All modern economies face the challenge of securing access
to strategic minerals: cobalt, used to make superalloys; rare
earth metals like neodymium, which is used in the manufacture
of hybrid automotive engines and computer hard disks, and the
dull black ore known as coltan, used to make components of cellphones.
There is no consensus on what minerals are regarded as strategic;
that depends on a country's industrial and resource base. Widely
defined, a strategic mineral is one seen as necessary for essential
civilian, industrial and military needs during a national emergency.
The United States government classified nearly a hundred
different minerals as 'strategic' from diamonds to chromium....
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