Sustainability of Strategic Minerals in Southern Africa and Potential Conflicts and Partnerships

Abstract

The principal sustainability challenge in Southern Africa for the United States and its allies is uncertain access to strategic minerals, particularly platinum group metals (PGMs), chromium and manganese; and rare earth minerals, cobalt and uranium. The causes of this challenge are increasing global demand and supply shortages caused by inadequate infrastructure, politicization of the mining industry, and China's aggressive, monopolistic behavior in pursuit of minerals. The challenge is most acute in the five Southern African countries of South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Environmental sustainability of the mining industry is another concern. The purpose of this paper is to provide scope to the problem and recommend steps the United States can take in order to ensure continued access.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA535875

Entities

People

  • Stephen Burgess

Organizations

  • United States Air Force Academy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Africa
  • Agreements
  • Air Force
  • Commerce
  • Department Of Defense
  • Governments
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Organizations
  • Law
  • Market Economy
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Security
  • South Africa
  • United States
  • United States Africa Command
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Economics
  • International Relations, focusing on Korea-Africa and North Korea-South Korea relations, and Nigeria-Latin American Relations.
  • Materials Science and Engineering.