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Masters of Metal – What are Rare Earth Metals and why does Trump want them so badly?
Description
Donald Trump didn’t threaten to take over Greenland only for reasons of military conquest. The arctic territory contains significant deposits of rare earth metals including dysprosium, terbium and yttrium. They’re vital to tech – and currently, China controls a staggering 95% of them. But what are they and why are they so valuable? Commodities journalist Ronan Murphy, Editor of Argus Non-Ferrous Markets, tells Gavin Esler about the real economics behind Trump’s bluster; why invading Greenland is a really bad business idea; and the surprising reason you can’t mine ALL of Greenland’s rare earths. (Clue: It’s uranium).
Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Audio production: Robin Warren. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.
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