Need for an agency to track markets for minerals that are critical components of industrial products, says a panel of the National Academies.
And mineral markets have been rocked by wild price swings: in late 2002, for example, the price of indium — used in flat-panel displays — hit a historic low of $60 per kilogram. In 2005, the price reached $1,000 per kilogram (see Nature 449, 131; 2007).
Booming demand for minerals in India and China suggests that historical trends might be an unreliable guide for the next few decades.
Source : Published online 10 October 2007 Nature 449, 648 (2007) doi:10.1038/449648b
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