An extract of the article; http://www.businessinsider.com/11-investment-themes-for-2011-2011-1
6. Surprise material of the year will be Graphite. One source estimated that there will be a 7X increase in demand for Graphite in this decade. Rare Earth metals need graphite for processing, but the nuclear plants being built in developing nations like China and India will cause a major increase by themselves. China dominates the world graphite market and could surprise us all with export restrictions, export taxes etc. Here is an excellent article by Jack Lifton highlighting the many uses of graphite.
