Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Minerals go critical

Nature Chemistry volume 3, pages 688–691 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

The spectre of insecure supplies of some mineral raw materials could hinder the development and deployment of new technology. This Commentary discusses and analyses the reasons behind the potential insecurity, how markets are responding, and what roles government should play.

For want of a nail the shoe was lost, For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail. — Old proverb

Access options

Rent or Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

from$8.99

Rent or Buy

All prices are NET prices.

References

  1. 1

    http://go.nature.com/jRUdDQ

  2. 2

    http://go.nature.com/ly4XHh

  3. 3

    http://www.cnas.org/node/6315

  4. 4

    http://go.nature.com/yto76i

  5. 5

    www.jogmec.go.jp

  6. 6

    Eggert, R. G. Issues Sci. Technol. 26, 49–58 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  7. 7

    Committee on Critical Mineral Impacts of the US Economy; Committee on Earth Resources; National Research Council Minerals, Critical Minerals, and the US Economy (The National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2010).

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Roderick G. Eggert is Professor and Director the Division of Economics and Business at Colorado School of Mines, in Golden, Colorado 80401, USA

    Roderick G. Eggert

Authors
  1. Roderick G. Eggert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roderick G. Eggert.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Eggert, R. Minerals go critical. Nature Chem 3, 688–691 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1116

Download citation

Further reading

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing