Metals and more Metals

Gallium

Germanium

Antimony

Technology metals are cobalt, lithium, tantalum, indium, niobium, selenium and zirconium. 

And of course there are these.....

• Cerium is used in light bulbs, TVs and ovens.
• Dysprosium is mixed within alloys used in wind turbines, electric vehicles and nuclear reactors.
• Erbium is used in lasers and fiber optic cables.
• Europium is used in light bulbs, nuclear reactors and lasers.
• Gadolinium is used in magnets, nuclear reactors and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
• Holmium is used in magnets and nuclear reactors.
• Lanthanum is mixed within alloys that are used in batteries and hydrogen vehicles.
• Lutetium is used as a catalyst in refineries.
• Neodymium is used in magnets and lasers.
• Praseodymium is used in aircraft engines, fiber optic cables and magnets.
• Promethium is used in pacemakers and guided missiles.
• Samarium is used in microwave devices and magnets.
• Terbium is used in light bulbs, memory devices and x-rays. 
• Thulium is used in lasers.
• Ytterbium is used in displays, x-ray machines and fiber-optic cables.
• Yttrium is used in radars and as an additive within alloys used in high tech devices.
• Scandium is used for fuel cells and alloys used in jet planes.
• Cobalt is used in super-alloys, jet turbines and rechargeable batteries.
• Lithium is commonly used in batteries.
• Tantalum is used in capacitors, resistors and other electronic equipment.
• Indium is often used in LCD screens.
• Gallium is used in integrated circuits, LEDs and semiconductors.
• Niobium is used in steel alloys that are a part of jet engines and rockets.
• Selenium is used in photocells and rectifiers.
• Zirconium is used in nuclear power stations.

And it's kind of amazing when you consider that just a few short years ago (in human history) there was just gold, silver and copper, tin, brass, aluminum, nickel, potassium, calcium, iron, lead and of course titanium....

I know I've left a few original darlings off the list but my point is......where are they all coming from?   Of course the answer is....

THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE

The current dilemma for the United States is that we rely on China for a big percentage of some very important HI-TECH minerals.  It turns out that Africa has a large NOT YET MINED cache of these minerals and in truth so do WE.

Perhaps a bi-partisan Mineral Department needs to be created.....which means more government and not part of the GOP 2025 Program.

Oh well.....or is it Orwellian?