Searching for Love and Rare Earth Elements

China controls 90 percent of the rare earth elements that make modern life possible for missile guidance systems, F-35 jets, drones, smartphones, electric cars, and more. When Beijing finally weaponizes that leverage, the modern world discovers how fragile its technology really is. Dr. James Peterson of MIT has been warning about this moment for years. Now the Pentagon wants his help to turn untested ideas and scattered investments into a real supply chain before America’s arsenals and factories grind to a halt. Among one of their ideas is a pilot project, where coal waste, old gold mines, and abandoned tunnels may hide the largest untapped cache of rare earth ore on earth. Florida Keys treasure hunter Billy Hartwell, and CIA undercover officer Anne Larsen head north, on vacation, hoping to catch a thousand pound tuna and play a few rounds of golf. A near collision at sea and a mysterious field of rocks on the ocean floor pull them into Dr. Peterson’s quest for rare earth metals. Meanwhile, Tom Adams, a brilliant young American scientist, sees the crisis as his one shot at wealth, even if it means trading secrets with a Chinese rival tied to the Ministry of State Security. A cast of characters from the Pentagon war rooms, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, CIA agents, Chinese scientists, and U.S. scientists are fighting each other to break the grip of the Chinese who currently control the global balance of power. Read more