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One bonus of the global recession is that it wiped a lot of incompetent hedge fund managers and energy speculators from the canyons of Wall Street. As the Gordon Gecko sycophants regroup and look for the next Big Thing, maximizing profit while minimizing risk, the landscape looks very different than it did a year ago. In such a climate, it is uranium, not oil and natural gas that would seem to have the brightest future for one simple, overriding capitalist principle - supply and demand.

Whatever agreements are reached at December's global climate warming summit in Copenhagen, they can only boost uranium's appeal, as the carbon footprint of a nuclear power station consists primarily of the carbon cost of mining uranium fuel, not a nuclear power plant (NPP)'s operation. According a University of Wisconsin study, NPPs only emit about 17 tons of carbon dioxide per megawatt, little more than wind and geothermal power, the lowest sources. In contrast, coal has the highest carbon emissions at about 1,000 tons per megawatt. Accordingly, expect to see many nuclear power cheerleaders emerge in Copenhagen.

Consider - two years ago, London's World Nuclear Association in May reported that worldwide, 256 reactors were either in the planning stage or under construction. Even Ukraine, site of the infamous 1986 Chernobyl disaster, has announced plans to build 22 new nuclear power stations, while the United States, site of the 1979 Three Mile Island partial meltdown accident, has 23 reactors being proposed. These new reactors would be in addition to the 439 nuclear power reactors worldwide in 31 countries generating 372,000 megawatts reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency, an increase of 58 percent, all needing fuel.

According to the Wall Street Journal on November 29, "Iran announced a massive expansion of its nuclear program. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled in a cabinet meeting plans to build 10 more nuclear facilities for enriching uranium."

The nuclear issue even impacted last year's U.S. presidential election, as Republican nominee John McCain committed his administration, if elected, to begin planning for the eventual construction of 45 new nuclear power plants in the United States by 2030, twice the number currently on the drawing boards.

Europe is also interested in expanding its nuclear power industry, which represents 45 percent of the world's currently operating nuclear facilities and 33 percent of new reactor construction. European nations currently operate 197 nuclear power plants generating 169,842 megawatts, and 12 European countries are planning or considering proposals for up to 67 additional reactors.

The recent revelations of a International Energy Administration whistleblower that the IEA may have distorted key oil projections under intense U.S. pressure is, if true (and whistleblowers rarely come forward to advance their careers), a slow-burning thermonuclear explosion on future global oil production. The Bush administration's actions in pressuring the IEA to underplay the rate of decline from existing oil fields while overplaying the chances of finding new reserves have the potential to throw governments' long-term planning into chaos.

Whatever the reality, rising long term global demands seem certain to outstrip production in the next decade, especially given the high and rising costs of developing new super-fields such as Kazakhstan's offshore Kashagan and Brazil's southern Atlantic Jupiter and Carioca fields, which will require billions in investments before their first barrels of oil are produced.

In such a scenario, additives and substitutes such as biofuels will play an ever-increasing role by stretching beleaguered production quotas. As market forces and rising prices drive this technology to the forefront, one of the richest potential production areas has been totally overlooked by investors up to now - Central Asia. Formerly the USSR's cotton "plantation," the region is poised to become a major player in the production of biofuels if sufficient foreign investment can be procured. Unlike Brazil, where biofuel is manufactured largely from sugarcane, or the United States, where it is primarily distilled from corn, Central Asia's ace resource is an indigenous plant, Camelina sativa.

Of the former Soviet Caucasian and Central Asian republics, those clustered around the shores of the Caspian, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have seen their economies boom because of record-high energy prices, while Turkmenistan is waiting in the wings as a rising producer of natural gas.

Farther to the east, in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, geographical isolation and relatively scant hydrocarbon resources relative to their Western Caspian neighbors have largely inhibited their ability to cash in on rising global energy demands up to now. Mountainous Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan remain largely dependent for their electrical needs on their Soviet-era hydroelectric infrastructure, but their heightened need to generate winter electricity has led to autumnal and winter water discharges, in turn severely impacting the agriculture of their western downstream neighbors Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

What these three downstream countries do have however is a Soviet-era legacy of agricultural production, which in Uzbekistan's and Turkmenistan case was largely directed towards cotton production, while Kazakhstan, beginning in the 1950s with Khrushchev's "Virgin Lands" programs, has become a major producer of wheat. Based on my discussions with Central Asian government officials, given the thirsty demands of cotton monoculture, foreign proposals to diversify agrarian production towards biofuel would have great appeal in Astana, Ashgabat and Tashkent and to a lesser extent Astana for those hardy investors willing to bet on the future, especially as a plant indigenous to the region has already proven itself in trials.

Known in the West as false flax, wild flax, linseed dodder, German sesame and Siberian oilseed, camelina is attracting increased scientific interest for its oleaginous qualities, with several European and American companies already investigating how to produce it in commercial quantities for biofuel. In January Japan Airlines undertook a historic test flight using camelina-based bio-jet fuel, becoming the first Asian carrier to experiment with flying on fuel derived from sustainable feedstocks during a one-hour demonstration flight from Tokyo's Haneda Airport. The test was the culmination of a 12-month evaluation of camelina's operational performance capability and potential commercial viability.

As an alternative energy source, camelina has much to recommend it. It has a high oil content low in saturated fat. In contrast to Central Asia's thirsty "king cotton," camelina is drought-resistant and immune to spring freezing, requires less fertilizer and herbicides, and can be used as a rotation crop with wheat, which would make it of particular interest in Kazakhstan, now Central Asia's major wheat exporter. Another bonus of camelina is its tolerance of poorer, less fertile conditions. An acre sown with camelina can produce up to 100 gallons of oil and when planted in rotation with wheat, camelina can increase wheat production by 15 percent. A ton (1000 kg) of camelina will contain 350 kg of oil, of which pressing can extract 250 kg. Nothing in camelina production is wasted as after processing, the plant's debris can be used for livestock silage. Camelina silage has a particularly attractive concentration of omega-3 fatty acids that make it a particularly fine livestock feed candidate that is just now gaining recognition in the U.S. and Canada. Camelina is fast growing, produces its own natural herbicide (allelopathy) and competes well against weeds when an even crop is established. According to Britain's Bangor University's Centre for Alternative Land Use, "Camelina could be an ideal low-input crop suitable for bio-diesel production, due to its lower requirements for nitrogen fertilizer than oilseed rape."

December copper futures on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday hit a fresh 14-month high of $3.1720 a pound. Price action this week has also seen a bullish upside technical "breakout" from a sideways trading range at higher price levels that had been in place for three weeks.

The red industrial metal is also in an 11-month-old uptrend from the December 2008 low of $1.3115. The copper bulls this week have gained fresh technical momentum and their next upside price objective is pushing and closing December futures prices above technical resistance at $3.2500 a pound. If nearby copper futures produce multiple closes below what is now solid technical support at the $3.0000 level, then bullish enthusiasm would be dented and that would be an early technical clue that a market top is in place.

Veteran market watchers know the copper market can be an early indicator of price action in other major commodity markets as well as the U.S. stock market. If the copper market starts to back down from its highs, that would also be an early bearish warning signal for the other raw commodity markets as well as the U.S. stock indexes. Stay tuned! Jim Wyckoff.

The housing market's impact on the entire economy can not be understated. As nearly two dozen sub-prime mortgage companies have gone under in the past few months, economists are beginning to worry that the real estate collapse may soon spill over in to other areas. Even Alan Greenspan, the perennial optimist, admitted today that the country is on the brink of a recession. To many, the timing of these bankruptcies were unpredictable. But for those who watch the copper market closely, much of this could have been predicted.

Over the past week, an escalation of violence in Guinea is causing disruptions to the bauxite supply coming out of the country. With the imposition of martial law a few days ago, shipments to the main port of Guinea have been halted, giving aluminum speculators reason to take notice. If the violence continues to be an issue, the price of aluminum may soon begin to feel the effects of the current conflict in Guinea.

By Jim Jones

CAPE TOWN (ResourceInvestor.com) -- “It’s dangerous when bankers try to predict the future,” said Mark Tyler, Head of Mining and Resources at Nedbank at this year’s Mining Indaba.

But this opening statement by Tyler did not prevent him from gazing into his crystal ball and to come up with some sobering thoughts on the current minerals boom.

During the Roman empire, ruthless leaders became fascinated with the possibility of world domination. By extending its military and conquering lands throughout Europe and Egypt, Rome became arguably the greatest sovereign state the world has ever seen. Eventually, however, it became a mammoth too large to contain, and enormous amounts of money were required to sustain Rome's control over distant lands. Without enough gold in the bank to finance their operations, the government decided to trick its citizens, by placing less gold into each Roman coin.

By Charlotte Mathews

JOHANNESBURG (Business Day) -- The biggest events on global mining calendars this week will be the release of year-end results by resources giant BHP Billiton tomorrow and by platinum miner Impala Platinum on Friday.