Jesh Foundation

Is Neodymuim really that important – are we really to be held for ransom in international trade by China’s refusal to share their REEs or rare earth elements? Well, if you consider that most of the technology manufacturing of the world needs REEs, and yes, throw in lithium too for the ion-lithium batteries to run all the future electric cars, lawnmowers, golf carts, scooters, etc – then nations like Japan, Germany, the US, and others are beholden to China’s whims.

Why you ask? Simple 96-97% of all the REEs are mined in china, and they have about one-third the currently known reserves, especially heavy in the rare metal categories, and now China has restricted 76% of their exports of REEs. They say; “if you want to use our REEs you will have to manufacture here in China, and then export the completed products,” which would be everything from computers, cell phones, smart bombs, aerospace components, etc.

In other words, partner with a Chinese company, share the intellectual property and we can all be friends? Seriously, but China has a rotten track record with industrial spies in the US stealing technology, and failure to honor international patents, often mass-producing counterfeit products and then selling them all over the world. The cost to US businesses; one economist puts it at $1.5 trillion per year. Now do you see the problem?

Worse, the USA is worried because that our high-tech military cannot function without these REEs, as defense contractors will not be able to produce the high-tech weapons; things like laser-sights, smart munitions, missiles, aircraft, IED detectors, night-vision goggles, etc. Over the past several years, our online style think tank has been watching all this, so too have think tanks which support the Pentagon’s advanced studies.

We believe that what’s needed is more advanced research into material memory, morphing materials, buckypaper, graphene composite schemes, carbon-nano-tubes, etc. – and this will alleviate the need for all those REEs. But that is not the only answer, another is to get rid of the over-regulated mining sector, as we have lots of REEs within our borders in places like CA, WV, WY, CO, AZ, NV, etc, and we are not aggressively using them. If we divide this mission into a three-pronged approach, we can solve this problem and not be bullied, threatened, or allow China to use extortion tactics with REE scarcity to dictate their polices onto the US or the world.

I propose:

1.) More Advanced Research in Material Science (but selective funding)
2.) Aggressive in-country Mining of REEs
3.) Afghanistan-US sanctioned partnership for mining and an Easement highway along Pakistan-Iranian border to the Arabian Sea, a free-zone for the landlocked nation for transport

Now then, why is material science research so important? Well, there was an interesting article in Physics {dot} org entitled; “Crystal Cantilever Lifts Objects 600-times its Own Weight,” published on October 1, 2010 explains how material memory, along with a cantilever responding to UV light can accomplish such tasks.

This is a substitute for hydraulic components on steerable munitions for instance, meaning we don’t need neodymium, all we need is a manufactured crystal, some lab made sapphire, and some lightweight carbon composites. We don’t need REEs for steerable munitions, we don’t need it for satellites, we don’t need it for space projects. We can tell China, thanks, but no thanks and to have a nice day. The US must say no to extortion if we wish to keep our way of life and promote human rights in the world. Please consider all this.