Michael Silver,Chairman,CEO and President of American Elements,a global manufacturer of engineered and advanced materials,including rare earth metals and chemicals,has been pleading for the establishment of a U.S. strategic metals reserve(SMR).China is currently dominant in the field,with 95% of the world's rare earth production.
In the event of an embargo on rare earth,U.S. manufacturing would grind to a halt.The strategic metals are crucial for everything from televisions and cell phones to fiber optics,computer hard drives,wind turbines,lasers and night vision goggles,as well as radar transmitters and GPS systems in the military realm.
In the past year,the cost of rare earth has risen more than 25-fold.South Korea,Japan,the EU and U.K. have their own plans for national stockpiles.
The military does need to do an assessment of what its needs for rare earth are for six months or a year.Clearly a politically strategic asset,China has command of most of these materials,putting it in the position of being the Middle East of the 21st century,controlling the alternative energy sources,such as solar panels and hybrid batteries,that are so reliant on rare earth,in Mr.Silver's opinion.
The U.S. has only one open pit mine in Mountain Pass,California,which belongs to Molycorp.Molycorp has just sold 12.5 million shares to a Chilean firm,Molibdenos y Metales S.A.,for 390 million dollars-a 13% stake in the company.
American Metals is based in Los Angeles and has manufacturing and warehouse facilities in the U.S.,China,Mexico and the U.K.
Molycorp(MCP)
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