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In a piece for DailyMarkets.com, analyst Jeb Handwerger zeroes in on Antimony. Antimony is a key component in fire retardants as well as batteries, ceramics, touch-screen technology, glass, and ammunition and has seen largely stable prices in unstable economic times.

With China being its top producer controlling nearly 90 percent of global supply and other lead producers not necessarily classifying as “mining friendly jurisdictions,” it comes as no surprise that the British Geological Survey (BGS) ranked Antimony as the “main metal at risk of a supply shortfall” on its 2011 Risk List. One of the developments that has drawn Handwerger’s attention is the closure of the (Chinese-owned) Beaver Brook Antimony Mine – the only North American Antimony-producing mine.

Handwerger does see potential in Atlantic Canada, and discusses this potential, as well as the closure of the Beaver Brook Antimony Mine, and China’s role in a video.

As for overall supply risk, Rare Earths Elements and Tungsten may have overtaken Antimony on the 2012 updated BGS ranking, but undoubtedly, it is a critical metal to be watched.

Bloomberg reports that “Chinese interest in Greenland’s mineral wealth is reigniting the Arctic island’s campaign to sever ties with Denmark after almost 200 years of colonial rule.”

According to a February 24 story, calls for the territory’s independence are growing louder as Denmark, which controls Greenland’s foreign policy, opposes Greenland’s plan to cooperate with Chinese companies to develop its vast mineral resources. A formal proposal to break with Denmark was submitted earlier in February by Greenland’s second largest party, as political delays are hampering progress on exploration efforts:

(…) Greenlanders are eager to prevent political delays from Denmark hampering their dream of tapping their mineral wealth. The island is struggling to get projects off the ground after the financial crisis curtailed investments. Oil and gas explorers have spent more than $1 billion on failed attempts to discover oil, further jeopardizing continued investor interest.

These developments bear testimony to the growing importance of resource policy, and its far-reaching implications for other areas, such as geopolitics, as a Danish policy maker recently made clear to parliament:

“It’s not an unimportant issue we have on our hands,” Claus Hjort-Frederiksen, the former Liberal Party finance minister, told parliament in Copenhagen on Jan. 23. “This may allow for 3,000-4,000 underpaid Chinese miners to arrive in Greenland. There are geopolitical concerns. Chinese interest in the Arctic is no minor matter.”

Read more about Greenland’s resource potential in Daniel McGroarty’s 2009 piece for RealClearWorld.

Early last year, we highlighted new Rare Earth exploration efforts in Saxony, Germany, where a newly formed company called Seltene Erden Storkwitz AG was slated to kick off drilling operations in the East German state. They did kick off, and the long-suspected occurrence of Rare Earths in the area has now been confirmed by a (…) more

As the Juneau Empire’s Russell Stigall reports, the State of Alaska’s efforts to map Alaska’s “mineral potential from the land and air” are in full swing. Thanks to the state’s – and particularly Southeast Alaska’s – rich geology, state geologists, including Bob Swenson, state geologist and director of the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical (…) more

The release of the British Geological Survey’s “Risk List” – a supply risk index for critical minerals – helped kick off the mineral resource security debate in the United Kingdom a year and a half ago. This past week, this debate culminated in the launch of a new research funding program focused on the “Security (…) more

U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei (R, Nev.) has reintroduced his critical minerals legislation. Identical to last year’s bill (H.R. 4402), which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in the summer but stalled in the U.S. Senate, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013 (H.R. 761) would: Require the Department of the Interior and (…) more

In his State of the Union Address, the President said the following: At the foundation of our economic growth are the raw materials and energy produced from our minerals and fuels, lands and forests, and water resources. With respect to them, I believe that the nation must adhere to three fundamental policies: first, to develop, (…) more

In a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal, a reader from Arizona responds to American Resources Principal Daniel McGroarty’s op-ed “America’s Growing Minerals Deficit.” Citing Canada-based Augusta Resources’ Rosemont copper mine project in southern Arizona as an example, the reader alleges McGroarty “overlooks one very important consideration. There isn’t any assurance that (…) more

We’re thrilled to announce that Curtis J. Freeman, president of Avalon Development Corporation, has joined the American Resources panel of issue experts. A U.S. Certified Professional Geologist and licensed geologist in the State of Alaska, Mr. Freeman founded Avalon Development Corporation, a mineral exploration consulting firm based in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1985. Mr. Freeman and (…) more

We’ve seen a flurry of new studies focused on mineral resource security over the past few months, an encouraging signal that the issue is increasingly getting the attention it deserves. While we would be remiss not to include our Critical Metals Report and our Gateway Metals Report, two of the more recent studies were released (…) more