Lanthanoids and the ‘Green Road’. Ok, you are saying, whats coursonc up to now, lol. Bear with me here, again, as I have done some forward, longer term thinking and research into the ‘pick and shovel’ basic building blocks that are needed to reduce our Global energy dependency on Oil, and reduce GHG’s and Carbon emissions. I am always on the hunt for either beaten down value plays, out of favor commodity cyclical rotation plays, and misunderstood undervalued industry ‘game changers’, similar to my OPTT pick, and watch the political and technology landscape as well, for trends and influential factors that can result in favorable conditions. I have spent months in research on this topic, and with an overall good understanding of chemistry and basic materials, with further research into their end uses and the trend, I have to agree with the conclusion of some of the ‘experts’ in the field. However, initially the sector and stock valuations had gone ballistic, with only limited players in the field, and without time to confirm the story, potential, and prospects thru proper DD and research, I had to initially set it out. Now, however, I believe the timing is right again. Thus, Although the post length initially appears lengthy, and for that I apologize, it is actually only brief, as the topic is somewhat technical, and as most should find it at least interesting and educational, a good perusal is recommended.
Rare Earth Elements. There are 17 elements that are classified as REE, namely the 15 Lanthanoids, plus Scandium and Yttrium. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanthanoid These elements, starting with Lanthanum, Atomic number 57 thru Lutetium, Atomic number 71 all have similar properties, and are classified as electropositive trivalent metals.
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/c...
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/c...
They are shiny and silvery-white, and tarnish easily when exposed to oxygen. These elements are fairly abundant in nature, but are called rare earths, as they are less common than some other ‘earths’ as lime or magnesia. The principal sources of rare earth elements are the minerals bastnäsite,{(Ce, La, Y)CO3F} monazite, {(Ce, La, Th, Nd, Y)PO4 } loparite,{(Ce,Na,Ca)(Ti,Nb)O3} and the lateritic ion-adsorption clays. Significantly enriched rare earth deposits only occur in regions geologically conducive to the development of carbonatite or peralkaline intrusive complexes. A mineral called Gadolinite consists principally of the silicates of cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, yttrium, beryllium and iron, and is named so in 1800 after Johan Gadolin, a Finnish mineralogist-Chemist who was first to isolate yttrium from it in 1792. When he first analyzed this mineral, he missed the opportunity to discover another element, Beryllium, mistaking it for aluminum (aluminum oxide).