We take a look at the fuel of choice for the newest generation of nuclear power.

• Why is thorium better than uranium?
• Are there pure-plays for thorium?
• Keep your eyes on these technologies

• The many electronic faces of indium
• Does smuggling to Japan make a difference?
• Which companies give exposure

In the latest installment of our Minor Metals series, we take a look at battery-powering cadmium.

• Cadmium’s changing demand picture
• The metal’s connection to solar
• The one major overlooked opportunity in cadmium

Ads for cubic zirconia rings as thrifty diamond substitutes are all but passé. We delve into the shiny chemical element's other uses ...

• More abundant than copper
• The largest consumers
• Market prospects

• China as ‘the big snowball’
• Manganese as the next molybdenum
• How to play the Three M’s

An alloy used in the Model T faces increasing demand from a China-driven market.

• What is vanadium?
• Where does it come from?
• How can you invest?

The most profitable way to play the clean energy boom may be to invest, not in clean energy producers, but in the rare and unusual materials they need to operate.

• The picks-and-shovels approach to clean energy
• From silicon to rare earth metals
• Compact fluorescents: A big opportunity?

• The "Green" metal
• Increasingly a lead substitute
• Biological agent?

It may be hard to access, but this little-known metal plays a key role in defense, technology and solar arrays.

• CIGS vs. silicon
• Tapping into the recyclers
• The outlook for prices

• General uses
• Supply and demand
• Investing opportunities?