Mainland China reduced its export quotas of rare earth minerals, will “urban mining” e-wastes soon become an economically viable source of rare earth metals?
By: Ringo Bones
The People’s Republic of China soon started reducing its export quota of rare earth minerals to the world market and none more so to Japan when a Mainland Chinese trawler captain was arrested by the Japanese navy for illegally fishing in waters both claimed by the two countries in the North China Sea back in September 7, 2010. As a country with a virtual monopoly on the commerce of rare earth metals – it produces over 90% of the worlds rare earth metals supply - Mainland China has since flex its geopolitical muscles by reducing the amount it sells to the global market and Japan. Given that all things that make our modern life possible – mobile phones, laptops, hybrid cars and even wind turbines use rare earth metals, will a shortage of this raw materials soon endanger our modern way of life?
As the country hardest hit by Beijing’s decision to reduce its rare earth export quota, Japan has pioneered a rather novel way of filling their manufacturing industry’s rare earth shortage. Dubbed “Urban Mining”, the scheme involves the reprocessing of e-wastes and obsolete consumer electronic gear to harvest the precious rare earth metals contained in them. Late 1990s era Sega Megadrives, electric typewriters, audiophile grade cassette tape decks, cathode ray tube type computer monitors and even hard disk drives of obsolete computers are recycled and processed for the extraction of the precious rare earth metals.
A Japanese company called Highbridge Computers now makes a profit harvesting rare earth metals from obsolete computer gear and other e-wastes that contain significant amounts of rare earth magnets. As amore long term solution, Kazuhiko Hono of Japan’s National Institute of Material Science have recently experimented with using lasers to dissect rare earth magnets atom-by-atom to analyze their magnetic structure and to explore the possibility of making rare earth magnets that use reduced quantities of precious rare earth metals.
Will urban mining – the recycling of e-wastes and obsolete consumer electronic equipment ever becomes a commercially viable source of rare earth metals? Shigeo Nakamura of Advanced Material Japan Corporation – one of the largest processor of rare earth ores from Mainland China for use in the manufacture of high tech goods – says that Japan’s stockpiles of rare earths are fast dwindling. If Mainland China continues to use its rare earth metal monopoly as a tool for geopolitical hegemony, it will only be a matter of time that recycling e-wastes and obsolete electronic equipment could soon become not only a commercially viable source of rare earth metals due to lesser chemical processes and energy involved in harvesting it from such source, but also a more environmentally-friendly source of rare earth metals as well. At least it is an economically viable way to recycle obsolete electronic and computer gear.
By: Ringo Bones
The People’s Republic of China soon started reducing its export quota of rare earth minerals to the world market and none more so to Japan when a Mainland Chinese trawler captain was arrested by the Japanese navy for illegally fishing in waters both claimed by the two countries in the North China Sea back in September 7, 2010. As a country with a virtual monopoly on the commerce of rare earth metals – it produces over 90% of the worlds rare earth metals supply - Mainland China has since flex its geopolitical muscles by reducing the amount it sells to the global market and Japan. Given that all things that make our modern life possible – mobile phones, laptops, hybrid cars and even wind turbines use rare earth metals, will a shortage of this raw materials soon endanger our modern way of life?
As the country hardest hit by Beijing’s decision to reduce its rare earth export quota, Japan has pioneered a rather novel way of filling their manufacturing industry’s rare earth shortage. Dubbed “Urban Mining”, the scheme involves the reprocessing of e-wastes and obsolete consumer electronic gear to harvest the precious rare earth metals contained in them. Late 1990s era Sega Megadrives, electric typewriters, audiophile grade cassette tape decks, cathode ray tube type computer monitors and even hard disk drives of obsolete computers are recycled and processed for the extraction of the precious rare earth metals.
A Japanese company called Highbridge Computers now makes a profit harvesting rare earth metals from obsolete computer gear and other e-wastes that contain significant amounts of rare earth magnets. As amore long term solution, Kazuhiko Hono of Japan’s National Institute of Material Science have recently experimented with using lasers to dissect rare earth magnets atom-by-atom to analyze their magnetic structure and to explore the possibility of making rare earth magnets that use reduced quantities of precious rare earth metals.
Will urban mining – the recycling of e-wastes and obsolete consumer electronic equipment ever becomes a commercially viable source of rare earth metals? Shigeo Nakamura of Advanced Material Japan Corporation – one of the largest processor of rare earth ores from Mainland China for use in the manufacture of high tech goods – says that Japan’s stockpiles of rare earths are fast dwindling. If Mainland China continues to use its rare earth metal monopoly as a tool for geopolitical hegemony, it will only be a matter of time that recycling e-wastes and obsolete electronic equipment could soon become not only a commercially viable source of rare earth metals due to lesser chemical processes and energy involved in harvesting it from such source, but also a more environmentally-friendly source of rare earth metals as well. At least it is an economically viable way to recycle obsolete electronic and computer gear.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Lithium: Contentious Commodity Du Jour?
As the primary component of those rechargeable lithium ion batteries mainly used in laptop computers and hybrid cars, is lithium now the commodities traders’ contentious commodity du jour?
By: Ringo Bones
Ironically during the height of the Cold War when the only major use for lithium was in H-Bombs and pharmaceuticals for the treatment of manic-depressive disorders, it never became the commodities traders’ commodities trading of contention, not to mention the flood of venture capital investment stocks and penny-stocks vying for us to invest in them. A few decades later where our 21st Century society is currently preoccupied with the pursuit of instant information at one’s fingertips and eco-friendly power and mobility, lithium – as the primary component used in rechargeable lithium ion batteries – has now become one of the commodities of geopolitical primacy. But isn’t there enough lithium to go around?
Even though it is relatively widespread, lithium comprises only 0.0065% of the Earth’s crust. Lithium is primarily obtained from the minerals spodumene – a lithium aluminum silicate; lepidolite – a basic lithium silicate known as lithium mica and amblygonite – a lithium aluminum fluorophosphate. Nearly 50 other minerals and many mineral waters contain varying amounts of lithium and traces of the element have been found in meteorites, soils, sugar beets, tobacco, cereal grains, coffee, seaweed, blood, milk, and even in muscular and lung tissue.
During the height of the Cold War, the world’s leading producer of lithium was the country then known as Rhodesia which - since 1980 - is called Zimbabwe. At present, the world’s strategic supply of lithium can be found in the dry lakes of Bolivia in the form of lithium carbonate. According to Bolivia’s Mining Minister Jose Pimentel, Bolivia is estimated to contain 40% of the world’s commercially viable lithium supply. As one of the poorest countries in South America, the Bolivian government wants a mining deal from multinational firms that would benefit Bolivia’s poor and because of this almost all multinational mining firms are currently reluctant to make a deal with the government of President Evo Morales.
Our current high demand for mobile phones, laptops and batteries for hybrid cars just to mention a few have made lithium into a commodity of strategic importance not seen since the height of the cold war. Like crude oil, commercially viable deposits of it are found in places that have a falling out with globalized capitalism. And since the form we use it requires that the naturally occurring lithium be chemically processed into something useful for the fabrication of rechargeable lithium ion batteries, lithium – like the rare earth metals - might well be our current lucrative commodity that also raises geopolitical contention.
By: Ringo Bones
Ironically during the height of the Cold War when the only major use for lithium was in H-Bombs and pharmaceuticals for the treatment of manic-depressive disorders, it never became the commodities traders’ commodities trading of contention, not to mention the flood of venture capital investment stocks and penny-stocks vying for us to invest in them. A few decades later where our 21st Century society is currently preoccupied with the pursuit of instant information at one’s fingertips and eco-friendly power and mobility, lithium – as the primary component used in rechargeable lithium ion batteries – has now become one of the commodities of geopolitical primacy. But isn’t there enough lithium to go around?
Even though it is relatively widespread, lithium comprises only 0.0065% of the Earth’s crust. Lithium is primarily obtained from the minerals spodumene – a lithium aluminum silicate; lepidolite – a basic lithium silicate known as lithium mica and amblygonite – a lithium aluminum fluorophosphate. Nearly 50 other minerals and many mineral waters contain varying amounts of lithium and traces of the element have been found in meteorites, soils, sugar beets, tobacco, cereal grains, coffee, seaweed, blood, milk, and even in muscular and lung tissue.
During the height of the Cold War, the world’s leading producer of lithium was the country then known as Rhodesia which - since 1980 - is called Zimbabwe. At present, the world’s strategic supply of lithium can be found in the dry lakes of Bolivia in the form of lithium carbonate. According to Bolivia’s Mining Minister Jose Pimentel, Bolivia is estimated to contain 40% of the world’s commercially viable lithium supply. As one of the poorest countries in South America, the Bolivian government wants a mining deal from multinational firms that would benefit Bolivia’s poor and because of this almost all multinational mining firms are currently reluctant to make a deal with the government of President Evo Morales.
Our current high demand for mobile phones, laptops and batteries for hybrid cars just to mention a few have made lithium into a commodity of strategic importance not seen since the height of the cold war. Like crude oil, commercially viable deposits of it are found in places that have a falling out with globalized capitalism. And since the form we use it requires that the naturally occurring lithium be chemically processed into something useful for the fabrication of rechargeable lithium ion batteries, lithium – like the rare earth metals - might well be our current lucrative commodity that also raises geopolitical contention.
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