CRITICAL RAW MATERIALS

By Niall Griffin

Introduction and Overview

Substitution – a key idea Underlining the need for more

exploration Countries having a monopoly of materials Demand is only going to increase

Three Findings of Most Interest

China holding 90% share of the rare earth reserves as an example

Vast amounts of the Crust remain unexplored

Realising how extensively Indium and Copper are used in electronics

Why is it a concern?

Due to the monopoly problem with China There will be much greater demand by

2030 The production rates for 2006 will be

exceeded dramatically by 2030

Illustrating Demand

Raw material

Production2006 (t)

Demand fromemergingtechnologies2006(t)

Demand fromemergingtechnologies2030 (t)

Indicator2006

Indicator2030

Copper 15,093,000 1,410,000 3,696,070 0.09 0.24

Indium 581 234 1,911 0.40 3.29

Neodymium

16,800 4,000 27,900 0.23 1.66

Platinum 255 Very small 345 0 1.35

Tantalum 1,384 551 1,410 0.40 1.02

Summary

Recycling, Substitution and Exploration are key

Realising that a monopoly is a potential crisis

The need for technological advances in mining is key

Questions?