Journal zogger's Journal: Peak Metals 4
An interesting article on how so much of our present and very near future high tech life is dependent on *rapidly* dwindling supplies of exotic metals. A good quote from the article: ""Virgin stocks of several metals appear inadequate to sustain the modern 'developed world' quality of life for all of Earth's people under contemporary technology." And when resources run short, conflict is often not far behind.." Another point in the article is that even for something as common as silver, which still has a lot of industrial uses even after the massive switch from silver based photography to digital, let alone numismatic and bullion and jewelry demand, we might be ten years from hitting an end of the line scenario there, it will just run out. I do now from following metals that global demand for silver has been higher than production for some years now. Gold sorta sticks around more, but the platinum and silver and the really exotic stuff gets *used up* so the demand will be hitting some incredible prices sooner rather than later.
Anyway, a quick good read, something to consider along with all the other "peak" stuff, oil, water, etc.
China 20 years ahead on this (Score:1)
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25992667-5005200,00.html [news.com.au]
"JAPAN is readying itself for a potential showdown with China at the World Trade Organisation as Beijing considers plans to strangle global supplies of rare earth metals -- the "green" lanthanide metals used in hundreds of environmental and military technologies.
China may limit vital rare metals
Global supply of the rare-earth metals, which are vital to the mechanisms of hybrid cars, wind turbines, iPods, lasers, super-effici
Re: (Score:2)
"Love the bit in the article where Japan said it would use the WTO to force China to export. Yeah that is going to work."
Why not, it worked on us.
What I don't get (Score:2)
Is that unless I missed something and science has discovered transmutation, isn't every atom of all of these elements still around? Well, maybe not Promethium [wikipedia.org], which is radioactive, but the rest should be relatively available near the surface of any given landfill that was closed within the last 25 years.
dump mining (Score:1)
They will eventually but environmental and osha regs would preclude that today. They just wouldn't allow humans to get close to that stuff being so mixed up and the danger of releasing toxins into the water table would be higher. As it is, most dumps now have elaborate thick rubber shields on the bottom and they wouldn't chance tearing that up. And they would make it be treated like any superfund site, moonsuits, clean containment buildings and so on, it still wouldn't be economical. Big city dumps have a l