China’s aggressive pursuit of mineral resources around the globe continues with Africa being a “key destination for meeting China’s resource acquisitiveness,” according to a presentation given at the Coaltrans Southern Africa conference earlier this month.

As outlined in an article on MiningWeekly.com, China’s quest for resources in Africa, which centers on oil, gold, platinum, copper, nickel and manganese, has led to seven major partnership agreements between Chinese and African stakeholders in the second half of 2011 alone.

Meanwhile, China is also a key supplier nation for many critical metals and minerals, and has a near-total monopoly on strategic minerals like Rare Earths so much so that it is in a position – and has done so on several occasions in the past – to use its restrictive mineral export policies as a geopolitical weapon.

Needless to say, China’s role is being examined in the forthcoming American Resources Policy Network report entitled “Reviewing Risk: Critical Metals & National Security.” As the proverbial “Elephant in the Room,” China will also be a topic of discussion at the Strategic Minerals Conference 2012, taking place on June 6, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

For more information including related video from some of the conference participants, and an updated agenda as the event date draws closer visit www.strategicmineralsconference.com.