By definition a “precious” metal like gold, it may come as a surprise to those who see silver primarily as shiny adornment or a means to store value that the biggest end users of silver may actually be specialized industries. Anthony David highlights some of the lesser-known applications of silver for Critical Strategic Metals:

Meanwhile, after demand has increased in recent months, this trend will likely continue courtesy of emerging technologies. Among them are:

If that alone wasn’t reason enough to feature silver as our Metal of the Month, consider this: in spite of the fact that the United States is home to significant silver deposits, our import dependency rate for the precious metal currently stands at 75 percent – with further challenges for domestic producers on the horizon, as we’ll discuss in a further post in our series.

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Whether or not worries of greater state involvement in Peru’s mining sector in light of Humala’s ties to Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez will materialize remains to be seen, as Humala ran on a more moderate economic platform in the runoff-election than before the first round of voting in April.

The larger issue for the U.S. is that our unnecessarily high degree of dependence on foreign imports of metals and minerals leaves us vulnerable to geopolitical changes. It doesn’t take war or major political unrest, – a couple thousand of ballots could be all it takes to potentially disrupt our supply of critical resources. Unless we explore and develop the resources beneath our own soil, all we can do in such situations is sit and wait.

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In light of all the talk about the race for resources, this doesn’t mean we should get excited just yet. The handy map provided by MEG (see below) tells the whole story: the United States only accounted for two percent of the new finds in 2010 (tying for sixth place), while 26 percent of new discoveries were made beneath Canadian soil, giving our northern neighbors the number one spot.

According to MEG, suppliers and acquirers are likely to take note as the results foreshadow “where the next round of resources is likely to come from.”  U.S. policymakers should take note, too. From a competitiveness point of view, “American dominance” in the area of potential new discoveries would sound better if it referred to the singular (America) rather than the plural (Americas).

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“Ever since Osama bin Laden’s demise, aviation sleuths have been trying to figure out what was the mystery copter that Delivered Seal Team Six.  I’ve been pondering a much geekier question:  what was in the mystery copter?”

Answer:  A good dusting of Rare Earths elements, alloyed with other critical metals — which of course enter the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) supply chain from lower-tier defense contractors dependent on a steady diet of Chinese Rare Earths.

My own recent off-the-record discussion with a defense industry contact suggests that Seal Team Six enjoys a range of gadgets employing Rare Earths, from their night vision systems and rifle scopes to the ill-fated chopper so state-of-the-art it had to be explosively “dis-assembled” before the Seals left the bin Laden compound.

I especially like Parthemore’s recommendation that metals supply disruptions should be incorporated into future Pentagon war-gaming scenarios.  If the U.S. doesn’t reckon with the geo-politics of its metals and minerals supply, it may turn out that “resource wars” isn’t just a metaphor.

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Back then, Unocal had a division called Molycorp (the then-shuttered rare earths mine). We have talked about Molycorp here before – take a look. I find it interesting that had that particular deal gone through, then China would have controlled Molycorp altogether. Today, the $6 billion company leads the U.S. effort to reverse (yes, that’s right) Chinese domination of our rare earth resources.

Excerpt: Now China, which already controls 97 percent of the global rare earth metals production, is trying to buy up America’s rare earth deposits. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg; it’s also targeted our gold, lithium, oil, gas, molybdenum and other critical mineral and energy resources. The Japan/rare earth incident and China’s more truculent tone toward America should send some sobering messages.

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This “modern day gold rush” is a manifestation of the increasing importance of metals – in this case, a precious metal – in times of turbulence.

Indeed, value-storing metals like gold, silver, and platinum are considered “safe-haven assets,” and are particularly attractive for an individual’s investment portfolio.

The strategic importance of metals, however, stretches well beyond the precious category.  As they are key ingredients in a broad range of products, securing an ongoing supply of industrial and specialty metals and minerals amidst geopolitical challenges is becoming increasingly critical for a nation’s technological advancement, economic growth, and national security. Countries like China are acting accordingly, as the race for resources has begun. But the question that remains to be answered is, “America ready to compete?”

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