Our entry in the industrial age has led to an increase in the use of metals to fuel the development of the industry and infrastructure. However, since these metals only available in limited quantities, their extraction and commercialization today have considerable geopolitical stakes.

 

Here are two books that we recommend to deepen your knowledge

and better understand the subject:

 

The Elements of Power: Gadgets, Guns, and the Struggle for a Sustainable Future in the Rare Metal Age

 

  • The second book is entitled: Rare Earth Frontiers: From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes

written by Julie Michelle Klinger


Essential for industrial development, these metals are categorized into three groups according to their importance:

 

 

1. Strategic metals

  

 

 

2. Rare-metals

   

 

 

3. Rare-earths

  

 

 

 

 

 


1. Strategic metals


Strategic metals are the founding stones of modern industry.
Their classification is based on their scarcity and supply. Unlike metals such as steel or aluminum, they are unevenly distributed on the surface of the globe and therefore potentially subject to supply risks. They can be precious or semi-precious.

 

In this list finds Gold and Silver, metals that are used to protect savings from economic risks:

stock market crash or currency inflation. Other common minerals are also listed as Copper, Lead or Zinc.

 

The value of these metals is intrinsically guaranteed by their industrial applications.

Since the dawn of the first civilizations, these materials are found in the form of jewels and ingots. These strategic metals have enabled the development of trade by constituting valuable reserves essential for the development of trade and the conservation of savings over time.

 

 

Strategic metals Industrial uses

1

Gold

Store of value, luxury industry and
advanced technologies.

2

Silver

Store of value, luxury industry,

medicine (colloidal silver), water filtration.

3

Copper

Electric motor, electric industry,
electronics, Building and transport.

4

Zinc

Galvanization of steels, alloys
foundry

5

Lead Electric battery, nuclear industry,
metallurgy.

 

 

 

 

 

2- Rare-metals

 

There is no universal classification rare-metals.

We cannot establish an exhaustive list of these ores since it  depends on the scarcity factors taken into consideration: the quantity of metal available in the earth's crust, the level of demand, the industrial uses or even the recyclability potential.

Rare-earths (22) are rare-metals.

 

Rare-metals Industrial uses

1

Cobalt

Smartphones, computers, magnets

2

Germanium

Photovoltaic, optical fiber

3

Beryllium

Telecom and electronics

4

Bismuth

Thermoelectric generator,
superconductor

5

Borate

Glass and ceramics

6

Baryte

Glass industry, radiation protection

7

coke

Steel industry

8

Fluorite

Metallurgy, ceramics, optics

9

Gallium

Semiconductor,
photoluminescent LED

10

Silicium métal

Photovoltaic panels

11

Platinium

Catalyst, jewelery

12

Magnésium

Aluminum alloy

13

Indium

Electronic chips

14

Graphite

Electric vehicle, nuclear industry

15

Niobium

Electric vehicle, satellite

16

Tantalum

Capacitors

17

Tungsten

Precision tools, shielding, electricity

18

Antimony

Mechanical industry, hardening additive

19

Palladium

Jewelry

20

Rhodium

Jewelry

21

Vanadium

Special steels, space industry

22

Rare-earth

Magnets, medical scanners, fiber optics, wind, lasers, electrical industry, electronics, space, aeronautics ...

 

 

 

 

3- Rare-earths

 

The rare earth family is made up of 17 metals.

These minerals have exceptional properties. They are ubiquitous in the advanced industry and new technologies.

They can be found in the manufacture of electronic components, in computers and smartphones but also in the batteries of electric vehicles (to name a few examples ...)

These rare-earths are an integral part of the new industrial revolution of green energies.

They are also used in the composition of super-magnets present in wind turbine turbines and photovoltaic panels.
There are two categories of rare-earth: light rare-earths and heavy rare-earths.

 

 

A) List of light rare-earth

 

Light rare-earths Industrial uses

1

Praseodymium

Dye, magnets

2

Neodymium

Magnets, lasers

3

Promethium

Luminescent compounds

4

Samarium

Electric motor, missile magnets

5

Cerium

Catalytic pots

6

Scandium

Lighting

7

Lanthanum

Lenses, superconducting compounds

 

 

 

B) List of heavy rare-earth

 

Heavy rare-earths Industrial uses

8

Europium

Nuclear reactors, lighting, geochemistry

9

Gadolinium

Cathode ray tubes

10

Terbium

Permanent magnets

11

Dysprosium

Hybrid engines, magnets

12

Holmium

Lasers, superconductors

13

Erbium

Nuclear medicine, optics

14

Thulium

X-ray, laser, superconductor

15

Ytterbium

Stainless steels

17

Lutecium

Beta radiation emitter

18

Yttrium

Fuel cells, magnets, alloy, superconductor

 

 

 

4. Questions / answers about rare-earth and stategic metals

 

 

A) Heavy rare-earths and light rare-earths: what are the differences?

 

There is no official classification for distinguishing heavy rare-earths from light rare earths.

Generally, the distinction is made by the atomic number: the higher the number, the heavier the element. Concentration explains the fact that light rare-earths are produced in higher quantities because they are more abundant in the deposits.


Conversely, heavy rare-earths are more complex and more expensive to extract.
They are used in technological products with higher added value. Their properties make these minerals critical for our companies, especially those that improve the performance of magnets.

 

Useful information: An offshore wind turbine with up to 7 MW of power
alone requires more than a ton of rare-earths.

 


B) Why the name of rare-earth?

 

Rare earths are called this because their extraction is very complex.
However, contrary to what one might think, they are relatively abundant elements in the earth's crust.

 


C) Can we buy rare-earths?

 

Rare-earth ingots are difficult to obtain for several reasons:

 

  1. The storage conditions are complex;
  2. It's hard to sell them. These metals are destined for hyper-specialized industries and scattered throughout the world;
  3. These metals are often very dangerous for health (carcinogenic dust, radioactivity ...);
  4. Getting bullion directly is almost impossible. For many reasons, the investor has to go through an intermediary business and pay a high fee for storage. This state of affairs multiplies the risks. Indeed companies can go bankrupt and take with them the assets of their customers.


Unlike rare-earths and rare-metals, bars of strategic raw materials (Copper / Lead / Zinc) or investment jewels are suitable for storage and resale. They allow the value of capital to be conserved over time. In fact, savings invested in strategic commodities are protected from inflation as well as financial and political crises.

For more security and to protect your anonymity, it is even possible to buy bullion directly with Bitcoin!

 

copper bars

You can request a quote for bullion or investment jewelry

directly via our protonmail address: lingotswiss@protonmail.ch