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Jack Lifton, a consultant, author and public speaker with more than 45 years of experience in sourcing and recycling minor metals (including the rare earths), shares his views on the current balancing act between technologies production and available natural resources. Mr. Lifton identifies these dwindling resources and the mining companies in which to invest, as he warns of the devastating effect production cuts will have on our everyday lives in "the age of technology metals."

The Gold Report: Jack, you've been speaking a lot at conferences about technology metals and rare earth metals. Can you give us some insights into your theories?

Jack Lifton: I've been at about seven or eight conferences around the world this year talking about my theme, which is that (notwithstanding the quality of a technology) all production of technologies is strictly regulated by the amount of the particular natural resources available. And we have very quietly, but obviously, transformed our civilization into the age of technology metals.

We're not dependent on just technology metals, however. Without rare earth metals, we can no longer make a powerful small motor, a nickel metal hydride battery, a Prius automobile or even lasers. We can't make cutting tools, military armor, or ammunition without tungsten. We can't make high-efficiency cooling systems for our power plants no matter what their fuel source—oil, gas, coal, wind, solar or nuclear—without molybdenum. Either we're running out of oil or we're running out of rare earth. We're always running out of something, and that is not the issue. The issue is how much can human civilization produce of something in a given year.

TGR: What's the difference between a minor metal and a rare earth metal?

JL: Rare earths are a particular group of metals that are from Atomic #57 to 71 and, with the addition of the metals scandium and yttrium, there's a total of 17 metals designated rare earth. Minor metals were, until recently, considered to have only minor uses. I don't call them minor; I refer to them as the technology metals.

TGR: So if we look at what's happening with the economy, knowing that we're in a recession, which are the minor metals that will still be required going forward?

JL: That's a good question and I break them down into two groups—by-product metals and primary minor metals. Some of the most important of the so-called minor metals are only found as by-products of base metals. For example, the base metal zinc is our only source in the world of germanium, cadmium and indium metals. The base metal copper is a source of 75% of the world's molybdenum and rhenium. Copper is also the source of 95% of the world's tellurium and selenium; and the base metal aluminum is the only source of the metal gallium.

And when they reduce the production of base metals, they also reduce the production of molybdenum, rhenium, selenium, and tellurium. So what? Well, you can't make a jet engine or a rocket engine without rhenium. First Solar Corporation in Ohio makes cadmium telluride thin film photovoltaic cells; the cadmium comes from zinc, and the tellurium comes from copper. Therefore, the reduction in base metals production has also reduced the production of the key minor technology metals used for solar—and there is no substitute. So right this minute we're in the situation of running on inventory, which is not large, and recycling is almost non-existent for these materials because their uses are dissipated.

TGR: If we're running on inventory right now and there's no possibility of substitute or recycling, why haven't the prices skyrocketed already?