Rare Earths and other sensitive Minerals - the issuesThursday 20 January 2011 Hosted by: Marks & Clerk LLP Speakers
In the aftermath of a ship collision this autumn in the East China Sea, China stepped up restrictions on flows of Rare Earths to Japan and other global markets. These are critical minerals such as samarium, scandium, dysprosium and yttrium which are used by high-tech companies and auto manufacturers. It suddenly became clear that China now controls around 97% of these minerals, after a number of other countries had stopped production for a variety of reasons. Although the dispute with Japan seems to have triggered the general tightening of China's exports, the background politics are influenced by other factors - including a feeling in China that they have been selling these minerals too cheaply. The autumn's events have acted as a wakeup call to the industrialised world. Mines are being reopened elsewhere in the world, and countries such as Japan and Korea have positively entered mineral diplomacy. This seminar will look back at the events of the autumn. Just how critical are these minerals? What do we know about Chinese motives and the responses of industrialised customers? Are there other security issues thrown up by minerals coming from other complicated parts of the world (such as the Congo)? Location: Marks & Clerk LLP, 90 Long Acre, London, WC2E 9RA, UK
To Register - please send your name, affiliation, phone number, category to biz22@aptn.org Hugh Purser He was Director of Business Development at Singapore's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology responsible for the licensing and commercialisation of research activities, including the formation of spin-off companies. He was fulltime consultant in the Executive Director's Office of Singapore's National Science & Technology Board (now A*Star), where a central area of activity was the support and development of entrepreneur-driven technology start-up activity. Concurrently he was a director of a specialist technology start-up venture capital fund, the Technology Fund. In 2000 he became Director of Algometrics (Cayman) Limited, a hedge fund, and Senior Vice President of Algometrics Limited, the London-based management company, regulated by the FSA. In 2004 Hugh became an adviser to the Global BioBusiness Initiative at the Marshall School, University of Southern California. For several years he was a judge of the Cambridge University students Business Plan competition. During 2009 he was an adviser to the UK Japan Next Generation Energy Project. He is Chairman of Exudo Networks (www.exudo.com), a B2B and B2C technology platform which serves the needs of retailers, clubs or communities. He is representative of Singapore-based Dimeled Pte Ltd to promote its business interests and network in the UK and Europe He is an advisory board member of the Asia-Pacific Technology Network and manager of the AP Cleantech group of APTN.
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