Dusk at the famous mountains near Guilin,
Guangxi province, a primary source of Chinese barytes.
SUPPLY SECURITY
Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy has been a bestseller in popular nonfiction in recent years. In his 2005 book, Matt Simmons factually and objectively laid out the case for the impact of peak oil in Saudi Arabia and the near and far term consequences to global economies.
Many of those in the global barytes trade have long looked at a small area in Guangxi province in China as the “Saudi Arabia” of world barytes.
This area, in the south of the country, is well known for the stunningly beautiful and unique karst mountains that pop up like huge gumdrops from a flat landscape (see picture).
Stretching from the picturesque northern Guangxi tourist city of Guilin southward in a widening triangle to the villages near...