The Death of Technology?

Talk of technological “singularities” and machines going to war against humans is at an all-time high, but ironically, we recently came pretty close to an apocalyptic scenario from the exact opposite end of the global disaster spectrum.

Few may have realized it, but in the last few years, it wasn’t technological advancement that posed a threat to global stability — it was technological demise.

How is this possible, you might ask, in the age where everything from your cell phone to your thermostat is computerized, wireless, networked, and synced together?

Well, the truth is, as powerful a force as modern technology has become, it also suffers from a common weakness…

You know the saying: “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” Well, modern microprocessors illustrate this point with frightening clarity.

Their common weakness is a material — actually a family of metals — without which things like electric motors, rechargeable batteries, and microchips themselves cannot exist.

Every piece of modern technology, whether it’s a handheld device or a $150 million F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, absolutely needs these elements the same way we need water or oxygen.

This family of elements is called Rare Earth Metals, or Rare Earth Elements (known in the industry as REE).

They’re commonly referred to as technology metals, however, because of their unique physical properties.

And as you may have guessed, the demand for REEs has exploded over the course of the last 20 years — mirroring the exponential increase in the consumer electronics market.

It was a fairly predictable shift in the market. Unfortunately, our own government, which is the world’s biggest consumer of REEs, was too shortsighted to prepare for it.

No Longer Just Dim Sum and Cheap Knockoffs

Another world power was not quite as naïve… and this is precisely where the problem began.

The Chinese saw this trend developing, and instead of just watching it go by, they invested in it.

In fact, they did more than just invest. They bought close to 100% of the known global reserves and production of REEs — enough to control the market.

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Monopolies may be illegal here in the States, but to the Chinese, anti-trust laws meant nothing, and their two-decades-long buying spree went essentially unhindered.

By the time the Department of Defense began to realize what sort of position it was in — relying on foreign, potentially hostile sources for an essential industrial material — it was way too late.

By the end of this century’s first decade, the Chinese had more than 95% of the world’s REE supply firmly in their control.

And with REE demand still growing, China’s position to leverage influence and political pressure on Western powers seemed firmly guaranteed.

So how does this translate into the death of technology? Well, with their ability to control the markets, the Chinese would have the world’s consumers at their mercy.

Things like profit margins and production volume would become ultimately dependent on the whims of China’s market makers.

Far less significant aberrations in the global economy have caused recessions before — even depressions.

But this level of artificial, hostile control was definitely unprecedented, and given the right situation, the Chinese would have had the power to wage an industrial war on the U.S. and its allies that we simply would have no way to counter.

Breaking the Global Monopoly

We came damn close to giving the Chinese this opportunity, but in the end, something happened that nobody could have anticipated…

A discovery was made on one of the world’s most forbidding places that completely turned China’s plan to monopolize the REE market upside down.

It was the biggest known deposit of its kind — containing as much as a quarter of the world’s supply by some estimates.

And unlike every major REE resource that came before it, this one wasn’t going to fall into Chinese hands.

This property, which is about 300 square miles in size, contains close to $300 billion worth of REEs — enough to satisfy Western demand for decades.

But what’s most interesting is the identity of this property’s owner.

It’s not a government or a giant multibillion-dollar corporation. Instead, it’s a tiny mining exploration company, with a market capitalization thousands of times smaller than the value of the resources locked within the geology.

This company recently hit a major milestone in its development — ending years of preparatory activities and kicking off a new stage in the company’s life cycle.

When full-scale production starts, this company could become one of the most powerful firms in the industry.

Today, however, it’s still quite small — leaving investors with an opportunity that may not come around again in this form.

This company’s story has yet to make its rounds through the investment community, but that might change very soon.

A report was recently released by one of our editors, Alex Koyfman, and it may finally blow the lid off this developing situation.

I recommend you get all the details as soon as you can.

For instant, free access to this report, click here.

To your wealth,

Brian Hicks

Brian is a founding member and President of Angel Publishing and investment director for the income and dividend newsletter The Wealth Advisory. He writes about general investment strategies for Tech Investing Daily, Wealth Daily and Energy & Capital. Known as the “original bull on America,” Brian is also the author of the 2008 book, Profit from the Peak: The End of Oil and the Greatest Investment Event of the Century. In addition to writing about the economy, investments and politics, Brian is also a frequent guest on CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox and countless radio shows. For more on Brian, take a look at his editor’s page.