All articles tagged with #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.
As energy costs rise from the Iran conflict, Western allies push faster electrification and renewables to shield economies, but fear swapping one dependency for another as China dominates clean-tech supply chains and critical minerals. Countries weigh domestic production and foreign investment limits against rapid decarbonization, leading to a patchwork of strategies—strengthening energy security while navigating Beijing’s dominance and global markets.
The Middle East conflict has damaged U.S. radar interceptors in the region, depleting stocks and forcing Washington to restock. A key bottleneck is gallium, a critical mineral largely processed in China, which could give Beijing leverage as the U.S. seeks to rebuild its weapons cache. Gallium prices have surged and experts warn diversifying and securing resilient supply chains will take years, prompting the U.S. to pursue allied deals (e.g., with Australia), stockpiles, and domestic refining capacity to reduce dependence on China.
Trump and Prime Minister Takaichi unveil a broader U.S.–Japan partnership to strengthen economic security, supply-chain resilience, and regional deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, including major Japanese investments in power and natural gas, expanded critical minerals cooperation, joint AI/quantum/space initiatives, enhanced missile defense and cloud security, and visa facilitation for business travelers, while reaffirming commitments on Taiwan, North Korea denuclearization, abductee issues, and regional stability.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged Canada and Australia to act as “strategic cousins,” advocating deeper cooperation on critical minerals, defence, trade, AI, and supply chains, while Australia joins the G7 critical minerals alliance. He framed the two nations as complementary middle powers countering dominant powers through enhanced collaboration and sovereign capacity, and he criticized the legality of recent Iran strikes as potentially unlawful, urging a more consultative international approach.