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Chile exports 50 percent of the world's lithium, mostly through a formerly state-owned company called SQM. The company mines lithium at the huge Atacama Salt Flat, tapping an estimated 2.5 million metric tons in lithium reserves. Julio Ponce Lerou is the son-in-law of the brutal military dictator, Augusto Pinochet, and is the man in control of formerly state-owned SQM.

Larou's control of Chilean lithium is a classic story of corruption common wherever privatization schemes have unfolded.

Unfortunately, Bolivia does not have the money to mine, refine and add value to lithium this way. Morales has stated that he is actively seeking private investment, but that Bolivia wants "partners, not bosses." This approach has scared away foreign investment, compounded by Morales' closeness to Venezuelan President and U.S. antagonist Hugo Chavez. There are also significant infrastructure problems. The Uyuni flats are remote and inaccessible by road and train, whereas the Atacama flats are very easy to reach. Bolivia has established a state-owned lithium company, and even has met local resistance. The local folk of Uyuni insist on sharing the benefits of mining. Bolivian leaders believe that increasing global demand for lithium will help trump these challenges and will allow the country to become the dominant producer.

In our opinion, the lack of overt inflation to date due to the "successful" implementation of globalization, aka exporting inflation to China and anyone else who needs to purchase US securities, is the sole reason why there has not been an explosion in fiat-denominated prices to date. Yet as Zero Hedge has been pointing out for several months, the global trade picture is now dramatically changed, and China will need to look inward rather than outward. This means, that sooner or later exporting inflation as a fiat policy will fail. When pundits finally comprehend this and start blaring about it every day on CNBC, that is when the rush to gold (plated) safety will finally become acute.

The fact that only a small percentage of the minerals used in cell phones actually come from the DRC, that the region is largely at peace now, and that the situation defies easy solutions, if mentioned at all, is typically buried in the group's more complex reports, or brushed aside.

the problem arises when simplification results in distortion, which is exactly what has happened here.This is probably why, despite being able to claim support at the national level from the country's Catholic bishops and a civil society organization or two, the conflict minerals platform lacks meaningful support from most CSO's in the Kivus.

My fear is that, as a direct result of Enough's narrowly focused advocacy campaign, Congress will now think it has taken sufficient action to end the conflict in the eastern DRC. That couldn't be further from the truth.

While recent statistics show that China's gold imports have risen dramatically this year, despite China itself being the world's largest gold producer with mine production still rising to, anecdotal evidence suggests that this may just be the tip of the iceberg as Chinese people are, apparently, rushing to buy gold as an inflation hedge. A report in the Financial Times suggests that gold purchasing by individuals is turning into such a rush - and the rising price, if anything, is - contrary to Indian experience - fuelling the intensity of gold demand there.  With the ever-rising growth in the numbers of middle-income Chinese as the country's wealth drips down to the people, this source of gold demand is becoming increasingly relevant to the global market.  China is expected to surpass India as the world's leading gold purchaser within the next few years and with the kind of surge in popularity of gold bars and coins, rather than jewellery, there this could even take place sooner rather than later. As an indicator of the kind of demand being seen in China, FT Reporter Leslie Hook notes in a despatch from the Chinese capital: "At Beijing's largest gold shop, the queues to buy bullion mini bars have turned into scrums as customers jostle for one of the country's hottest commodities. The phone behind the bullion counter rings off the hook as a frantic sales clerk tries to answer buyers' questions. The electronic chart displayed behind him says it all: the price of gold is rising and Chinese investors, worried about inflation, want in on the trend."