Critical minerals: booms, busts and price spike indicators
By Emma Hughes
Published: Friday, 27 February 2015
As the growth in next generation technologies – most notably green energy – continues to gain momentum, scrutiny is intensifying on the supply and sustainability of the raw materials that are facilitating these developments. IM Research analyses the market sensitivity of eight of these critical minerals.
Speciality applications and low annual consumption volumes
for critical minerals and metals have earned these raw
materials reputations as "minor" or "spice" materials. Compared
with bulk commodities like iron ore, alumina and coal, the
markets for cobalt, graphite, lithium, rare earths, vanadium,
uranium, zircon and potash are niche and
relatively...