Tungsten, Tantalum, Rare Earths Emerging as ‘Critical’ Global Metals

Tungsten, tantalum and rare-earth elements (REEs) have started to emerge as “critical” global metals and are expected to become highly scarce from 2015, Core Consultants MD Lara Smith said on Wednesday.

“While the European Union and the US Department of Defence somewhat disagree on the full list of those metals that are deemed critical, they do agree that these three are [at the top of the list],” she said at the Geological Society of South Africa’s 2013 GeoForum conference, in Johannesburg.

Critical metals are defined as those metals with a critical risk to supply, on which humans are highly dependent for survival, and which are necessary for the continuation of a modern way of life.

Smith noted that these minerals were conventionally dominated by a single supplier or country, commonly experienced underinvestment in the development of new projects, and presented limited potential for substitution.

“In addition, critical metals are finding increased application in modern, portable devices, as well as in military or defence applications and are, therefore, of strategic importance to several countries,” she commented.


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