Spinneret, by Timothy Zahn

The basic premise of Spinneret is that humanity invents a faster than light drive, builds starships to explore the galaxy, only to find that all the available real estate is already claimed by one alien race or another.

The only world available is completely lacking in metals, requiring nearly everything to be imported from Earth. This world is also owned by an alien race, but one that's willing to give humankind a good deal on a 99 year lease. Life on the new planet is difficult, especially when the trace metals in the fertilizer spread to help crops grow starts to inexplicably disappear.

The fun starts when the colonists discover a previously unknown alien technology, and all of a sudden every alien race within range is interested in the planet that nobody had wanted. Combine that with the United Nations wanting to take control of the colony (which was primarily funded through the United States), and agitators within the colony lobbying for equal rights for the farmers, and you have a mess of gigantic proportions.

If you enjoy good old fashioned science fiction, where the science doesn't have to be too hard but the plot must be good, Spinneret will be a treat.