STOCK MARKET WATCH -- 9 August 2012

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13. North Korea Is Thought To Be Sitting On $6 Trillion Worth Of Rare Minerals

http://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-is-thought-to-be-sitting-on-6-trillion-worth-of-rare-earth-metals-2012-8

Anyone following North Korean press may have noticed the country seems to be indulging in some sort of construction boom recently. Kim Jong-un seems to be constantly opening impressive new amusement parks, and recent photos from Pyongyang showed large-scale projects and gleaming towers hitting the skyline. Then, of course, there's the rocket launches, and the rumors of another atomic bomb.
So where is the money coming from?
In an article over at Asia Times, Leonid A Petrov, a lecturer in Korean studies at the University of Sydney, points out that many experts expected the North Korean state to crumble after the fall of the USSR. Petrov writes that the country's salvation came from its incredible natural resources.
The country's mountainous regions are thought to sit on around 200 different minerals, including, crucially, a large number of rare earth metals. The total worth of these deposits is thought to be worth more than $6 trillion*.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-is-thought-to-be-sitting-on-6-trillion-worth-of-rare-earth-metals-2012-8#ixzz232putTpT