The fight for rare materials

Industrialized countries are now preoccupied with the supply of rare metals, which are largely controlled by China.

14 rare and precious metals today - Source: European Commission, July 2010. (Photo: Tuoitre)

Lithium reserves in the world - Source: US Geological Research Department, January 2010

On August 26, in Seoul, Bolivian President Evo Morales was greeted solemnly at the Green House, the Korean presidential palace. He ended his visit with two trump cards: an agreement to sell lithium materials to South Korea and an honorary doctorate awarded by one of Korea's most prestigious universities. What a bad result.

In the last 45 years, Korea has paid little attention to a poor country like Bolivia. However, the country is rich in lithium , and Seoul wants to be able to ensure that its Samsung, Hyundai, LG and other giant industries can continue to operate for a long time.

Less than a gram of this precious metal leaves the Uyuni area (on the plateau of Bolivia), but this vast salt desert now contains enough lithium to allow anyone to own it when possible. dominate the battery market for electric cars, personal computers and mobile phones.

Mr. Evo Morales was one of the first leaders to understand that the world was fundamentally changing, and that oil was no longer the center of the geopolitical resource map. According to many recently published reports, the longevity of some industries has not been guaranteed. Japan, Korea, Germany and many countries that are leading the way in new technologies will have to struggle to maintain their position.

' We are in an economic war - the consultant Jack Lifton, who has jurisdiction over rare, assertive metals - The world, where people can buy things at cheap prices, is no longer available. exist. The time has come for the West to wake up. It's unbelievable that people don't know anything about the input of a factory! '.

Even in Asia, where growth is clearly based on these materials, awareness of this problem is only recently. The new Korean government has announced it will scavenge even more pensions to ensure a supply of rare metals for the country. The government also considers a development aid policy for countries that own these resources.

Alarm of the US Department of Defense

Which South Korea is the only country to receive the Bolivian presidential carpet. China, Japan, Russia and France also warmly welcomed him. But this is just foreplay.

According to the European Commission (EC), which has just released a list of 14 rare materials, the ' big game ' (the colonial struggle between Russia and the British Empire in South Asia in the 19th century) may still be open. extensive with cobalt (raw material for manufacturing mobile phone batteries), palladium (used in seawater filtration), spath - fluoride (chemical industry material) or magnesium (used in oil refining, cement plants , steel factory .).

In September, the US Department of Defense will publish a report that alarms US military dependence on many different products that China is currently an exclusive supplier.

A survey submitted in May to the British government also said that from now to 2015, Beijing will ban the export of rare metals - which are the raw materials that created the digital revolution. and without these resources, most ' green ' technology will not work.

According to Gal Luft, director of the Institute of Global Security Analysis (IAGS) in Washington, China is controlling 95% of the world's rare metal production. He predicts that almost the world, the foreign policy of countries, which is regulated by oil in the 20th century, will then be regulated by dysprosium, cobalt and platinum needs. China's continued increase in measures to limit rare earth exports - quotas will fall 72% from now until the end of the year - in a trend that will be extended to other materials as well.

' Concerning natural resources, there will be no free market problem,' comments Gal Luft. ' The lesson that countries need to draw is that they have to diversify their resources. '.

The problem of minerals is not limited to the area of ​​spearhead technology. Access to potasse, a mineral used in fertilizer production for agriculture, is at risk of becoming more complex, due to trade restrictions and due to natural resource control policies.

Phosphate mines - the type of material that has created the ' green revolution ' in the 1960s - will soon run out, and this could cause 'the most severe scarcity of natural resources of all time'. ', according to US and Australian experts.

The diplomat ' shuttle ' Japan

Not only Korea, Japanese leaders, who previously disagreed, now agreed to recognize a new risk of loss.

Rare metals lithium, tantalum, germanium, indium and 17 rare earths are extremely necessary for Japan's leading industries: the production of electronics, automobiles with electric and gasoline engines, and equipment. High accuracy. The production of these metals is currently controlled by China, which is a real concern for Tokyo.

Since the beginning of this year, Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada has been constantly flying around the world. He is not present in London, Paris, Berlin or Beijing, but in South Africa, Vietnam, Tanzania, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Australia. Indeed, Japan is running fast in negotiations with countries producing rare metals before China and Korea arrive.

Mr. K.Okada acknowledged: ' Just recently, the Japanese government also said that it is to let market forces dominate . However, the world has basically changed and people cannot sit and watch. '.