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--></style></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> John Clark <johnkclark@gmail.com> <br><b>…</b></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>>…I can't think of any application<span class=gmaildefault> in which the rare earths don't need to be refined out into separate elements, if there is such an application it must not be a very important one…</span> <span class=gmaildefault>John K Clark</span></span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>If such applications exist, we wouldn’t know. Those would be held as trade secrets. An example would be a company that uses tons of material in which a foreign country, an unreliable trade partner held a monopoly. That company would look for applications of mixtures of rare earth elements, where everything easily separated is gone. Then the remaining mixture, which is easy to get and doesn’t cost much, might be used in high efficiency magnets. Since the company uses a lot of those, it would be better for them to hold that information as a trade secret rather than try to protect it with a patent.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>When it comes to recipes for high efficiency magnets, those are not effectively protected by patents anyway. It is easy enough to come up with a one-off recipe or add a pinch of this and a smattering of that, then claim it is a different recipe.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>Recognizing all this, Musk found a way to phase out rare earth elements without losing significant performance in his magnets.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>Once you start pondering why rare earth elements would make a better magnet, it all makes perfect sense. Those big metal atoms can ionize either way, for they tend to be ambivalent toward their outermost electrons. They hold domains in place. One can theorize that the actinide period would work even better than the lanthanides, but those have a bad habit of being radioactive. But we can go up the group one period if that element is cheaper and more easily available. <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>How much is Tesla worth? This I can calmly assure you: Elon wouldn’t risk the entire company on the continuing availability of anything on which China has a monopoly. The US military wouldn’t base their technology on any material in which it didn’t hold a fifty year stockpile. Conclusion: the notion that the world’s industrial powers squirm helplessly in the ruthless talons of Communist China is nonsense. That absurdity has been intentionally exaggerated for economic reasons. <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>There is a bright side to it however. Speculators who understand the ideas or theories are wrong can still make huge profits off of absurd notions. <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'> </span></b></span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div></div></body></html>