YOU may not believe in man-made climate change, but that's no reason not to make a quid from the panic.
From one of its several well-appointed set-ups (in this case Luxembourg), the European Commission has issued a report identifying the 14 critical metals for low-carbon energy technologies, namely solar, wind, bio-energy, carbon capture and storage, electricity grids and -- ALP/Greens please take note -- nuclear.
Some -- nickel, molybdenum and tin -- have their main applications in other areas. We'll focus on the lesser-known ones.
An interesting one is hafnium, which is used in nuclear rods and other nuclear applications. Global reserves are estimated by the EC at 660,000 tonnes, of which 230,000 tonnes are in Australia. Yet worldwide production is less than 100 tonnes. It does not exist as a free element in nature but can be found with zirconium in the mineral zircon.
One junior working on this metal is Hastings Rare Metals (HAS), which already has a JORC resource at its multi-element project in the East Kimberley region. Apart from zirconium, there are the rare earths along with rare metals (an important distinction) hafnium and two others on the EC list, gallium and niobium.
At the more advanced level, Alkane Resources (ALK) has hafnium at its Dubbo zirconium-rare earth project. And niobium too: the company last week signed a preliminary agreement with a European company for all its niobium offtake. Niobium is used mainly in the steel process, but it is vital to nuclear applications.
Other juniors with niobium ambitions, and hopes of breaking the near Brazilian monopoly on the metal, are Peak Resources (PEK), which is exploring in Tanzania, and Globe Metals & Mining (GBE) in Malawi.
Two rare metals are named in the EC report, neodymium and dysprosium (both used in magnets for electric car batteries and wind turbines). Several companies are seeking these, but, so far as dysprosium is concerned, one of the more interesting is Northern Minerals (NTU), which doesn't talk itself up enough.
Drilling so far in one of the remoter parts of Western Australia by NTU has produced what the company calls "exceptional" intersections of the more valuable heavy rare earths, particularly dysprosium. Incidentally, while some rare-earth prices have been sliding of late, those still in serious deficit are doing well, with NTU reporting dysprosium maintaining $US2290 a kilogram in the September quarter.
Selenium, used in solar cells, is one of the metals discovered by Golden Rim Resources (GMR) at its Falun copper-gold project in Sweden. Falun was first mined around 700AD, but the surrounding area seems still mineral-rich. Indium has several low-carbon energy applications, including batteries and nuclear rods, and is included in the portfolio of BBX Holdings (BBX).
The forex factor
POLITICAL risk has notched up a little in Argentina following the re-election of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Foreign exchange rules have been tightened, including a decree that export revenues from mining projects must first be repatriated to Argentina and converted to the Argentine peso before being sent back to head office or shareholders.
This is not a ban on repatriation, but means -- so far as we can tell -- that Australian companies there will now have to factor in movements of the local currency and assess what might happen with any sudden devaluation of the peso.
This will affect lithium-potash developer Orocobre (ORE), gold miner Troy Resources (TRY), precious metals explorer De Grey Mining (DEG) and copper-gold explorer Argentina Miner (AVK).
Mind you, if the peso did tank it would lower peso-denominated operating costs.
Below the radar
THE quarterly "bring out your dead" day at the ASX begins this morning. It's the last day for filing quarterly reports and the time of choice to drop a report you hope will go unnoticed in the flood.
By monitoring the flow, you pick up items that have largely been below the radar.
One that caught our eye was the former olive producer Olea Australis, now cashed up as Crucible Gold (CUG). It has acquired 2884sq km in Ghana and Ivory Coast prospective for gold. Of course, it's near the back of the West African queue but has some names of interest on board. These include technical director Simon Coxhell, a former executive director of two listed companies and with 25 years of experience looking for everything from gold to oil shale to vanadium, and exploration manager Eric Kinnan, who has moved over from Toronto-listed Golden Star Resources, owner of two operating gold mines in Ghana.
We'll be looking today for the quarterly from Bulletin Resources (BNR) after Peter Strachan of StockAnalysis recommended this stock to his clients. The company is heading for gold production next year but Strachan rates it for what he calls "brain power". Its board consists of a geologist, a chemical engineer, a contract miner and a Rhodes Scholar.
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