By Ryan Kirsch
Industry leaders in healthcare, technology, energy or most any type of manufacturing know Rare Strategic Metals (RSMs) are required to keep them in business. National Geographic called RSMs “the secret ingredient in almost everything.”
It’s no wonder investors stockpile RSMs to sell at an enormous profit when shortages hit. World governments are in on the stockpiling as well, because if big industry is in trouble, GNP suffers.
How can you as an individual investor gain the clout of big business, big government and big investors?
Until recently, you could not. These metals could only be purchased in bulk by metal traders and manufacturers. The ASI program now makes them available to individual citizens and institutions in smaller quantities.
Liquidity and attractive pricing are the benefits of buying RSMs through ASI.
With our RSM program, you enjoy the same kind of liquidity you have experienced with gold, silver and other precious metals through ASI.
You can choose from individual metals, such as:
- Strategic Metals: Dysprosium, Indium, Rhenium, Gallium, Germanium, Hafnium, Tantalum, Bismuth and Tungsten
- Base Metals: Tin, Copper, Molybdenum, Cobalt and Nickel
- Precious Metals: Rhodium, Platinum, Ruthenium, Silver, Gold and Platinum
Do not be concerned with storage.
Your Rare Strategic Metals are stored, allocated and segregated in highly secure storage facilities within Duty Free Zones just outside Zurich, Switzerland. You may view your physical holdings at any time just by providing the Deed of Ownership delivered to you after completing the purchase.
Selecting the right metal – ASI can help
With some help from our industrial suppliers, ASI has been studying and following the supply, demand and price movements of RSMs and have pinpointed the ones with the best potential under current conditions:
1. Rhenium
Rhenium is important to military strategy – the manufacture of stealth aircraft, military jet engines and rocket engines – plus, it is vital to missile propulsion. It is also used for electrical contact material, flash lamps in photography, combustion chambers, turbine blades, exhaust nozzles, high octane lead free gasoline and liver cancer treatment.
Because of the low availability of this metal (45 tons per year) relative to the high demand, Rhenium is highly prized and currently costs about $3,500 per kilo.
2. Dysprosium
Dysprosium is vital to nuclear energy, refrigeration, laser materials, commercial lighting and automotive manufacturing. One of its more exciting applications is in electric and hybrid vehicles, which are being strongly promoted in both China and the EU. This industry alone requires over 100 grams of Dysprosium in the drive motors for every car produced. Toyota’s projected output of 2 million cars per year alone will require more dysprosium than is currently available.
A recent European Union study named Dysprosium as its number one, most-needed RSM and also one of the eight metals listed as ‘At Risk’ for supply shortages as part of the EU’s decarbonization efforts. In fact, the U.S. Department of Defense expects a 47 ton shortfall because of expected military applications with only 100 tons of Dysprosium produced each year.
3. Gallium
Gallium, when combined with Indium and Tin, becomes an alloy called Galinstan, which is a non toxic Mercury substitute. That makes Gallium essential for thermometers.
However, the main use for Gallium today is in the manufacturing of semiconductors. Gallium increases the functionality significantly over that of older technologies such as silicon-based semiconductors.
Gallium is necessary, also, for a new type of light-emitting diode (LED), which won Japanese scientists the Nobel Prize. Eventually, all public lighting, and much consumer lighting, will use the new ‘blue light’ LED… cutting costs worldwide.
Gallium is a very rare mineral. Approximately 100 tons of raw Gallium are produced annually, primarily in China. Further, Gallium’s production appears not to be keeping up with demand; a sure sign of rising prices.
4. Hafnium
Hafnium’s key application is nuclear technology. It is non-reactive and creates a nuclear shield. With new reactors being built in many countries, including India, the demand has skyrocketed.
The cost of Hafnium has increased 60% in the past ten months. The buy-in price is a hefty $600,000, minimum… and, therefore, out of reach for many of us. However, Hafnium illustrates the upside potential of rare metals in high demand. Analysts predict further short-term profits for Hafnium still.
Other key applications of Hafnium include micro-processing. Computer chips have reached their present performance levels largely due to the inclusion of this element.
Want to know more? Get a brochure from our friends at Asset Strategies.
A world without metals?