Basic HTML Version
WE’LL ALL BE RUINED…
BERNIE SIDDALL
WA MINING CLUB PAST PRESIDENT
AND LIFE MEMBER
So where do we go from here? Well, firstly my thinking is
firmly on the side of planetary alignment as the trigger for last
year’s gravitational distortion stressing the earth’s fault lines.
Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions followed, and maybe the
deep ocean magma injection caused the (La Nina) western Pacific
Ocean warming? If so, the good news is that a similar alignment is
not due for some time, so things should settle down.
As for stocks, the adage that “If it pays a dividend, it’s an
investment; if it doesn’t, it’s a gamble” is particularly relevant.
The ‘big end’ of our town is reporting good profits; most resource
companies are strong and in better shape than they were two or
three years ago, so I think we can confidently face the future.
The upward march of the gold price could well continue as a
response to what I call the Mugabe syndrome. You print money
and it devalues! I liked the old Leonora take on the dollar bill
inscription that said “In Gold We Trust” no matter. What is
important is that the high price of this and other commodities
should make it easier to raise money on the back of a good story
(one that reduces the odds in the gamble!). This begs the question
as to which rising commodity we should be backing?
New Scientist
and
National Geographic
magazines have both run
stories on “Elements you’ve never heard of, yet can’t live without”.
Cadmium and tellurium,
for starters, are needed
for new-style solar cells,
as well as indium and
gallium. Cobalt and
lithium figure large in
the battery department
whilst scandium and
yttrium help with LEDs.
However, the stand-
outs are the so-called
Rare Earth Elements,
two groups of elements
sitting in the middle
of the periodic table
(AWs 57-70; 89-102),
with neodymium and
europium probably the
best known. They pop up everywhere from magnets to TV screens,
mobile phones to medical procedures.
Historically, rare earths have not been that expensive, so we
have not been diligent in seeking them out. Now, with China
holding a high proportion of the known reserves and restricting
exports to conserve its own supply, things have changed.
Shortages and price rises are already upon us. So I suggest that the
gamma scintillometers be dusted down and the geo’s be instructed
on what to find. One WA-based company is already ahead of the
game here after years of persistence.
Oh, and by the way, my guess is that the other source of
scintillation, uranium, should also be checked out. It may come
in handy sooner than you think. Particularly if we cannot find
enough ruthenium, lithium or manganese to make the batteries
needed to store the 9am to 5pm abundant solar energy for the
evening peak demand.
Further reading
:
US Department of Energy, ‘
Critical Materials Strategy
’, Dec 2010.
New Scientist, ‘
Unknown Elements: 13 materials you’ve never heard of but
can’t do without
’, Jun 2011.
National Geographic, ‘
The secret ingredients of everything
’, Jun 2011.
TONY HEWITT, ORE 2, PORT HEDLAND, 2010
AGAIN!
Every couple of years, we ask Bernie Siddall to provide his assessment
of where we are heading. This year’s contribution represents a rapid
canter across the diverse and sparkling landscape of Bernie’s varied
observations, and makes for scintillating reading, as freshly original
as it is thought provoking.
“We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan, In accents most forlorn,
Outside the church, ere Mass began, One frosty Sunday morn.
The congregation stood about, Coat-collars to the ears,
And talked of stock, and crops, and drought,
As it had done for years.
Sowrote JohnO’Brien, alias PatrickHartigan, around 1921. Nothing
has changed except for falling numbers in the congregation!
As we reflect on momentous events triggered by volcanoes,
tsunamis, flooding and drought, our physical world seems to have
taken a battering. Coupled with riots and terrorism, it seems like
an unsafe and uncertain place to be. Climate change and how we
respond to it occupies much of the debating space. As for stock,
the hoofed variety is going nowhere and the paper variety is going
backwards! That leaves crops. But wait a minute; won’t the coal
seam gas projects destroy them as surely as the poor weather
destroyed the last vintage?
MINESITE 2011
•
127