All articles tagged with #rare earths
Marie Perrin, 28, developed a selective, single-step method to extract europium from waste such as broken lamps, reducing chemical waste and energy use versus traditional ore-based methods. She started the startup Reecover to scale the process and has earned a place on the European Patent Office’s Young Inventors list, signaling potential to disrupt the global rare earths supply chain.
The US government, via the Office of Strategic Capital, approved a $400 million loan to Sunrise Energy to advance its Syerston scandium mine near Parkes, NSW, with a right of first offer on output and a planned US listing; backed by Robert Friedland, the move aims to diversify non-Chinese rare-earth supplies for defence and tech industries, and Sunrise shares rose as production is targeted for the second half of 2028.
The US DoD announced a $400 million conditional loan to Sunrise Energy Metals to build the Syerston Scandium Project in Fifield, NSW—the world’s first primary scandium mine—aimed at securing Western supply amid China’s export controls; the project is part of a broader push including a bilateral critical minerals pact and a planned $3 billion in investments to boost domestic production for defence, aerospace and telecom tech.
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.
The U.S. backs Virtus Minerals to develop Chemaf’s Étoile and Mutoshi cobalt and copper mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo—the first U.S.-owned operator there in over a decade—aiming for about 75,000 tonnes of copper and 20,000 tonnes of cobalt a year, exported via the Lobito Corridor to Angola with a $5 billion rail investment; officials call it a flagship investment to diversify critical mineral supply chains and counter China’s dominance in Africa.
China added MP Materials and USA Rare Earth to its export-control list, barring dual-use goods to the two firms as part of a broader retaliation-and-leverage move while the U.S. expands sanctions on Chinese firms tied to the military. Rare earths power magnets critical for EVs and defense, and China processes most of the world’s supply, giving Beijing significant sway. MP Materials, backed by Apple and the Pentagon, had already cut shipments to China, and Bloomberg described Monday’s curbs as largely symbolic, with tighter export rules anticipated in November. Investors largely shrugged as the market reaction was muted.
China’s Ministry of Commerce barred Chinese suppliers from shipping certain rare-earth metals to two U.S. firms, MP Materials and USA Rare Earth, targeting America’s effort to rebuild a domestic magnet supply chain. Given China’s dominance of light and heavy rare earths, the move raises the risk of a broader trade clash as Washington continues to invest in domestic production and the global supply chain, against a backdrop of prior export controls and IP disputes.
A senior banker pressed Pope Leo XIV to consider rare-earth mining as a path to development, recounting a private audience with mining executives; weeks later, the Vatican launched a divestment push and urged dialogue with Indigenous communities about extraction, underscoring the tension between mineral wealth and environmental and social costs as Leo prepares a Peru visit.
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.
The Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital announced two conditional loans totaling $1.2 billion to Energy Fuels and Phoenix Tailings to shore up a US-based rare-earth supply chain: $725 million to Energy Fuels to build a rare-earth separation and metallization facility (using the White Mesa Mill in Utah) with a 20-year repayment window, and $500 million to Phoenix Tailings to open a 'Freedom Facility' by 2028 to process light and heavy rare earths, advancing a mine-to-magnet supply chain; the move is part of a broader effort to secure domestic materials for future weapons, though lawmakers have raised concerns about legal bases and terms of related deals with MP Materials.
In a historic visit, President Trump and President Xi agreed to a constructive, reciprocal U.S.–China relationship, created two boards to manage trade and investment, and secured commitments including China purchasing Boeing aircraft, boosting U.S. farm exports (billions annually through 2028), restoring beef market access, resuming poultry imports, and cooperating on rare earths and other critical minerals.
Trump and Xi Jinping meet in Beijing for a two-day summit aimed at stabilizing a fragile U.S.-China trade truce while facing Iran-related tensions and Taiwan policy concerns. The talks are expected to produce narrow wins rather than sweeping breakthroughs, including discussions on a U.S.-China Board of Trade/Board of Investment, managing rare-earth exports as a leverage point, and other measures to rebalance trade while safeguarding economic strength and national security.
USA Rare Earth will acquire Serra Verde in Goiás, Brazil, for $2.8 billion in a cash-and-stock deal, creating a fully integrated rare-earths platform in the US; Serra Verde is expected to account for about half of heavy rare earths outside China by 2027, underscoring Washington’s push to diversify critical minerals away from China.
China quietly gained from the Iran war by keeping the U.S. distracted, boosting its diplomatic leverage and strengthening its energy and AI edge, aided by its dominant rare-earth supply chains. With the U.S. missile and drone stocks depleted and Beijing’s energy self-sufficiency rising, the conflict reshaped global risk in China’s favor—though the advantage isn’t unlimited if Hormuz disruptions persist.