Today I received a nice set of declassified articles related to US dependence on foreign minerals and associated risks.  This was my very first FOIA success, and it took only 263 days to fill! (I made the request to the CIA on 22 Sep 08, and it was filled on 12 Jun 09).  The articles include:

• Strategic Minerals: Review of the Issues (in the CIA International Economic & Energy Weekly, 27 November 1981) [see Scribd link]
• Western Platinum Dependence: A Risk Assessment (CIA Research Paper, January 1985) [see Scribd link]
• Russia Increasingly Influential in the Global Diamond Market (date unknown) [see Scribd link]
• Critical Minerals: Estimated Import Dependence of Major Free World Industrial Nations [see Scribd link]

I intend to use these products as examples of how some members of the intelligence community do a risk assessment AND how to make a FOIA request.  Enjoy!

BTW: CIA makes it very easy to submit FOIA requests – they provide all the instructions on their website.  But only if they would accept email requests… presently requests can only be made by mail or fax.

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