When a large hi-tech company decided not to expand its operations in Saint George, Utah, I was determined to find out why.

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Virtually all U.S. advanced electronics, as eminent chemist Arthur Robinson reported last month in his newsletter Access to Energy, are dependent on rare earth elements used to enhance the performance of microchips and held in a near global monopoly by the Chinese firm Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Company in Mongolia.

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In both, a substantial stake is held by Hi-Tech Petroleum Group, a company set up by a former oil minister, Abdel Aziz Osman.

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But in the offices adjoining the plant, a company called Freescale employs 180 people designing hi-tech automotive systems.

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He served as a company commander in the paratroopers, and then went on to make a fortune in the hi-tech sector.

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Another company created by Cambridge University Engineering Department and supported by Cambridge Entrepreneurship Centre is working on a hi-tech replacement for rear-view mirrors on vehicles.

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