All articles tagged with #critical minerals
Ontario premier Doug Ford warned that Canada should be ready to use leverage against the United States in the tariff dispute, including potentially cutting electricity exports and restricting Ontario’s supply of critical minerals, while also flagging oil and potash as options; the comments come as U.S. tariffs magnify a cross-border confrontation deeply tied to the auto sector and strategic minerals like nickel and uranium.
The U.S. Department of Energy awarded Waterleaf P1 HoldCo (a Lilac Solutions subsidiary) a $100 million grant to develop a commercial lithium extraction and refining facility on the Great Salt Lake’s northeastern shore, aiming to double U.S. lithium production and strengthen domestic supply chains; Utah is positioning itself as a leader in critical minerals, with federal coordination on water use and brine return amid environmental concerns as the project moves forward.
Democrats plan aggressive scrutiny of the Trump administration’s multi‑billion‑dollar push into domestic critical minerals, citing possible conflicts of interest with the Trump family and Cantor Fitzgerald as they demand records and consider subpoenas. With hundreds of deals and billions in federal backing aimed at reshoring supply chains, lawmakers are probing firms like Vulcan Elements, USA Rare Earth, and Kaz Resources, while the White House defends the program as vital to national security and industry cautions about chilling investment.
Sunrise Energy Metals jumped as much as 29% after the U.S. provided $400 million in long‑term debt financing to back the development of the world’s first primary scandium mine at Sunrise’s Syerston project in New South Wales. The funding, via the U.S. Office of Strategic Capital with a conditional loan commitment from the DoD, fits a broader push to diversify away from China’s dominance in rare earths and establish a scandium value chain for defense and tech uses; the shares later closed over 16% higher, underscoring the strategic importance of critical minerals.”
India seeks a foothold in Indonesia's critical minerals processing network—centered on nickel and currently dominated by China—through joint ventures to refine minerals in Indonesia for export to India, while Modi and Prabowo also discuss expanding defence ties including a potential BrahMos missile sale.
Uzbekistan’s first World Cup appearance has drawn U.S. policymakers’ attention to the Central Five region’s role in critical minerals, with a Houston policy panel and a White House meeting that secured a $400 million investment and highlighted national-security aims to diversify away from China; the coverage also threads in how soccer influences U.S. politics (e.g., Josh Shapiro in Philadelphia) and touches on related World Cup logistics and enforcement stories in New York-New Jersey and beyond.
The US Army will allow several companies—REalloys Inc., Titan Mining Corp., ioneer Ltd., and Energy Exploration Technologies Inc.—to build critical minerals processing plants at U.S. military bases, including locations like Toole Army Depot (UT), Pine Bluff Arsenal (AR), and Anniston Army Depot (AL). The initiative aims to boost domestic production of rare earths, graphite, lithium, and boron and reduce reliance on imports (notably from China), strengthening the defense-industrial base.
Two Japanese employees of a major industrial company were detained in Dalian, China, in May for allegedly attempting to smuggle rare earth minerals, signaling a new escalation in the China–Japan dispute as Beijing tightens controls on critical minerals and Japan vows to protect its nationals overseas.
Energy Fuels announced a conditional commitment for up to $725 million of senior-secured debt from the U.S. Office of Strategic Capital to fund the expansion of its U.S. rare earths and critical materials processing at the White Mesa Mill in Utah and to develop a U.S.-based rare earth metals and alloys facility; the 20-year tenor financing is contingent on due diligence, definitive documentation, closing conditions, and approvals, and could also support a planned Australian Strategic Materials acquisition. Proceeds would advance project development, processing capacity, supply-chain integration, and working capital to strengthen the domestic critical materials supply chain.
G7 leaders meet in Evian-les-Bains as the U.S. and Iran announce a preliminary deal to end their conflict; the summit will discuss Iran deal details, Ukraine support, global economic imbalances, and diversifying critical minerals away from China, with Macron hosting and Trump in attendance, signaling a shifting posture by the United States.
Japan and Australia pledged deeper cooperation on energy, defense and critical minerals, signaling a strengthened strategic partnership as geopolitical tensions grow.
Japan's PM Sanae Takaichi pledges deeper energy ties with Vietnam, signing six agreements including on technology, agriculture and space, with a focus on critical minerals and arranging crude oil supplies for Vietnam's Nghi Son refinery under the Power Asia Initiative, while both sides stress peaceful dispute resolution in the South China Sea and broader economic-security cooperation.
The Conversation piece by UNU researchers argues that the push to secure critical minerals for AI, EVs, wind, and digital tech risks concentrating pollution and water stress in poor communities. 2024 lithium mining alone consumed about 456 billion liters of water, with places like Chile’s Atacama using up to 65% of regional water and polluted rivers harming ecosystems. Health impacts include higher miscarriage rates, birth defects, infant mortality, cancers, and other illnesses linked to heavy metals, especially in the DRC’s cobalt and copper regions. The authors urge stronger international governance, binding supply-chain and environmental standards, local community co-governance, water-saving mining tech, better wastewater management, and greater recycling and product longevity to prevent “sacrifice zones” and ensure a just energy transition.
A UNU-INWEH report warns that surging demand for lithium, cobalt and nickel—the core of batteries and chips—drains water, contaminates rivers, hurts agriculture, and harms health in poor mining regions from the DRC to Chile and Bolivia. About 456 billion litres of water were used to extract 240,000 tonnes of lithium in 2024, while cobalt and nickel pose additional risks; 700 million tonnes of waste were generated by global rare-earth production. Although greener energy reduces emissions for consumers in the Global North, the costs fall on communities far away, prompting protests and calls for mandatory international due diligence, tighter pollution controls, and independent water monitoring as the green transition expands. Without reform, developing countries risk bearing the burden of a transition that wealthier nations benefit from.
Ambassador Jamieson Greer announced that the United States and the European Union have agreed on an Action Plan to coordinate trade policies for critical minerals, with the goal of negotiating a binding plurilateral agreement and exploring measures such as border-adjusted price floors to bolster domestic industries and downstream sectors.